hey everyone,

just posting a quick question about powder coating. I've found a reputable place here in the Buffalo NY area and i'm seriously thinking of powder coating my 01-03 FX4 rims.

question is the quy i spoke to said there are different levels of quality the rims could turn out. he said there would be "show" quality, or there could be "work tough" quality turn out of the rims.

he said the show quality would have a layer of clear coat, which i think in my mind looks really awsome. BUT its more expensive, and I'm also thinking I might just like the flat black look. Does anybody have any pics of "show" quality powdercoating vs. just average powder coating?

OR any recomomendations for what i should do?

Thanks guys,

John

 

Not sure if this will help, but my father had a motorcycle frame powder coated in "gloss black" which turned out very nice. I am not sure what show quality looks like but the gloss was nice and held up to many rocks and such. I'm sure the clear coat will add a layer of protection but I am not sure that is needed.

 

John,
Find someone else to do your PC'ing. I powder coat and its either done right or its not done at all. There is only one quality. Now, if the difference is the appearance as in with or without clear coat, gloss is not always the only option. You can have them PC'd flat black and then have satin or flat clear coating put on top and still retain the flat quality. "Show" and "work" are not classifications of powder coating qualities.

Also, flat black has no UV protection and will "frost" or breakdown in sunlight. Ever seen a bull bar or nerf bars that look like they are oxidizing and turning white? This is flat black. Ask for satin black. Same finish but it has UV protection.

 

Here is a valve cover I did for a Dakota R/T club member. This is virtual chrome base, candy purple 2nd stage, cut letters, and super high gloss final stage.

 

This is an SRT-4 VC done in chrome base, a custome candy metal flake blue, and clear. Even the plastic oil cap is powder coated.

 

hey delta ive always wanted to powdercoat my FX4 rimstoo haha

how were you planning on getting them coated?
like all the same color or not?

i always wanted to get the gunmetal colored areas powdercoated black

 

I don't want to hijack your thread Delta17, but I need some PC advice too.

Hey Blue150, I saw in another thread about PC'ing aluminum OEM wheels, where somebody said to "make sure you PC the whole wheel, inside and out, or else you were wasting your time" ? Why would this be ? It seems to me that bead blasting the bead area of the wheel, then PC'ing it, would be a really risky thing to do, as far as expecting that wheel to hold air pressure later !

What's up with this aspect of PC'ing OEM wheels ?

Thanks,
Fish

 

Media blasting won't hurt the bead. As long as its a fine grit media. Aluminum oxide or glass bead would be fine. Avoid coal slag. After you blast it and have it coated the bead will be smooth again. No worries.

 

and BTW, your advice sounds right, about avoiding somebody who says, "Yea' we can do this "low grade job, for this much... or this pro job, for this much".....
Huh ? I would think it would be either good, or bad.... right, or wrong.....

Peace,
Fish

 

hey guys,

well my original plan was for gloss black powdercoat. I never did get it done however because after some debate, i decided with the amount of chrome that is on the 97/98 front and rear bumper, at least on my truck, the black rims might actually not match the rest of the trucks look. If i had solid color bumpers, which i wish i did, i would have spent the money for sure. As far as the topic raised about different quality powder coating - thats interesting, and something that seems like surely investigating as one would call around for prices.

the guy i spoke to in buffalo did seem to know his stuff and came recommended from an off-road forum i had found for the western new york region. I trust what he was saying, but again i'd ask around first if i were to decide to get the rims powdercoated. I'd say do the powdercoating as long as it matches the truck, unfortantely for me it didnt.

blackedoutv6 - that sounds cool to me, its just so tough to imagine mentally I wish i know how to photoshop haha! If anybody does it to their rims, please post some pics!!!!

 

haha X2!!!!

 

I talked to a girl today (yes, she does the powder coating herself :-) ...nice tan too... well fitting jeans... I wonder if she likes to fish ? :-) Doh !

Anyway, she said she needs to know for sure, if these wheels were forged in a mold which uses a silicone release agent. She said this isn't that common, but she has seen it recently on aluminum motorcycle mags, and of course it probably almost goes without saying, but "nothing" sticks well to silicone. So, if some of this silicone seeps into the pores of the aluminum, it can cause the powder coat to seperate and peel later on.

The other thing she was curious about, is whether the painted accents, were really paint... or powder coating itself. Because if it was powder coating, she was sure her powder coating would stick well too, but also, she needed to make sure she got all of it off during the beadblasting.

Hmmmm....
Blue ? Anybody ?

Fish

 

She's not too experienced if she is asking that. Her powder will stick. Silicone would repel paint and powder both. If she blasts it well enough, it should not be an issue. A female powder coater eh? Sounds hot.

 

X's 2

 

(being the paranoid, over-thinker that I sometimes am :-)

How easy would it be for somebody to screw up aluminum wheels from beadblasting.... either from taking some of the sharp edges off more than others, so that they would not appear uniform, OR taking off a touch more metal on one part of the wheel, than another, and making them tough, or impossible to balance later ???

Needless concerns ? Or a real posibility ?

Thanks,
Fish