How To Fix Rock Rash On Your Toyota Wheels

When you're bombing around off-road in your Tacoma, FJ Cruiser, or 4Runner, rock rash on your rims is pretty much inevitable. It doesn't take much contact with a rock to gouge up your rims.

If you care about how your rims look, we have good news: you can fix or hide the damage. Here are two ways to do this:

1. Fill The Gouges Or Scratches With Putty

Image Credit: chenbro

You can manually fill in the gouges or scratches with putty. The process generally goes like this:

1. Use a rotary tool to grind down the burs.
2. Fill the gouges with putty filler.
3. Let the putty dry and then and it with 400 grit sandpaper.
4. Paint the area with paint that matches the color of the rim.
5. Sand (if needed) with 1500-2000 grit sandpaper.

You can either gather the tools and materials yourself or use a wheel repair kit. Keep in mind that even though this is a lengthy process, it rarely yields perfect results. The putty doesn't always come out perfectly smooth, and the paint rarely blends in with the rest of the wheel.

2. Apply Rim Trim

Rim trim is a strip of durable material to adhere to the lip of the rim. The installation process is quite straightforward. The process varies depending on the brand you get, but the general idea is to:

1. Clean the edge of the rim with an all-purpose cleaner.
2. Clean the edge again with rubbing alcohol or alcohol wipes.
3. Apply the rim trim.
4. Allow the rim trim to bond to the wheel for a certain amount of time (usually 24 hours).

Applying rim trim to your wheels is a great way to hide the damage. If your wheel is scratched up in areas that are not along the lip of the rim, then you would need to either leave it be or fix it with putty. Rim trims come in many different colors, usually red, yellow, silver, white, and more. They also come in black if you would prefer to just cover up the damage without bringing any attention to your wheels.

And If Your Wheels Are Just Too Far Gone...

Check out our selection of TRD wheels. Genuine Toyota TRD wheels are high quality and lightweight. This wheel, ptr20-35110-bk, is one of our most popular. TRD wheels can be spendy if you just walk into a dealership and buy them. But we sell them online at very affordable prices. You can always install them yourself or talk to a local shop about installing your new wheels, too.

Let us know if you have any questions!