Looking at changing the color of my wheels. I read up on some articles about powder coating wheels and how it can possibly affect the structural rigidity of the wheels themselves due to heat exposure over an extended time. This is with a cast-aluminum wheel; not sure about forged.

Are there any alternatives to changing the color of the wheels? I would prefer not to get the wheels painted as those would chip towards pretty easily. Someone mentioned that I could send in my Advans to get remanufactured by the company so I can get a different color and have the original quality intact.

Any suggestions and feedback are helpful, thanks!

 

Well yes it does slightly weaken cast-aluminum wheels powdercoating, but I have yet to see a case where someone bent/broke a wheel from powdercoating them. Different powders bake on at different degree's, so there are some that are only in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes at a time. I highly doubt that will cause much harm.

If you still dont really want to powdercoat, your only real alternative is getting them painted by a body shop. Any paint will still chip though, thats the bad thing. Getting them done with an automotive paint by a shop in a booth would be the best. It wont just chip off like the crappy wheel spray paints they have. It will chip just like you get chips in your OEM paint on your front bumper.

So your choices are:

Get them powdercoated and have them last a long time, and look awesome. The downside would be you might weaken them a slight bit, but if you dont track the car with these wheels, you wont have any problems.

Or

Get them painted by a body shop. Will look good for a while, but will eventually start chipping, and you will have to re-do them maybe once a year if your picky about rock chips.

 

Thanks for the fast response, I'll have to take a look at some of the powders that are available that don't need a long time or a lot of heat to apply.

 

No problem. Try to find someone in your area that has some experience powder coating wheels. They should be able to help you alot with any other questions you should have.

 

Still no other options other than painting?

I was actually going to Powdercoat as well until some brought the rigidy issue to my attention. I have Enkei RPF1s and wanted to get a different color.

Thanks,
Andre

 

Plastidip?

 

What else do you think there is? You have basically listed the 2 ways to change a color on anything. Unless you just get them polished or plated powder coat and paint are your options. I guess it is possible to anodize a wheel but I know it will be much more difficult to find a place that can do that and your colors are very limited.

 

I'm in the same boat man. I've wanted matte/dark grey RPF1's or preferably Advan RGII's forever but I'm afraid to try powder coating.

 

Painting them myself might be the way to go... hard to swallow considering I don't want to mess up... haha.

Another thing... I've also been reading that Bead Blasting is better than Sand Blasting due to Sand Blasting also showing evidence of lowering wheel strength due to the heat from the process. Anyone have experience at all with this?

Thanks,
Andre

 

I was actually looking into the same color... stuck between semi-gloss and matte finish.

Andre