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Considering buying used OEM alloy wheels. Bad idea?

Mid-west used wheel inventory during winter is usually lower and prices are higher. Too many people slide into curbs because they carelessly drive on worn tires.
Almost every vehicle coming to me for alignments and electrical work from bodyshop in winter time has worn tires. I wish ins companies could capitalize on that.
 
MaxxVolume said:
Brake dust can be quite corrosive to a wheel`s finish if left to sit for long periods of time. It can actually etch the finish, sometimes permanently. If you`re ambitious, and have some time on your hands....
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I don't really have extra time on my hands. I have a to-do list piled up to my eye balls :eek:. And I am getting slower at working my way through it. I am just not in a good place to start any new, significant projects.

But if the discoloration shown on the two front wheels in post #37 would clean up fairly well, fairly easily, I would be down for that. If there is something that I could spray and wipe, that would get 80% of that clean, then yes.



Tip:
When mounting new wheels, be sure to thoroughly clean the hub`s mounting flange (use a wire brush, degreaser, and a rag), same thing on the wheel`s inner flange. Then apply a thin smear of White Lithium Grease, wheel bearing grease, etc. to the mating surfaces before assembly. This will prevent the curious phenomenon known as "Galvanic Reaction", where dissimilar metals will chemically bond together, making it difficult to remove wheels. Anyone who has experienced this is probably laughing their ass off and saying "Yup !" :)
Caveat: Do NOT lube lug bolt threads, or hub threads, or your torque values will be WAY off if you do !
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Would anti-seize be OK, or preferred? Or would regular grease be better for coating those mating surfaces?
 
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I did a little reading on this. Seems the jury is out on whether or not to grease/anti-seize hubs
Torquing the lug nuts creates a friction surface between the hub and the wheel surface, helping to prevent the wheel from moving on the surface. Adding a slippery layer between the two might interfere with that. Also, the high heat generated by modern disc brakes might bake whatever you use for lubricant. Since lube isn't recommended on lug nuts, I would think the same holds true for the hubs and surfaces. I could be wrong, though.

Living in central CA, I have never had the problem usually caused by snow/salt/etc. That, and rotation the tires every 5000 miles helps.
 
usedto said:
I did a little reading on this. Seems the jury is out on whether or not to grease/anti-seize hubs
Torquing the lug nuts creates a friction surface between the hub and the wheel surface, helping to prevent the wheel from moving on the surface. Adding a slippery layer between the two might interfere with that. Also, the high heat generated by modern disc brakes might bake whatever you use for lubricant. Since lube isn't recommended on lug nuts, I would think the same holds true for the hubs and surfaces. I could be wrong, though.

Living in central CA, I have never had the problem usually caused by snow/salt/etc. That, and rotation the tires every 5000 miles helps.
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No, you ARE wrong (sorry)....grease hub & wheel flanges, but NOT bolt threads, and everything will be good. If you had ever had to remove wheels (especially rear wheels) frozen in place from Galvanic Reaction. you would have no doubt about the validity of my statement.
 
As long as the surfaces are reasonably clean (a firm wiping with a rag is usually good enough) I haven't had too much trouble with alloys sticking to the rotors. Of course I have snow tires so the wheels all come off twice per year, they don't have too much time to get stuck. The steel wheels on my old Corolla though, those needed a healthy slathering of anti-seize unless you wanted to spend the afternoon trying to hammer them off.
 
MaxxVolume said:
No, you ARE wrong (sorry)....grease hub & wheel flanges, but NOT bolt threads, and everything will be good. If you had ever had to remove wheels (especially rear wheels) frozen in place from Galvanic Reaction. you would have no doubt about the validity of my statement.
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Mechanic-ing in the snow belt is a whole different level. Here in sunny Sol Cal, I've never had to deal with a rusted bolt. The cars at the junkyard are all spotless underneath. It's not clear sailing, we have to look out for snow flakes.
 
On hub-centric wheels (like most European Fords, including the Focus), I put anti-sieze coating on the "nose" of the hub only, not the flat mating surface. I had an alloy wheel seize on the rear axle on my Capri back in the UK. After repeated applications of WD40, etc., hammering on the back of the tire with a soft mallet, I ended up putting the nuts back on and driving up the street and back. I also put anti-seize on the stud threads, never had a problem with the nuts coming off.
 
leesonic said:
On hub-centric wheels (like most European Fords, including the Focus), I put anti-sieze coating on the "nose" of the hub only, not the flat mating surface. I had an alloy wheel seize on the rear axle on my Capri back in the UK. After repeated applications of WD40, etc., hammering on the back of the tire with a soft mallet, I ended up putting the nuts back on and driving up the street and back. I also put anti-seize on the stud threads, never had a problem with the nuts coming off.
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The problem with lubing wheel threads is not the fasteners loosening, but the danger of OVER-tightening them. Fasteners designed to go on at 85-90 ft./lbs. DRY will wind up at around 135-140 ft./lbs. when lubed, over-stressing the bolt by approx.50%. Bad juju....
THIS is what sometimes happens....

 
MaxxVolume said:
No, you ARE wrong (sorry)....grease hub & wheel flanges, but NOT bolt threads, and everything will be good. If you had ever had to remove wheels (especially rear wheels) frozen in place from Galvanic Reaction. you would have no doubt about the validity of my statement.
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That was someone else's opinion, not mine. Just like yours.:thumbsup:

I have no doubt grease/anti seize would stop the sticking problem.
 
