Powder Coating

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olddman

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Thinking of having wheels powder coated. Has anyone had this done? General thoughts on doing this, pros and cons.
 
Powder coating is great. But here in the NE a simple scratch and the salt and sand get in and don’t leave. JMHO.
 
I had it done to the wheels on my Super Bee. It was pricey but WELL WORTH IT.
 
Thinking of having wheels powder coated. Has anyone had this done? General thoughts on doing this, pros and cons.
It is worth it. Powder will hold up way better than most paint. I have powder coated a lot of wheels. I HIGHLY recommend clear coating all wheels for protection. I use a very nice high gloss clear powder. You should contact @CudaChick1968 and ask her to do your wheels. She does amazing work.
I had it done to the wheels on my Super Bee. It was pricey but WELL WORTH IT.
It is fairly pricey because wheels are a pain. For their size, they take a while to do. I will do wheels, but they are a pain, and I charge accordingly.
 
Powder coating is great if it's done properly and the coating is the correct thickness. After spending the money it's real important that whoever mounts your tires doesn't gouge the rims. I would consult with @CudaChick1968 before proceeding with the powder coating.

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I would advise against powder coating wheels. The problem is if you get chips or a scratch, the only way to fix it is to strip the wheel and re-powdercoat it. With paint, you can touch it up. Just my $.02

I had a set of summer wheels refinished in Black Chrome which is powder coat then PVD coat of black chrome for my Cadillac. When the dealership service guy rotated my wheels (without my knowledge), he used an impact to remove lugs and chipped the holy hell out of each lug pocket. The only fix was to strip and recoat all the wheels.
 
I too have had bad results with powder coated wheels.

  1. They coated the inner index hole, i had to sand the crap out of it to get the wheels on.
  2. The back mating surface of the wheel that mates to the hub needs to be flat. I had to sand that too to get down to metal
  3. Sams Club did not protect the wheel or put the center cone on backwards when they balanced the new tires (Wheels only had 1 year of use) and all 4 wheels came away with gouges.
  4. The lug nut hols are all chipped up
  5. And there is an odd wrinkling on some of the centers.
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I say paint. As noted by j_anderson, much easier to repair

And yes they were done by a profesional shop, and sandblasted first.
 
Did Sams Club do all that damage to your wheels? It looks like dents, not just nicks in the powder coat

Jeff
 
I too have had bad results with powder coated wheels.

  1. They coated the inner index hole, i had to sand the crap out of it to get the wheels on.
  2. The back mating surface of the wheel that mates to the hub needs to be flat. I had to sand that too to get down to metal
  3. Sams Club did not protect the wheel or put the center cone on backwards when they balanced the new tires (Wheels only had 1 year of use) and all 4 wheels came away with gouges.
  4. The lug nut hols are all chipped up
  5. And there is an odd wrinkling on some of the centers.
View attachment 1715803145 View attachment 1715803146


I say paint. As noted by j_anderson, much easier to repair

And yes they were done by a profesional shop, and sandblasted first.
Sorry, but there is nothing professional about that job.
 
I had my stock steel wheels powder coated and they came out wonderful.
 
Did Sams Club do all that damage to your wheels
They did the circular markes on each raised lug spot.

I got an insurance claim paid by them. They looked at the wheels and could not argue their way out if it. The chips have happened over the years (10 years???) The wrinkling is more recent like 5 years, it is solid underneath.
 
Well, in my opinion, you guys can say what you want, but a good job of powder coating is going to be better than a good coat of paint, unless you assume that paint holds up betted than powder coating. All of the damage I see in the pictures above would have also happened with paint. The over zealous tire technicians who did that damage would have damaged paint just as badly. Another thing is the comments about touching up nicks and chips. To say that a few nicks and chips will require the entire wheel to be stripped and re powder coated is hog wash. Are you also saying that if a painted wheel gets a few chips in it, the only remedy is to strip it down completely and repaint it? You can easily touch up a nick in a powder coated wheel. I do it all the time. I can always find a paint close enough to do a nearly invisible touch up. That is like saying that if you get a few chips on the fender or door of your car, you need to repaint that entire panel. I have powder coated hundreds of wheels over the years, and I will tell you that powder will stand up better than most paints, and that chips can easily and effectively be touched up. PS @olddman your PM box is full.
 
I can't speak for others, but I usually charge about $100 per wheel on a new wheel. They still have to be sand blasted to get the current paint off them. But I am retired, and it is just a hobby that allows me to earn a little money. If it was my living, I'd probably charge more. But I have all the business I want here in Topeka by word of mouth. I would never suggest or ask for anybody to mail me parts to coat. If I got to the point where I was powder coating 30-40 hours a week, it would be too much like work.
 
Outside silver. Inside Black. Pay attention. That's how they came out of the factory

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Powder coating chips.

It chips when the lug nuts are tightened, from rocks, hub cab / wheel cover removal etc.

As it chips under the lug nut mating surface, your torque settings change too. (no one wants lug nuts to come loose when driving)

Paint will get flaws too, but paint is easy to redo at home.

Powder coating has its place at times but for wheels, it sucks.
 
I would advise against powder coating wheels. The problem is if you get chips or a scratch, the only way to fix it is to strip the wheel and re-powdercoat it. With paint, you can touch it up. Just my $.02

I had a set of summer wheels refinished in Black Chrome which is powder coat then PVD coat of black chrome for my Cadillac. When the dealership service guy rotated my wheels (without my knowledge), he used an impact to remove lugs and chipped the holy hell out of each lug pocket. The only fix was to strip and recoat all the wheels.
That's sucks! Did they repair em?
 
I don't know her personally, and haven't done business with her (yet) But, she's definitely a Stand Up Person. And the Pics of her Work are Awesome! Mad Talent!


Thank you! I typically avoid coating used aluminum wheels like The Plague -- people love their Armor All and tire wet products too much; being silicone based, the stuff leaches into the metal and only a caustic, EPA-controlled chemical called B17 will remove it. B17 will also eat the concrete in my shop if it spills so I don't use it.

Steel wheels are a different animal altogether and $100-200 apiece is about standard.
 
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