Is it a bad idea to have your rims painted?
09-19-2012, 10:17 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Is it a bad idea to have your rims painted?
I wanted to have my rims painted to match the car color, just the face and leave the lip chrome. I talked to my local rim shop that I've used in the past and they were heavily warning me against this saying over time it will chip a show other signs of wear. The primarly do powder coating, but from what I understand you can't color match powder coating you can only do basic colors.
I feel like on this forum I've heard of plenty of people painting their rims so I'm just curious if it is really safe, if I should really expect to have problems, or how long I should expect the color to last. Thanks!
I feel like on this forum I've heard of plenty of people painting their rims so I'm just curious if it is really safe, if I should really expect to have problems, or how long I should expect the color to last. Thanks!
09-20-2012, 10:38 PM
#2
Painting would be entirely different from powder coating. I had mine powder coated for over a year now and they still look awesome. Like anything else things last and look great as long as they are taken care of. But to answer your question powder coating would be a better way to go and there's about a thousand different color options available.
09-25-2012, 02:46 PM
#3
i looked into getting my wheels powder coated and painted (YESTERDAY AND TODAY ACTUALLY!) the prices were about the same after all is said and done, powdercoating was 70$ more.
I opted to get them painted and am dropping the car off tomorrow. after researching, I read on a lot of sites that because of the heat involved in powder coating, the wheels actually become weaker and degrade faster overtime. powder coated paint is more durable and less likely to crack, but I painted my last cars wheels with normal black paint from a can, not even the high temp or wheel paint ur supposed to use (base and clear coats) and i never had any cracking or flaking or anything over 3 years. i always waxed them when i waxed my car to help protect them, but rocks on highways never even scratched them -- lucky maybe?
also, i wanted to go with a kandy paint, which i was told by a few powder coating shops i called that the kandy and pearl effects dont come out as good from powder coating as they do from being sprayed. also, most powdercoated quotes i got was for just the gloss base color (i think looks bland without clear coating, not a fan of matte colors or semi-gloss). getting any clear coat or special paint was like an extra 50$ per wheel
the shop im taking my wheels to tomorrow is going to strip the factory paint, sand and prime with and spray with an adhesive promoter, do the base coats with black pearl (lots of flakes in paint for nice depth and contrast in sunlight!), and then clear coat with a hardener. I opted not to have the tires removed from the wheels, it isnt really necessary in my opinion (which is an extra charge for powder coating too, on top of charging to keep your car there since it takes about 3 days for the whole powder coating process: 1 day heating ovens, 1 day with wheels in ovens, and removing, cooling, and remounting the tires and putting back onto the car on the 3rd day, picking the car up on the 4th day). the best price quotes i got locally are below, obviously local prices are always different, you should always call atleast 2-3 places for quotes.
powder - 85 per wheel - 125 for all tire removal - 50 for keeping car on their lot = $515 total + tax = 551.05
paint - 120 per tire, tax included = $480
I opted to get them painted and am dropping the car off tomorrow. after researching, I read on a lot of sites that because of the heat involved in powder coating, the wheels actually become weaker and degrade faster overtime. powder coated paint is more durable and less likely to crack, but I painted my last cars wheels with normal black paint from a can, not even the high temp or wheel paint ur supposed to use (base and clear coats) and i never had any cracking or flaking or anything over 3 years. i always waxed them when i waxed my car to help protect them, but rocks on highways never even scratched them -- lucky maybe?
also, i wanted to go with a kandy paint, which i was told by a few powder coating shops i called that the kandy and pearl effects dont come out as good from powder coating as they do from being sprayed. also, most powdercoated quotes i got was for just the gloss base color (i think looks bland without clear coating, not a fan of matte colors or semi-gloss). getting any clear coat or special paint was like an extra 50$ per wheel
the shop im taking my wheels to tomorrow is going to strip the factory paint, sand and prime with and spray with an adhesive promoter, do the base coats with black pearl (lots of flakes in paint for nice depth and contrast in sunlight!), and then clear coat with a hardener. I opted not to have the tires removed from the wheels, it isnt really necessary in my opinion (which is an extra charge for powder coating too, on top of charging to keep your car there since it takes about 3 days for the whole powder coating process: 1 day heating ovens, 1 day with wheels in ovens, and removing, cooling, and remounting the tires and putting back onto the car on the 3rd day, picking the car up on the 4th day). the best price quotes i got locally are below, obviously local prices are always different, you should always call atleast 2-3 places for quotes.
