The right side of my car hit/scraped the curb driving to work this morning. Lost one wheel cover and scraped the other. Replacement wheel covers ordered, no problem, but do I need to be concerned that the paint scraped off the wheel itself? Is future rusting something I should be concerned about, or are these wheels or even “rust-able”? Thanks in advance!
I think you needn't be too worried about alloy wheels rusting, I think I'd be more concerned about the alignment being whacked out, or damage to the tire (…if it was more than just a soft brush). Looks like it was more of a "Close Encounter of the Scuffing Kind", which still might compromise the sidewall cords in the tire! Keep you eye on it! Good luck!
Thank you! Yes, I was wondering about the alignment too. I may have that checked. It drives the same, does not feel like it is pulling, but one never ones, do one? The tires seem fine so far, although I realize there is the possibility of a slow leak. I thought they were alloy wheels, so that's good. Once the new wheel covers are here, it will look as good and bad as it always did! Thanks again for getting back to me.
Those are aluminum alloy. They wont rust. If you live in a high road salt area, you might want to scrub them and spray them with a clear spray paint like that sold by Rustoleum. Otherwise, in mild climates, they will be just fine under the wheel cover.
Geez those are sorry looking rims. What a one-two punch Toyo: first you make the alloy rims utilitarian-looking dreck, and cover them with plastic wheel covers. And then, maybe because owners are taking the covers off, you paint them ghetto-black.
I have found Rustoleum black epoxy refrigerator paint to be the most durable and readily available at Lowe's, Home Depot or even Walmart. I have painted aluminum parts with it and also a test "coupon" exposed to sunlight and weathering. It is still shiny after 5 plus years of exposure. I use it to regularly to paint chassis parts.
Other than making them look better, if they won't rust, why do that? We don't usually have a ton of snow, but when we do, the sanders do use salt. Thanks!
Well, it looks better with its new cover, but not perfect. My car is in decent, but not perfect condition, so I may just live with it, but would like to consider the possibility of painting the wheel. I'm sure they sell that paint in a spray. Do you they sell it in one of those little touch-up/brush-on versions too? I assume the optimal way would be to sand it and then use a spray. I am not sure I would try painting it with a spray....
Toyota should have used the Prius Plug-In rims, or something similar, standard on all 3rd gen with 15" rims. That's what tipped us to get (CDN) "touring", with the nice 17" rims.
I need a couple because they have fallen off my car recently. Probably due to old age plastic getting brittle and maybe the folks that rotate the tires at the local quick oil change place not being careful. I'm thinking a set like these from wal-mart or what I'd really like is a center cap to just cover the hole in the wheels. Especially if it had a Toyota emblem, but just plane silver or even black would be ok by me. It's actually my daughter's car. I sold it to her when she need one and bought myself a 2022 Corolla hybrid. The Prius got in the mid 50s on my commute but this Corolla is getting like low 60s according to it's calculations. I haven't checked myself but I was really amazed at the difference, especially since it's only rated for mid 50s. Really nice either one for my long commute.
