I have been looking at tire shiners for a while now, and it seems like a common thing brands are sticking on their tire shiner products is "do not get on chrome." Or something to that affect. I have been too afriad to actually apply the shiner and get a paper or a cloth and mask off the chrome wheel. What my question is, is what do the you guys, with chrome wheels, use to keep your tires sexy? Thanks in advance

 

I believe a lot of what you're reading on any chemical that gets near wheels is simple 'cover their butt' language. In short, most tire dressings are slightly acidic and, with the ULTRA-high cost of wheels these days, they don't want to be buying new ones for folks. You'll see similar warnings on most all wheel cleaners too because many are very acidic (and many manufacs have bought many sets of wheels for many sets of people).

This isn't to say, though, that there is truth behind the warning on a dressing product though...

With that in mind, I'd encourage you to utilize a 'gel' product versus one that you spray on. While I'm not certain about all products, I'm sitting here reading a bottle of Meguiar's Endurance High Gloss and it makes no mention of worrying about aluminum, magnesium, polished, or chrome wheels. This is a product that I've used for years now and continue to REALLY like it.

Application of the gel product can be achieved with a product like the Eagle One tire swipe. In fact, I recommend applying ALL dressings with the Eagle One tire swipe -- it's one of the handiest items concieved for detailing in my opinion... I bought every one that premiumautocare had about a year ago when they were closing them out -- got a HELL of a deal!

Some will complain of 'sling' and, if not used properly, you certainly can get a little bit. So, with that in mind, make sure you wipe off all excess and allow the product to dry completely. The shine lasts up to around a week under normal conditions. It does, to a certain extent (like nearly every dressing under the sun), attract a tiny bit of dust.

Just to be absolutely certain, you may give Meg's a call at 800-347-5700 to hear it from the horse's mouth so to speak but, I believe that you'll confirm that it's safe for use on your tires...

RP

 

Hey thanks a lot for the killer good news, RP. And thanks for including the name of what you use. That's what I needed

 

I use the spray stuff that foams up on my car and i try to keep it off the wheels but i amslo have 40 series tires and soon as some gets on the wheels if any i wipe it away. but the tire swipe or whatever it's called is very handy to use. my friend has one and it is nice to use

 

Rock, you were real close, but its not soley the acidity. It can be a high or low ph level and overspray onto a polished aluminum rim will cause "flashing" that looks like stains. When they are new, it doesn't happen often, but as the wheels age is when they become vunerable. It comes off with a simple rim cleaner, and a lot of elbow grease. But as far as I know, chrome is unaffected by this process. I actually had the polished on the nav and changed to chrome for just this reason. Everytime I ran it through the wash, they got a little worse until they almost looked as if they were gray instead of polished.

 

Thanks for the additional information... I had heard this before but neglected to post it (as I had forgotten). Like you describe, I've seen 'flashing' as well... definitely a problem.

RP

 

Its a pain ITA. The whole reason I changed to chrome was that I was spending 4 hours twice a month polishing those effin rims. I suppose if you never clean them or get some of that clear coating material they'd be alright, but it wasn't worth the extra maintenence to me

 

So the Eagle One tire swipe is ok to use on chrome wheels? If it gets on them, swip it away, I suppose, but this polished-wheels-turn-to-grey thing doesnt apply to the chrome wills. correct?

 

The manufacturer I bought my wheels from said simply, "to clean chrome rims a clean cloth and glass cleaner."

I wouldn't personally hesitate to use the wipes you speak of, as the chrome plating doesn't allow penetration of the surface.

 

Whoa... I wouldn't do it.

I think we misunderstood eachother on some level... I wasn't implying to utilize a 'tire swipe' on any metal, painted, or other surface... with the exception of the rubber on the sidewall of the tire.

If you meant to phrase this question in the form of "is it okay to use with a product on the tires since I have chrome wheels...", then, YES... it's fine. I WOULD NOT recommend using them on the chrome, itself... only the rubber.

The foam that is tied into the EO Swipe is pretty firm and I cringe to think what it could do to anything that is machined, polished, or painted...

-RP-

 

Oh yea, sorry. I meant ok to use on tires with chrome wheels. Not the wheel itself. For that I use chrome polisher. Not tire shiner. Anyway, I am just afraid of the labels that say "do not get on chrome surfaces." And even if it's a precaution, it's an expensive mistake to make. So I dont want shiners that will affect the chrome surface, and I don't want to have to be careful and work around the wheel. Getting close, but not making contact. Etc. But yea, it sounds like the Eagle One is safe for the tires, unless I'm mistaken.

 

The Eagle One Tire swipe is an applicator; not a chemical. It's perfectly fine to use for application of a 'gel-like' tire shining product like Meguiar's Endurance... and, actually, I use them with spray types too to even out the appearance and/or bring the shine down a notch (I even use a them to 'clean' my tires between washings -- this typically deems them as trash afterwards as I haven't found a good way to 'clean them' (they don't hold up in the washer -- trust me)).