Pretty much as title suggests....

A couple of my steel wheels have some heavy corrosion, mostly on the inside faces, and I was thinking of cleaning them up. Probably by using a wire cup/ abrasive wheel on a hand drill.

After the rust is removed, will the wheels need to be rebalanced?

They may possibly need rebalancing but allmost certainly they would be ok. Rust doesn't weigh too much and assuming the rust is even round the face, you are taking similar amounts off. I did it to a set of steels then chucked loadsa hammerit on and they didn't need balancing.

The closer the rust is to the centre face of the wheel the less momentry levering pull it will have on the wheel, thats why weights are placed on rim edges becuase they are more effective.

I find a stone wheel/bit to be much more effective than wire brush. Cuts through rust more precisly.

Rebalalncing should be around £5 a wheel.

Joe

Ok, thanks for that.

So you're not taking the weights off for painting,then?

So you're not taking the weights off for painting,then?

No. Wasn't planning on, simply because the outside faces (where your hubcaps protects) are ok. It's difficult to describe, but it's the inner parts which would be parallel to the road surface, the wheel base I think it's called, where they are surprisingly crusty.

So you're not taking the weights off for painting,then?

No. Wasn't planning on, simply because the outside faces (where your hubcaps protects) are ok. It's difficult to describe, but it's the inner parts which would be parallel to the road surface, the wheel base I think it's called, where they are surprisingly crusty.

Its probably because the wheel covers have rubbed away the paint, leaving bare metal in places. At least, that's what it was on mine.