Powder coat vers Paint

"Best" and "cheapest" don't always go together.

Though I don't really focus on wheels for various reasons (unlike the vast majority of powder coaters), you should know there are literally thousands of powder colors available in any texture you want. Silver, gold and even some red powders are NOT UV stable on their own so you'll want them cleared too; otherwise they'll oxidize over time and you'll need to polish them occasionally because there's real metal in the powder.

You can find locals willing to charge $30 apiece on up but keep in mind you'll definitely get what you pay for.

Though prep for paint versus powder overlaps a bit step-wise, powder prep is more invasive since it requires blasting to put the right profile on the metal. If you examine blasted metal under a microscope, you'll see hills and valleys. When powder is applied and starts to cure under heat, it "flows out" into a liquid momentarily and self-levels, creating not only a beautiful but long lasting bond WITH the metal rather than simply riding on top of it like paint does. Sure, powder can be sprayed onto a non-blasted surface too but it won't last as long if the prep wasn't done right. Some will merely "rough it up with a Scotchbrite," but I don't. I was raised to do it right or don't do it at all, and that applies universally to everything in my life from paid work to cleaning the litter box.

Note too that most shops will simply coat over defects, road rash, chips, dings, etc., rather than focusing on perfecting the metal first.

I'd address other important prep here too if your wheels were aluminum or alloy but it doesn't really apply to your steelies up there so I'll save it.

Feel free to give me a call if you have other questions. Even if you have no plans to ship them here, I still believe an informed consumer is the smart consumer, so let me know if there's anything else I can do to help with your decision.