Aluminum Diamond Plate

[Tanker 10eng 140]

I am looking for help, we just got back our Tanker from 16 months of rebuilding, and 30 percent of the diamond plate is stained and discolored, ( lack of care by the rebuilder !!! )

We have been spending time buffing and cleaning it with some luck, but not the results we are looking for. So, if you have any cleaners or other ideas, we would love to hear from you..

Croton Tanker 10

[Guest DADAY]

There are many different polishes and cleaners you can try. I have found applying with indoor/outdoor carpet, yes that green stuff, works good with some polishes that say "spray" off.

The thing that stinks is once you start, you gotta do the whole thing.

[x242Steve 1]

There's a cleaning product called "Flitz" that works very well on diamond plate. If you have a soft, washable buffing wheel that you can put in a cordless drill, it speeds up the process.

But like "Daday" said- you better set aside a whole day because once you get a few square inches all shined up you will not want to stop.

[Guest WolfEMT]

That flitz thing really works... I took it to my alloy rims after they got stained black with all the brake dust from my old brake pads. After a good polishing (took about 20 min per wheel), they came out looking great. You may want to apply Mother's Chrome Rim and Mag polish every so often to protect it a little longer.

[rescue40LT 0]

Try a polish called "blue magic" you can buy it at any auto store. I put it on by hand and buff it in real good with a polish pad on a cordless drill. and then take it off by hand. It works really good!!!!

[mfc2257 464]

This is a cut an paste from a post I made about a year ago. Just my two cents.

Find some old carpet (1/2inch) that has a good glue fiber backing. Cut a piece about 6 inches long by 3.5 wide. Take a scrub brush and cut all the bristles off and apoxy carpet upside down to the bottom of the carpet. Apply Mothers or whatever you use liberally to surface and work it with the carpet. Have someone else follow right away with a good towel to get excess. Buff after drying as ususal.

You can subsitute the hassle of epoxying the brush handle by punching two holes into the carpet and adding a handle of some sort made out of a piece of thick rubber bungee or cable that is run through a 1in or smaller piece of PVC.

Sounds like a lot of trouble to go to, but the extra leverage of a handle really helps add to the shine and saves your hands.

The buffing wheel approach works too, but I find that it's a better removal tool... The carpet works to really apply the product and let the abrasive nature of metal polishes do their job. If you have someone follow with a buffing wheel to remove the product and finally someone to buff behind them it'll look brand new......

But never as good as T-15

[Guest VFD39]

we have a heavy rescue and a ALF tower ladder with a lot of aluminum diamond plate-we find if u presssure wash it-with a good de-greaser/cleaner then we use mothers with buffing wheels to put it on and take it off .then hand polish it, it comes out quite clean and shiny.have been looking for sealer but,have not found anything that works. the best way to keep it clean is to clean and polish a few times a year-just not at inspection and parade season.

[mfc2257 464]

Oh yeah... One thing that I forgot... I've seen some folks spray clearcoat that will adhere to aluminum over diamond plate, and it looked great for decades.

[doug_e 0]

This is a product I've used with good results...

Metal Wax for Diamond Plate

Ordered it right from the website...