How To Maintain Your RAYS Wheels!
 

Seeing as so many people have been posting threads about their VOLK wheels getting messed up from car washes, I just wanted to put this out there for all the new owners that have purchased their wheels, even if it wasn't purchased from us cause it breaks my heart when I see threads about damaged VOLK wheels.

The finishes of the barrel's on all RAYS 2 piece wheels, I.E; VOLK, Gram Lights, Lexion, G-Games, etc, are all anodized with a finishing clear coat. Generally, MOST wheel cleaners will be way too abrasive for this finish and if used, will cause a very nasty "hazing" in the clear coat. Maintain your wheels by using anything that you would use on the paint of your car. Meguiar's Quick Detailer, MOTUL Wash N' Wax, mild wax, soap and water are ideal. If you have a matte or flat finish face, don't let this fool you because even the flat colors are clear coated as well. Treat your RAYS wheels just like the way you would treat the paint on your car, mild and nothing abrasive. The wheel cleaners will all say that it is "NON-ABRASIVE" but try cleaning the paint on your car with that and see what happens, it's the same deal with your RAYS wheels. Don't let water marks dry up as well as it will more than likely stain the clear coat. Remember that both the face and the barrel is clear coated.

On the monoblock wheels, these wheels have a powdercoated base with a light clear coat finish so the same concept applies, even on the flat finishes. Personally, the way I maintain my wheels is by cleaning the wheels with soap and water while I wash my car, rinse it down, drive the car around the block a few times to get all the water out of the barrel's and the cracks of the car, dry everything in a shaded and cooled environment, and finish the wheels off with either MOTUL Wash N' Wax or Meguiar's Quick Detailer for the final touches. The next time you take your car into a car wash or dealer, let them know as soon as they're writing up the car that they only should use soap and water on the wheels just as a warning. This way it will avoid any type of harmful cleaner getting to your wheels. Just remember that if the wheels do get damaged because of faulty maintenance, Mackin Industries and RAYS Japan will not honor the warranty so I wouldn't even attempt to try to have them warrantied. They will not give out color codes for any of their finishes or torque settings for the bolts on the 2 piece wheels so if you have already found yourself in this predicament, I'd recommend getting all 4 wheels re-powdercoated if they're monoblock. If it is a 2 piece wheel and the lips have been damaged due to negligence in maintenance, what I'd recommend doing is to have a professional wheel shop that has specifically worked on RAYS wheels before to take apart the wheel and polish all 4 wheels, it is a cheaper alternative than getting them re-anodized unless you have the cash for it. I would strongly suggest not to have them chromed. I know chroming will make it easier as far as keeping the wheels clean and avoiding scratches but the chemicals in the chroming process will weaken the forging of the wheel and the structural integrity of the wheel will be compromised as well as the warranty of the wheel being voided.

Hope this helps out all you new RAYS wheels owner's and hopefully even the existing ones!

+1, Andy helped me out when my volks got messed up. ended up having to get them powdercoated.

BE CAREFUL PEOPLE!.

and if you do take it anywhere, make sure to get it in writing that they will not use abrasives on your wheels... that way, WHEN they mess them up (not if) that they will be liable.

or just wash it yourself!!

+1billiion to andy.

+1000

People also make the mistake of running their cars through the car washes w/ tracks. Remember if you have rear wheels like a 10.5 w/ a stretched tire, you run the risk of scraping the lip. As stated this can be repaired but the anodizing will not be there and that lip won't look the same.

subing

who would take their car to a car wash??:icon14:

Nice write-up.

You'd be amazed dude! I'm not talking bout me btw!





Oh and if by chance you don't listen to Andy, then when you wanna replace your wheels cause you screwed them up. Call Andy!

shameless plug :icon38:

good thread Andy...

Just ordered mine today. Thanks for the tip!

Great advice. I already do the aforementioned religiously (substitute wheel wax from discount) and my wheels still look great.

I wash my car by hand at a classy car wash.. They dont mind cause I've been going there so long..

I rinse my wheels off with the rinse (very little soap).. Then i wash them down with Spot free rinse. Carbonated pure water.

Then I spray eagle one wheel cleaner (safe for clear coats). Let it sit for 30seconds and thouroughly rinse.. Then i use Wheel Wax..

Results have bee good.. Very hard to keep clear coat scratches off Volk GT-S though.

Some of us live in apartment complexes and don't have personal driveways. I go to a DIY car wash, myself.

Great thread, Andy. I was just thinking about this very issue, even though I haven't ordered my wheels yet :D

great thread, thank goodness it's stickied.

+1 on the thread

Some dip shiet place his cellphone on the rear lip of my GTF during the Drift D show in Sonoma while i was standing right next to him. I was about to kick his ass, but i was being nice about it. After he removed the phone from the lip, i noticed a slight scratch mark. I was sooooooo pissed, but oh, well. Just need to buy Zaino Z5 to remove it.

Wow, this is so strange that I saw this thread when I was about to make one just like it... I bought a set of Volk SF Challenges last week and noticed the hazing lips. I decided to polish them myself :D It wasn't fun...polishing these wheels takes time, money, and concentration - not to mention a LOT of elbow grease. I put in 4 hours per wheels (not kidding) I think they look even better polished but the maintenance of polished wheels are considerably more.

I hope everyone sees this and finds the solution (polishing it by hand - shop would charge at least $150 each - already checked) and of course prevention 0 don't let ANYONE wash your rims with ANYTHING other than car wash soap and water.

yeah i use just soapy water from washing the car,( that new turtle wax ICE car wash is really good and smells good too) then later before i do the tire dressing i go back over it with just an amonia free aresol glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth to get any thing i missed with the soapy water. been using the aresol spray can glass /surface cleaner for years with my old LMGT's and now factory rays. works perfect

the only two people that have washed my rims are the detailer I went to (awesome job) and myself.

Andy, could we get a little clarification on what you posted?
For the 2 piece wheels, are you saying the removable center pieces are anodized and not powdercoated? Then coated with a clearcoat? Is the clearcoat a painted clearcoat or a powdercoated clearcoat?

On the barrels, you also said they were anodized, then clearcoated. Is the clearcoat paint or powdercoat?

It just seems unusual that Volk would use such a process when all other manufacturers clear anodize the lips of their wheels only without a clearcoat.

Do you have a source for your info?

Thanks Andy that was very handy since i got my rays 2 weeks ago and was wondering how,,, :)