I bought a used truck a few months ago. I noticed the previous owner didn't really look after it very well. Most of the body work was done for me before I took delivery and there are still a couple of small cosmetic things.

It looks to me that someone tried to wax the hub caps.


Is there a way to get the wax out from under the plastic or whatever that is covering the centre?

 

Elbow Grease, and some goof-off....make sure that you use goof-off with the full intent that you whant whatever it comes in contact with off...this includes stickers, side molding that is glued on etc. use with caution!!!
~Phil

 

If it's too hard to get off you might think about ebaying or bone yarding a new set. They wouldn't be too expensive and might off set what your time is worth.

 

Correct me if I am wrong but this happened to me before as well, and it was not a "topical" issue. Almost like it is under a plastic wrap with tiny holes here and there. The holes in the barrier allow water in, almost letting it corrode. I am not sure how to rectify the issue, other than replacements.

 

As far as I can tell it's not on top. It's under whatever coating is on the outside. It seems like a clear plastic film on top and this stuff is under it. I will take a better look later this morning since this is truck wash day anyway.

I checked around and it seems to me that these ones are hard to find although I may not be looking in the right places yet. I was going to just replace them since one is even missing a Ford sticker in the middle but I need to find them for a decent price first.

 

That is not wax, that is corrosion.
Water has got under the protective coating and the metal has reacted.
Even if you stripped the coating and bead blasted the caps, you would still see some pitting there.

Sorry to say but these will never be 100% perfect again.

 

Yep, I concur with English. Water has crept under the top layer and has started to corrode.
Unfortunately, there is not much you can do apart from having the centres blasted then polished up and re clearcoated.


Kev

 

If I'm not mistaken Ford has discontinued that style because of those caps having that issue. I think the new ones are all chrome.

 

Living in Canada, I can tell you that it is indeed the Aluminium corroding. I had the same corrosion issue with one of my factory rims. I lightly sanded (or better yet use steel wool) the corrosion away and applied a clear coat finish (specifically for rims) after. Just keep in mind that you will never get rid of the corrosion marks. After you remove that white chalky stuff you will be left with metal with a black tinge to it. But it's not all that bad.