Chrome Polish on the exhaust

[Tom57]

Call me crazy!
I was under my truck yesterday polishing my exhaust with Mothers Chrome Polish
I have done it before on my other and past vehicles and it makes a big difference, - the dirt and water doesn't stick and doing it once a year your exhaust will look like new.
I have a 2008 Honda Civic that I have been polishing my exhaust since new and it still looks like new, the car has 174,000 miles with the original exhaust
The heat doesn't burn off the wax unless it gets red hot, actually the heat bakes in the chrome polish making it stronger.
When I take my Civic to a mechanic to get inspected and he has it up on the rack and asks me if I just replaced the exhaust system I tell him NO... I polish it with chrome polish and they look at me that I'm crazy !
Within reason, when the vehicle is new with a new-clean exhaust you can do that..... but if it's old and the exhaust is already rusted it's a waste of time to polish it.
I know other guys that wax the frame on their truck, polish the aluminum lower control arms to give a chrome look so I don't feel like I'm the only crazy one - get carried away . Actually thinking about polishing the aluminum engine front cover of my 3.6 V6 - I use an angle air die grinder with a mild 2"nylon polish pad with Mothers Chrome Polish ......... I will send pictures when done......then you guys can call me crazy. No offence will be taken. Actually the best chrome polish I have used is the Honda Motorcycle chrome polish but it's crazy expensive, Mothers brand works good enough.
I love my truck, I love my car...... I admit that

 

[18CrewDually]

None of the pictures of your work are showing?!

 

[Tom57]

I think it looks better using chrome polish to the stock exhaust than using one of those cheap slide on chrome tips you can buy at Walmart.
Also I have done it before on my older cars and trucks and the chrome polish holds up, doesn't rust, doesn't burn off and the shine lasts a year, the next year it will just need a very easy one time polish to chrome it up again.
Not finished that's just the start, also polished inside the tailpipe as far as I could reach inside.
When I pass up all the Ford and Chevy trucks on the highway they will get a good look at my chrome tailpipe and say "WOW that looks good" ( or they will think it's an old truck and I just replaced the exhaust )

 

[18CrewDually]

You're dedicated. Maybe a tad bit of crazy.

 

[Tom57]

does the Ram 1500 using the 6.4 Hemi use a single or dual exhaust ?
The reason I'm asking is because I want to get 6.4 Hemi decals on my truck but if my single exhaust gives it away that it's a V6 I might not get the decals

 

[Tom57]

Here's a pic of my 2008 Honda Civic with 174,000 miles original exhaust tailpipe-muffler looks when I polish it yearly - I never polished it this year yet - when doing the same thing - the vehicle is 16 years old and the original exhaust looks like new!
Please believe me - doing that makes the exhaust last forever, it doesn't rust, doesn't burn off, the polish protects it keeping it looking like new even for 16 years ( it's a little dull right now cause I never polished it yet this year, but a quick - easy chrome polish will give it a mirror chrome look )

 

[JHoward]

does the Ram 1500 using the 6.4 Hemi use a single or dual exhaust ?
The reason I'm asking is because I want to get 6.4 Hemi decals on my truck but if my single exhaust gives it away that it's a V6 I might not get the decals

Of all of the 6.4 liter HEMI 2500 Series trucks I've seen are single rear outlet exhaust.

Why are you wanting to put decals on your truck that doesn't have what the decal designates?

 

[turkeybird56]

View attachment 546236
I think it looks better using chrome polish to the stock exhaust than using one of those cheap slide on chrome tips you can buy at Walmart.
Also I have done it before on my older cars and trucks and the chrome polish holds up, doesn't rust, doesn't burn off and the shine lasts a year, the next year it will just need a very easy one time polish to chrome it up again.
Not finished that's just the start, also polished inside the tailpipe as far as I could reach inside.
When I pass up all the Ford and Chevy trucks on the highway they will get a good look at my chrome tailpipe and say "WOW that looks good" ( or they will think it's an old truck and I just replaced the exhaust )

I polish the very end tips on my RAM, but not gonna do the whole exhaust, LOL. Just cleaned up the ride like a week ago:

 

[Tom57]

Of all of the 6.4 liter HEMI 2500 Series trucks I've seen are single rear outlet exhaust.

Why are you wanting to put decals on your truck that doesn't have what the decal designates?

