I bought a F-350 last year and love the pickup, it's in great condition considering it has 125,000 miles on it. I don't have any good pictures of the pickup just the one from the day I bought it with a bit of snow on it. As you can see it's a nice looking pickup with a new flatbed, new tires, the cab is in great shape. The one issue I have is the front rims, they are trashed. Last week I thought I had this solved, I bought a set of simulators to cover the rims but they didn't fit. When I spoke to the guy I bought them from he told me that I had the upgraded alloy rims and they didn't make simulators for them. Any thoughts on what I can do? I use this pickup exclusively for pulling my horse trailer, about 5000 miles a year or less so I don't really want to put a lot of money into new rims which is why I was hopeful the $180 simulators would fix my problem. That was for all 4 wheels, the backs are actually in pretty good shape. What can I do?

 

Take them off the vehicle and dismount the tires then with the proper tools/abrasives clean them up or have them restored by someone else...heck of alot cheaper than buying some alternative. Wheel look fine otherwise.

 

Thanks. Are they actually alluminum or are they just plated? Around the bolt holes it looks like the finish is flaking off.

 

You can refinish them fairly easily. You dont have to remove the tire, just prep the area well. I used VHT rim paint. Just follow the instructions with prep, prime and paint and they should come out nice.

VHT Wheel Paint

 

They don't even get hot enough for VHT...........good way to sell paint though.

 

they are the factory Ford Alcoa wheels. They are aluminum with a clear coat to protect them, you can either remove the wheel from the truck and sand them down and then polish them or have a shop do it and re coat them with the proper factory style clear coat

 

I would have a shop polish them and them give them a clear coat. That is just your clear coat coming off and exposing the bare aluminum.

 

How much should it cost to get them done? I got an estimate of $125 to $150. It looks like I could replace them on eBay for that amount and sell what I have to makeup a little bit of the difference. Will any 17" rim work? No special rim for the front of a dually correct?

 

You could sand and polish the bad part on the truck and add clear.