1. Autos

Wheel Safety & Maintenance

Learn about maintaining those expensive wheels in good condition; how to recognize the types of wheel finishes, and what cleaning products NOT to use on your wheels. Find out how best to avoid damaging your rims, and what to do if damage occurs anyway.

How to Not Damage Your Wheels

Wheel finishes can be quite fragile and vulnerable to all sorts of hazards. How to keep your nicely finished rims looking that nice.

Wheel Finishes: Paint

Most original equipment wheels are painted. Learn how to (and how not to) care for your painted wheels and what it takes to refinish them if they get damaged.

Wheel Finishes: Hypersilver

Hypersilver is a very complex paint process that uses a translucent metallic outer paint laid over a colored undercoat to give the wheels a deep inner glow.

Wheel Finishes: Polished

A primer on the various types of polished finishes out there; how they are created, how to care for them and how they can be repaired.

Wheel Finishes: Chrome

Chrome is a supermodel. All beauty on the surface, but a nasty personality underneath.

How to Not Damage Your Wheels Part 2: Structural Damage

How to avoid bending or cracking your expensive alloy wheels.

Diagnosing Wheel Vibration

Does your car shake at speed? How to tell if your car's vibration is coming from bent wheels or tires.

Wheel Straightening

An overview of technologies that allow bent aluminum alloy wheels to be straightened out.

Wheel Alignment Explained: What is Caster, Camber, Toe-in and Toe-out?

All of the elements that make your car go straight are called "alignment." Some shops try to make it seem like rocket science, but wheel alignment is a fairly straightforward affair.

Discuss in my forum

©2012 About.com. All rights reserved.

A part of The New York Times Company.