Alum. Wheels

[double chock]

I have a 2004, 4-runner limited and it apears the wheels are blistering and peeling. Under what appears to be a plating the wheel material is black. Has anyoned seen this and if so, how can it be returned to new appearance.

 

[Even Steven]

If you have the original wheels on your '04 Limited, they should be a machined finish aluminum wheel with a clearcoat finish on them.

You shouldn't be seeing black at all, even if the clearcoat is blistering and peeling. I've seen that happen to wheels when people use the wrong type of wheel cleaner on their wheels.

If your 4Runner is no longer in warranty (probably the case with a 2004) then you'll either have to replace the wheels (expensive) or have them refinished by a reputable wheel refinisher.

Your best bet is probably looking for a set of used wheels on ebay.

 

[drmorbius]

There have been a couple of posts on this but something is turning them black, perhaps what they put on the roads in winter. Once the coating cracks open the wheels can oxidize.

 

[partsrep]

This happened to my wheels as well. All five of them are damaged and look terrible. It must have been something I used to clean them.

Like drmorbius said, once they blister they begin to oxidize and there's no stopping it without a complete refinish job.