Removing Clear Coat on Wheels w/ Tires

[trukman1]

Is there a paint stripper I can use to remove clear coat from wheels w/o damaging my new tires. Wheels aren't in the best shape and need sanded and polished.

Should I just sand it off and, if so, what grits would you recommend? The wheels are stock and still have the machine marks so I'm probably in for a lot of work either way. Obviously, I don't know where to start or what I'm doing at all.

Before someone says I should have done it before the new tires, they came on the vehicle when I got it. Still had the "nubs" on the tread. (One thing the dealer was honest about.)

Don't really want to dismount tires unless I absolutely have to.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Warrens69GMC]

Clearcoat and basecoat remover....

https://www.zoro.com/rust-oleum-clea...78/i/G1567912/

[trukman1]

Doesn't that have an adverse effect on the tires? From what I've read on the internet most strippers will damage the tires.

[Warrens69GMC]

Yes it will. You have to protect them from the chemical spray. I used a garbage bag and index cards around the rim.

[65truckowner]

Carb cleaner works great

[trukman1]

Originally Posted by 65truckowner

Carb cleaner works great

Might have worked for you but it didn't touch the stuff on mine...

I'll keep looking for something that will take it off w/o damaging the tires or... About to start sanding...

[Stormin08]

i recently stripped my factory clear with tires on...actually just used aerosol aircraft stripper. applied while at the local coin wash, let it sit 15 minutes and powerwashed it off....worked great. then polished, looks better than factory.

[trukman1]

Stormin08, And this had no negative effect on your tires?

[Stormin08]

Zero effect on tires....the majority of the stripper was on wheel surface, it clings well to vertical surfaces.

At that time, i had roughly 35k miles on the tires (cooper st maxx), and ran them till close to 70k...never had any issues, dicoloration or rotting.

Even did a second application the following weekend as i saw a couple tough spots that werent completely cleaned off.

I have pics posted in another thread on this site...its a silver 2nd gen ram.

[trukman1]

Great! I'll give it a shot! Thanks!

[mikelom]

Aircraft stripper works great but messy to use. Just get your wheels/tires rinsed off fairly quick and you should not have any issues.

[trukman1]

mikelom, Thanks for the information. I'm in Ohio and have put the K5 into storage until spring. When I get it back on the road I'll do this before I get it painted so I don't risk damaging the paint. Thanks again.

[72c20customcamper]

Depending on how much you want to spend there's always companies that restore wheels. Local tire company damaged both front wheels for my Chevelle and the rims are no longer available so I had dent wizard do them at the tire companies expense. They dismounted the tires sandblasted the rim and machined it powder coated the silver in the spokes and powder coated it all with clear. Came out actually a little better than the original finish. So I had them do the rears too. I think it was like 150 a rim

https://www.dentwizard.com/exterior-...el-repair.aspx

[Kudzupatch]

Just did mine. Orange citrus stipper, power washer, no issue with tires. Brushed it on so I could keep it off the tires for the most part but I still got a little on them.

[trukman1]

Thanks, I'll give that a try first. Just want to use the least caustic solution I can to avoid marks on the new tires.