srk23 Posted September 5, 2013 Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Hey guys ive been plasti-dipping vehicles for about 2 years now, everything from emblems to whole cars. Plasti-dipping the rims will in fact protect them from rusting and corrosion from the salt on the roads during the winter time. My dodge journey is plasti-dipped matte black, everything except the roof and chrome accents including the rims is covered in plastidip, but before winter i will be plasti-dipping the rims and blacking out all the chrome. msg me if you guys have any questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walker Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 I asked the cleanup guy at my dealership what they use to clean these chrome clad rims. He said to use Windex and #3 steel wool...he claimed it will not scratch. I did my two rear rims in this way and they look great...the clean up was relatively easy and I put on a coat of wax afterward. I saw no scratching. Lord knows what will happen after using this technique repeatedly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webslave Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 ... I am told that the chroming process is highly toxic from an environmental standpoint and the switch to cladding was done to combat that issue. Not sure how much of that is rooted in fact - I suspect there is a cost-saving measure involved as well - but it sounded reasonable when explained to me. There is a lot of legal stuff going on now about the chroming process and the toxicity of the chemicals and processes that release them into the environment. I was talking to a fellow that runs a restoration shop (I have a couple of antique cars) and he said it is getting harder and harder to find businesses still in the chroming business. Many are closing their doors because of the regulations and EPA requirements bankrupting them. That's one of the reasons you'll find fewer and fewer "real" chrome parts in use on anything. Remember when even toasters and wafle makers had "chrome" parts for "pizazz"? Now everything comes with polished nickel or stainless steel.... A lot of what you see now that looks like chrome isn't really chrome...it is a powder coat process that comes very close to chrome in appearance, but, isn't near as hazardous to the environment and holds up better. In the "good old days", aluminum rims became the rage because chormed rims (and bumpers) began to blister and peel within 3-5 years... Back in the "day", it was a real bummer to spend $300.00 (it was worth more then) on a set of Crager SST chromed wheels to have them turn to junk in a couple of years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman425 Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Thank you for a factual and informative reply ( as usual from you, Webslave!) Nice to know that the info that I was given about switching to chrome cladding may have more to do with the facts that you presented vs. bean counting. Interesting stuff that I really had no idea about. Thanks! We've owned our Journey for eight months. I have found the wheels very easy to clean, and when they are cleaned and waxed, they draw a lot of praise. I think they look beautiful. Yeah, it sounds cheap when you tap your knuckles on the plastic, but in this case, so what? No one's knockin' on your spokes as you ease on down the road... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webslave Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 I had those same wheels on my old Commander Limited (part of the "Limited" package). I initally was on the fence about them, but, after have the Commander for almost 5 years, the wheels still looked new. Bear in mind that those wheels were on a 4 wheel drive off-road vehicle that spent a fair amount of time off the pavement...one of our trips found us at an obsidian mountain (just a huge mountain of obsidian) and to get there was 27 miles through some pretty god-awful terrain... One of the nicest things I found out about them, was a friend had them on his Jeep and had banged one up against a rock while 4 wheeling. It gouged the chrome, but, it didn't look too bad. The best thing? Despite the gouge, the area around it didn't flake, chip or rust. Try that with a true chromed wheel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman425 Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 The best thing? Despite the gouge, the area around it didn't flake, chip or rust. Try that with a true chromed wheel... Good to know! My wife pegged a curb with the driver's side front wheel and gouged the edge a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razor420 Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Dodge is putting these clad hub caps on as a way to cut costs. It has nothing to do with environmental issues, its a cheap way to make a wheel look like chrome, plain and simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkyssxt Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 Yet another thread I'm bringing back from the dead. Razor, your info is greatly misguided. The chroming process produces many chemicals(not to mention requires several others) that ARE in fact dangerous to the environment AND to you. It causes cancer, and the chemicals leach into the ground where it stays LONG after the business has closed its doors. Back home in cali, there was a chrome shop in Pacoima that closed its doors some 4 years ago because of the epa standards being nearly impossible to uphold. They tore the place down about 6 months after it closed and tested the ground under the place. Several of the chemicals had made it into the ground. That was through a foundation of concrete and rebar roughly 18" thick(I saw the chunks up close when they tore the place down) 4 years later they have yet to rebuild because ground testing still shows 90+% of those chemicals still present at highly dangerous(read cancerous) levels. There are few to none large chroming companies left, the few left over are independently owned. The rest of the legitimate chrome we get in the states comes from China or Mexico, where the epa standards on manufacture processes are substantially lower. rolly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolly Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 (edited) Yet another thread I'm bringing back from the dead. Razor, your info is greatly misguided. The chroming process produces many chemicals(not to mention requires several others) that ARE in fact dangerous to the environment AND to you. It causes cancer, and the chemicals leach into the ground where it stays LONG after the business has closed its doors. Back home in cali, there was a chrome shop in Pacoima that closed its doors some 4 years ago because of the epa standards being nearly impossible to uphold. They tore the place down about 6 months after it closed and tested the ground under the place. Several of the chemicals had made it into the ground. That was through a foundation of concrete and rebar roughly 18" thick(I saw the chunks up close when they tore the place down) 4 years later they have yet to rebuild because ground testing still shows 90+% of those chemicals still present at highly dangerous(read cancerous) levels. There are few to none large chroming companies left, the few left over are independently owned. The rest of the legitimate chrome we get in the states comes from China or Mexico, where the epa standards on manufacture processes are substantially lower. We had the same experience here and the tax payers had to foot the bill for the cleanup after the manufacturer left. The worst part was the workers suffering occupational disease from the exposures. Edited December 13, 2014 by rolly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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