I want people to think it's a more powerful engine (not the V6) to keep up with the 6.2 Chevy's, the 5.7 Ram's and the 3.5 Ecoboost Ford

 

[Tom57]

I polish the very end tips on my RAM, but not gonna do the whole exhaust, LOL. Just cleaned up the ride like a week ago:

What polish do you use ?
I have found the 2 best - the Mothers paste chrome polish and the Honda Motorcycle polish that you can only buy at Honda motorcycle dealers. The Turtle wax chrome polish isn't as good.
I apply the chrome polish using a tiny buffer pad with an air angle die grinder and the tight places where I can't reach with the die grinder I use either 400-600 grit emery cloth or a nylon pad and do it by hand. I park my truck on the soft grass where it's comfortable and little birds walk under the truck with me and I say "Hi Birdies"

 

[Tom57]

I polish the very end tips on my RAM, but not gonna do the whole exhaust, LOL. Just cleaned up the ride like a week ago:

View attachment 546238View attachment 546239View attachment 546240

Looks great !

 

[JHoward]

I want people to think it's a more powerful engine (not the V6) to keep up with the 6.2 Chevy's, the 5.7 Ram's and the 3.5 Ecoboost Ford

Well, ok. Just don't race your "non-HEMI" RAM truck with any of those you mentioned, and you might pass your truck off as having something "larger in it's pants", or else you'll become "exposed" ...

 

[turkeybird56]

What polish do you use ?
I have found the 2 best - the Mothers paste chrome polish and the Honda Motorcycle polish that you can only buy at Honda motorcycle dealers. The Turtle wax chrome polish isn't as good.
I apply the chrome polish using a tiny buffer pad with an air angle die grinder and the tight places where I can't reach with the die grinder I use either 400-600 grit emery cloth or a nylon pad and do it by hand. I park my truck on the soft grass where it's comfortable and little birds walk under the truck with me and I say "Hi Birdies"

I just use Turtle chrome paste also on my Honda Trike lol. Takes me like 3 hrs to do the MC with all da chrome lol.

And I run 10W 40 AT full synthetic Mobil 1 MC oil in my boxer 6 Gl 1800 trike. Honda oil over rated lol.

 

[turkeybird56]

Well, ok. Just don't race your "non-HEMI" RAM truck with any of those you mentioned, and you might pass your truck off as having something "larger in it's pants", or else you'll become "exposed" ...

PPL always pull-up to me and want to race my trike lol. It is set at 125 and if I pull limiter run 160 mph but my thoughts are. Why hee hee

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

I use Eagle One Nevr-Dull for aluminum and chrome does a great job on my chrome exhaust tips, not good on lacquered or painted surfaces.

 

[CanuckRam1313]

I religiously used Nevr-Dull and the results were fantastic!

I will say that I was crazy about my exhaust on my 06' 300 SRT8 (and previous high performance vehicles, too) with polishing my exhaust systems.

I was then, and am still today, a huge MagnaFlow proponent. Especially on the HEMI's as it just tosses out those deep tones that compliments the HEMI V8, especially at WOT (IMPO that is)... not to be undermined by how great it sounded on my 99' 1.6EL Premium with full engine upgrades, too.... oh' the good ole' days indeed!!!!

I'd crawl under and take hours (okay, back then I was drinking a lot of whiskey and smoking a lot of....in those days, so the hours were... well, who knows how much time really passed...lol).

I never had rust and my exhaust systems always looked spot on!!!!!!!!!

 

[GTyankee]

I painted my Harley trike exhaust & it always looks good

The rest of the chrome is triple plated

 

[Tom57]

I have never heard of Nevr-Dull ..... I'm going to try that
The main point I was trying to make is it protects the exhaust from rusting out - I gave proof on a 16 year old vehicle with 175K miles + plus my years of experience doing it
My friends and family will laugh at me saying I have a lot of time on my hands for doing something so stupid, I do have a lot of time, I like to keep busy and active, there are days I look for something to do, I even buy things I don't need just to keep myself busy. What can I say? I love my Ram Truck and my Honda Civic, I don't need to make any excuse when I take extra good care of my vehicles. My thinking is you guys also love your truck and want to protect it and look good at the same time.
I admit I'm obsessed with buying new tires - I wish my tires would wear out so I can buy new tires. I have a lot of experience with what to look for in good tires from my past mistakes, as a teaser and in my opinion the worst type of tires to buy are the all terrain tires - unless you do a lot and I mean a lot of off-road - for on road and as a snow tire the all terrain are the worst you can get. I can recommend the best tire brands and type of tread (in my opinion and experience) but out of respect of you guys I will never do that cause I know everyone is loyal to their type and brand of tires and their brand of motor oil, I respect that.