Its just water if you think about it?

 

Probably not, but it may also depend on the quality and workmanship of the rims, and whether or not there's a protective coating on them.



And even snow and ice are going to get contaminants in them, not to mention the brake dust and other particles already on the wheels that will be frozen to the metal.



Place a glass of ice water on a wood table. Pick it up 3 hours later. See a ring? it's just water?

 

Snow = most likely not



Ice = Could chip or scratch the rim if they're painted



Salt/Sand = Absolutely!

 

Snow and ice is no prob.... it's the salt!

 

^ agreed. As a kid I always wondered why my dad washed the car so much. With the snow, it was just going to get dirty when we drive off. Now I realized it was because of the salt.

 

if its going to snow, you bet they will be putting out salt. I learned the hard way. i bought a set of axis shine wheels this summer and now my clear coat is coming off of two of my rims.

 

Salt kills more then just the wheel finish.

 

^ sure, it kills road ice and car undercarriages also!





I'll do you one better than that. We had a moisture analyzer come through where I work. I analyzed some brass weights and they came in at 0% water, go figure. Then I analyzed a few grams of water and it came back . . . 99.5% water. I was all until I opened the lid and saw what was left in the sample pan. That's some pretty hard tap water!