Painting Alloy Wheels

[lonegpr]

Thanks Tiff for this section. Great idea.

OK...my question...

I've got a set of 15x7 alloys on my TJ that came from a Grand Cherokee. I've been considering painting them black or having them powdercoated. Anybody else done this with alloys? What is involved if you have? What kind of preperation is needed for the wheel? TIA

[satan]

Personally, I've only done steel wheels -- both processes -- the finish durability with powder coating can't be topped - you can even get into clear-coat powders and all of that... -- With a properly prepared surface, most high-end auto paint finishes, with elastomeric chip-protection added (or specific wheel paints) work really well.

Used to race and liked the light alloys for managing unsprung weight... the issue with some alloys (researched this before making a huge blunder) is that some alloys don't like the heat required for curing some powder coatings (and in the hard braking world those same alloys were fairly intollerant of brake heat!). Heating some alloys will impact the metal structure and potentially make the wheels more brittle than before (probably not a good 4x4 feature).

Of course I'm old, and so is my experience in wheel refinishing. I do know that alloys are improving and the cure for some powders should be well within the tollerence for some of the newer alloys -- check to see what you've got.

[Lauti]

A buddy got a set of used ZJ Ldt. wheels for his XJ, he had them sandblasted with glass-pearls! Much smoother surface and the powdercoating on that surface does really look good.

[Griz]

A buddy of mine had his alloy's powder coated on his Isuzu. They look great. He sand blasted them first.

[lonegpr]

Thanks for the replys. I figured that I'd have to get them sandblasted prior to any new type of paint being applied. Guess I'll make some calls for pricing.