MaxxVolume said:
Sorry about any mixup, thanks for your input !
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Years ago I used to buy my pickup tires at Wallymart. I remember one time before they re-installed the wheels, they shot some lube on all the studs. I didn't think much of it. Some time later I took it in for the free rotation. The first thing they did after removing the wheels was to take spray brake cleaner and clean all the studs and lug nuts. When they re-installed the, they went on dry. I assume they had some issues and got re-educated on proper lug nut installation (like in your link above). They also have a second person re-torque. They used to have some decent guys working out in the service department. I doubt they're still there.
 
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usedto said:
Years ago I used to buy my pickup tires at Wallymart. I remember one time before they re-installed the wheels, they shot some lube on all the studs. I didn't think much of it. Some time later I took it in for the free rotation. The first thing they did after removing the wheels was to take spray brake cleaner and clean all the studs and lug nuts. When they re-installed the, they went on dry. I assume they had some issues and got re-educated on proper lug nut installation (like in your link above). They also have a second person re-torque. They used to have some decent guys working out in the service department. I doubt they're still there.
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One big downfall I see with the current crop of "mechanics" seen in most of these tire shops is that most of them are too lazy to switch the pressure settings on those big I-R airguns (which are usually set at MAX 600 ft./lbs. to break the lugs loose), and they re-install your wheels at max pressure, often warping the rotors by doing so.
I appreciate the TECHS who start the bolts with a cordless drill, and finish the sequence with a proper beam-type torque wrench.
 
MaxxVolume said:
One big downfall I see with the current crop of "mechanics" seen in most of these tire shops is that most of them are too lazy to switch the pressure settings on those big I-R airguns (which are usually set at MAX 600 ft./lbs. to break the lugs loose), and they re-install your wheels at max pressure, often warping the rotors by doing so.
I appreciate the TECHS who start the bolts with a cordless drill, and finish the sequence with a proper beam-type torque wrench.
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Most places use these torque limiting tools as as standard nowadays which look like a socket and extension.

09-2010042_n.jpg
 
Torque sticks are fine for getting close, but the final tightening should always be done with a proper torque wrench.
We used to hit everything with a "60 ft-lb" stick on the way to 95 ft-lb, sometimes the torque wrench would go straight to 95...
 
roger2 said:
---Would approximately 15 year old, used alloy (aluminum?) wheels be more likely, or less likely, to have become damaged or bent out-of-round versus generic steel wheels? Is the alloy tougher than steel?
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This is the issue with older wheels:
grindfix said:
Looks like you are in the same rust belt as I am. Alloy wheels corrode on the bead surface and on the hub part.
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We have that here as well, and I'm about to meet kiddo on Thursday at the local tire dealer to get all four looked at (I already had two cleaned up this past summer; one is now leaking again).

I'm debating getting a newer set of OEM alloy wheels (from a 2012 or 2013, to replace those on a 2005), or buying a new set of wheels from Tire Rack which I found that look attractive and aren't too badly priced, and fit the offset and clearance spec of the OEM wheels.
 
If you want to clean discoloration from your rims, I found Fast 505 to be pretty much unbeatable. Home Depot USUALLY has it in stock, although not lately. Just spray it on, let sit for a minute or two and scrub with a nylon bristle brush. Spray off with a garden hose. The wifes car had really bad discoloration from many years of brake dust. I cleaned them with Fast 505 and they look almost new. There will still be some discoloration from the brake dust, mostly on the inside of the rim. I recently picked up a set of chrome plated rims for my Jeep from the salvage yard. Gave them the Fast 505 treatment and then buffed with 0000 steel wool and chrome polish. They look like they just came from the factory. If you get real, real close you can see some very small spots. When you stand and look, they look brand new. Not to mention that they are 17-18 years old and pulled from a few wrecked cars in a junkyard. I cant recommend Fast 505 enough for cleaning your rims. It cleans just about anything. I was looking for something to clean the rims better. I even used my 1800psi power washer on them. The brake dust just sat there and mocked me. I found online that people used oven cleaner to clean them, but I was extremely hesitant to put that on an aluminum rim. I found a youtube video where some guy used oven cleaner on one rim and Fast 505 on another. They both acheived the same result with Fast 505 being much, much safer and gentler on the rims.
 
MaxxVolume said:
One big downfall I see with the current crop of "mechanics" seen in most of these tire shops is that most of them are too lazy to switch the pressure settings on those big I-R airguns (which are usually set at MAX 600 ft./lbs. to break the lugs loose), and they re-install your wheels at max pressure, often warping the rotors by doing so.
I appreciate the TECHS who start the bolts with a cordless drill, and finish the sequence with a proper beam-type torque wrench.
Click to expand...
You can only do that on wheels and hubs that are nice and rust free. Crud we deal with in Ohio on daily bases can't be torqued using specs because it takes nearly twice the torque spec to seat the wheel on the hub through rust resistance. I remember doing first (7000mi) tire rotation on Civic with steel wheels. I had to use 2x4 and sledge to beat every single one off the hub! Use torque wrench and they will all be loose after hitting couple of bumps or potholes.
On cars that worth the attention, I'll use torque wrench. Most clean alloys I torque with 3/8" drive Aircat gun on lowest setting. About 90 ft/lb. More important is to get wheel centered and flat on the hub and all lug nuts snug before first one is actually torqued. That guaranties even torque and if its few pounds more-not an issue.
 
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