Powder coating wheels

[DaDuck]

the problem with PC is taking lug nuts off/on the surface will chip. having tires installed will also chip. how do you "touch up" the chips?

Spray bomb has an almost infinite choice of colors and will last many years if you properly prep the wheels, and you can touch up any chips without much effort or expense.

I am in the process of painting my trailer wheels right now with Rustoleum in a spray can. 2005 powdercoating on the original trailer wheels looked good for about 5 years. The last 10 years have accumulated alot of surface rust. I cleaned up with 400 sandpaper and good to go.

 

[gungatim]

LGR

 

[86turbodsl]

Most of the cars are old diesels that don't have cats. I'm aware of it though. I have a few cats to sell also. They are NOT going in on the scrap cars.

 

[dodge610]

Clear coat those wheels after there powder coated and they will take the chips a whole lot better.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Thank you for the amazing compliment Crow!! I don't really do a lot of wheels for two reasons; at 5'0 nothin and 115 lbs, steelies can be heavy to move around without touching anything and aluminum/alloys are almost inevitably "poisoned" by the silicone in tire wet and Armor All products for the results to meet my own expectations let alone a customer's. It isn't unusual for all the work to equal or get close to the cost of new ones.

To the O.P., generally speaking, a half pound of powder is roughly equivalent in coverage to three rattle cans of spray paint. Some places will only coat the fronts -- leaving all the back and barrels bare -- which simply invites "creep," where corrosion begins on the exposed metal and creeps underneath the powder over time until one day it just starts coming off in sheets or flakes.

Just like any other non-regulated service, this industry is full of hacks who are more interested in your wallet than in satisfactory results. I don't roll that way. If I wouldn't put my finished parts on my own car, I'd NEVER ask you to put them on yours either.

These old steel wheels were around $200 apiece, in two colors with a matte clear topcoat.





These were brand new from Rocket Racing, a set of aluminum wheels, center caps and lug nuts for a local guy.



Good luck whichever way you decide to go on your trailer!!

 

[dodge610]

Thank you for the amazing compliment Crow!! I don't really do a lot of wheels for two reasons; at 5'0 nothin and 115 lbs, steelies can be heavy to move around without touching anything and aluminum/alloys are almost inevitably "poisoned" by the silicone in tire wet and Armor All products for the results to meet my own expectations let alone a customer's. It isn't unusual for all the work to equal or get close to the cost of new ones.

To the O.P., generally speaking, a half pound of powder is roughly equivalent in coverage to three rattle cans of spray paint. Some places will only coat the fronts -- leaving all the back and barrels bare -- which simply invites "creep," where corrosion begins on the exposed metal and creeps underneath the powder over time until one day it just starts coming off in sheets or flakes.

Just like any other non-regulated service, this industry is full of hacks who are more interested in your wallet than in satisfactory results. I don't roll that way. If I wouldn't put my finished parts on my own car, I'd NEVER ask you to put them on yours either.

These old steel wheels were around $200 apiece, in two colors with a matte clear topcoat.





These were brand new from Rocket Racing, a set of aluminum wheels, center caps and lug nuts for a local guy.



Good luck whichever way you decide to go on your trailer!!

Exactly must do both sides of wheel or your wasting your time and the customers money gotta stop the creep lol

 

[finn]

Slightly OT- Anyone know how much a typical shop charges to prep and powder coat a wheel? Assume dirty, old paint, etc. Nothing fancy; stock 16" steel wheels.

Small local shop quoted me $40/wheel last September.

That included sand blasting.

He couldn’t do my chromed aluminum wheels, though. He doesn’t have the equipment or permits to strip the chrome.

Now that we’re back for the season, I will bring him a couple of steel wheels to coat.

