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I have a 2004 Lexus GX470 which I bought last September. The wheels have some bubbling on them. I have tried to clean up the corrosion as best as I could but its far from perfect so I was wondering what others have done? Get the alloys refinished (if yes, how much did that cost)? I live in MD near DC and VA and would love to find a respectable place that does great work and won't charge me an arm and a leg for refinishing the wheels.
Common problem. Even on low mile trucks it can be an issue. My understanding is it was an issue with the manufacturer. Other toyotas of the same era suffer from the same problem. Unfortunately refinishing and powder coating is only a temporary solution. They will begin to corrode again because it's happening from the inside out. I had my rims sandblasted a few years ago. They were an absolute mess. I opted to paint rather than powder coat. They looked good for about 6 months and the finish began to flake again in spots. They are easy to touch up though. That's why I opted for paint. As part of my spring cleaning I give them and all the suspension etc.... a fresh coat.
I didn't think it worked like that, from the inside out. I agree that is was a manufacturing issue as it is widespread. To me it just seems like a poorly produced and finished wheel. My GX, and my dads GX wheels look identical, complete garbage. They both spent their lives in the North East, so harsh winters. Now my brother somehow got an 06 GX that spent it's life in Puerto Rico and his wheels looked almost new.
I'm getting a set of Tacoma wheels done now to mount on the GX, which had some rash, but were in no way as bad as the stock GX wheels. It's my hope that when I also get the stock GX wheels done, that a lot of the defects will be taken care of by sandblasting, sanding, whatever else the powdercoating guys do, and then seal it up nice with some paint, and that it will be a permanent solution.
If it was a finish issue the paint and clear would fail and the wheel would be fine. The issue with the gx wheels is corrosion and oxidation in the aluminum underneath the paint. It turns to a chalky type substance and causes the paint to blister and lift. Trust me. Anything on these wheels is only a temporary solution.
So basically if that is the case my only option is to ride it out with these wheels until they are too far gone and replace them with another wheel or a GX460 wheels when it's time for new tires (since the gx460 is an 18" rim).
Damn. That sucks. Not what I wanted to hear, haha. Guess I'll see how long mine last. The ones I plan on using where on Tundra/Sequoia. same era 04-05, not sure if they were less affected by this.
02-01-17, 06:42 PM
Alloy Wheels & Corrosion?
