But I suppose it could be called high effort.
We actually have nice aluminum under the ugly gray/bronze paint on the factory step rails and off-road skid plate. I have removed the paint and taken them to a polished/brushed finish. I really did not like the way the step rail color clashed with the high-polished Centerlines. The color was terrible IMHO. Other than the step rails and skid plate, that color does not appear anywhere else on the truck!
So I took a chance, removed the step rails, disassembled them, and stripped them. I bought the paint stripper, and already had a new brass brush and scrapers. It took 2 coats of the stripper, scraping and brushing in between. Then 320, 400 and 600 wet sanding, and finishing up with Brillo dishwashing pads (steel wool with soap). I suppose you could go on and do a full polish, but then you'd have to KEEP polishing them. Stopping with the Brillo steel wool level will enable me to simply maintain them using a Brillo pad occassionally while washing.
I liked the way the step rails came out and they were relatively easy. The stripper does not bother the plastic steps. So then I went for the skid plate. It was much harder. It must be powder-coated, cause the stripper did not work as well on it. The finish softened, but had to be 95% scraped off. Then could be finished with the brass brush and so on.
The pictures below are of the tools I used and the finished oil filter access plate on my desk. I will post pics this weekend of the mounted parts after I wash the step rails.