 

[BigMike782]

These were 60.00

 

[Crow Horse]

As pointed out, there's a huge disparity in pricing for powder coating wheels. Not coincidental, the price generally reflects the quality level. I see 4 levels of powder coating - DIY, Economy, Production/Commercial, and Custom. Leanna provides the highest level of quality. I formerly worked in the Production/Commercial level where we couldn't (or wouldn't) invest the time to do custom high quality work but could do work that most others couldn't. Our "small" oven was 15 x 35 and the larger oven was 55 feet long. We'd hang a set or two of wheels on special cart ) along with other items of the same color) and they would remain on them until they were removed from the oven. Didn't have to worry about touching the wheel prior to baking. My point here is that if one was to use a dedicated home oven, it would have to be one wheel at a time and you couldn't coat the entire wheel. Hanging the wheel would be problematic at best.

 

[86turbodsl]

You guys are making me want to just spray bomb them...

 

[tarbellb]

Nice thing about spray bombing


you can touch them up while still on the car!

Seriously tho, I had flat black wheels I rattle canned, got any kind of chip or damage I would mask off the car ie blankets for the body, tshirts in the wheel cutouts... and spray away. It was my daily driver, a bit of a beater.

 

[will335i]

Thank you for the amazing compliment Crow!! I don't really do a lot of wheels for two reasons; at 5'0 nothin and 115 lbs, steelies can be heavy to move around without touching anything and aluminum/alloys are almost inevitably "poisoned" by the silicone in tire wet and Armor All products for the results to meet my own expectations let alone a customer's. It isn't unusual for all the work to equal or get close to the cost of new ones.

To the O.P., generally speaking, a half pound of powder is roughly equivalent in coverage to three rattle cans of spray paint. Some places will only coat the fronts -- leaving all the back and barrels bare -- which simply invites "creep," where corrosion begins on the exposed metal and creeps underneath the powder over time until one day it just starts coming off in sheets or flakes.

Just like any other non-regulated service, this industry is full of hacks who are more interested in your wallet than in satisfactory results. I don't roll that way. If I wouldn't put my finished parts on my own car, I'd NEVER ask you to put them on yours either.

These old steel wheels were around $200 apiece, in two colors with a matte clear topcoat.





These were brand new from Rocket Racing, a set of aluminum wheels, center caps and lug nuts for a local guy.



Good luck whichever way you decide to go on your trailer!!

I might have to get with you on some parts for my 68 F/S Barracuda.

I am guessing yours is a 67? Hard to tell from the picture. What power plant do you have in it?

 

[will335i]

You guys are making me want to just spray bomb them...

F everyone else. Powder coat them. I am all for learning a new skill. The biggest investment in it is the equipment and once you have it it opens the doors to a ton of projects and maybe you get good enough to make a few bucks on the side. Like all types of painting, prep is the most important step.

 

[CudaChick1968]

I might have to get with you on some parts for my 68 F/S Barracuda.

I am guessing yours is a 67? Hard to tell from the picture. What power plant do you have in it?

It would be a privilege to add you to my stable!!

It's actually a '68. I bought it for $250 on April 9, 1991 and just celebrated my 30th Anniversary with it a few days ago. I love that beast like a second kid!





It's now a 340 with a reverse manual and an 8 3/4" SureGrip. Restoring its brackets, pulleys and other small parts is what got me into powder work back in 1999. It suddenly turned into a career 8 years later when we moved to BFE Tennessee after Katrina; until 2006 I was a certified paralegal for 21 years. It's funny how time and circumstances can change one's direction .....

 

[86turbodsl]

until 2006 I was a certified paralegal for 21 years. It's funny how time and circumstances can change one's direction .....

It is indeed. You have definitely made it your passion! Nice work!

 

[whateg01]

PC pricing varies a lot from place to place. Around here there are a lot of manufacturers that have equipment powder coated so the places that do it make the bulk of their money on those huge contracts and don't really want to meet with guys bringing in a bumper or wheels. So they charge accordingly, hoping to scare away those jobs. Lots of aircraft here too, so most machine shops don't want to mess with job work. That works out great for me. I'll take those one off jobs!

 

[BigMike782]

I work in Elkhart Indiana and there must be an abundance of PC shops here. The one I use does mostly dump trailers but has always been friendly about doing my small projects(Bobcat rims/farm tractor rims) and been cost effective.