powder - 85 per wheel - 125 for all tire removal - 50 for keeping car on their lot = $515 total + tax = 551.05
paint - 120 per tire, tax included = $480
Last edited by G37Some; 09-25-2012 at 02:55 PM.
09-25-2012, 08:12 PM
#5
i looked into getting my wheels powder coated and painted (YESTERDAY AND TODAY ACTUALLY!) the prices were about the same after all is said and done, powdercoating was 70$ more.
I opted to get them painted and am dropping the car off tomorrow. after researching, I read on a lot of sites that because of the heat involved in powder coating, the wheels actually become weaker and degrade faster overtime. powder coated paint is more durable and less likely to crack, but I painted my last cars wheels with normal black paint from a can, not even the high temp or wheel paint ur supposed to use (base and clear coats) and i never had any cracking or flaking or anything over 3 years. i always waxed them when i waxed my car to help protect them, but rocks on highways never even scratched them -- lucky maybe?
also, i wanted to go with a kandy paint, which i was told by a few powder coating shops i called that the kandy and pearl effects dont come out as good from powder coating as they do from being sprayed. also, most powdercoated quotes i got was for just the gloss base color (i think looks bland without clear coating, not a fan of matte colors or semi-gloss). getting any clear coat or special paint was like an extra 50$ per wheel
the shop im taking my wheels to tomorrow is going to strip the factory paint, sand and prime with and spray with an adhesive promoter, do the base coats with black pearl (lots of flakes in paint for nice depth and contrast in sunlight!), and then clear coat with a hardener. I opted not to have the tires removed from the wheels, it isnt really necessary in my opinion (which is an extra charge for powder coating too, on top of charging to keep your car there since it takes about 3 days for the whole powder coating process: 1 day heating ovens, 1 day with wheels in ovens, and removing, cooling, and remounting the tires and putting back onto the car on the 3rd day, picking the car up on the 4th day). the best price quotes i got locally are below, obviously local prices are always different, you should always call atleast 2-3 places for quotes.
powder - 85 per wheel - 125 for all tire removal - 50 for keeping car on their lot = $515 total + tax = 551.05
paint - 120 per tire, tax included = $480
I opted to get them painted and am dropping the car off tomorrow. after researching, I read on a lot of sites that because of the heat involved in powder coating, the wheels actually become weaker and degrade faster overtime. powder coated paint is more durable and less likely to crack, but I painted my last cars wheels with normal black paint from a can, not even the high temp or wheel paint ur supposed to use (base and clear coats) and i never had any cracking or flaking or anything over 3 years. i always waxed them when i waxed my car to help protect them, but rocks on highways never even scratched them -- lucky maybe?
also, i wanted to go with a kandy paint, which i was told by a few powder coating shops i called that the kandy and pearl effects dont come out as good from powder coating as they do from being sprayed. also, most powdercoated quotes i got was for just the gloss base color (i think looks bland without clear coating, not a fan of matte colors or semi-gloss). getting any clear coat or special paint was like an extra 50$ per wheel
the shop im taking my wheels to tomorrow is going to strip the factory paint, sand and prime with and spray with an adhesive promoter, do the base coats with black pearl (lots of flakes in paint for nice depth and contrast in sunlight!), and then clear coat with a hardener. I opted not to have the tires removed from the wheels, it isnt really necessary in my opinion (which is an extra charge for powder coating too, on top of charging to keep your car there since it takes about 3 days for the whole powder coating process: 1 day heating ovens, 1 day with wheels in ovens, and removing, cooling, and remounting the tires and putting back onto the car on the 3rd day, picking the car up on the 4th day). the best price quotes i got locally are below, obviously local prices are always different, you should always call atleast 2-3 places for quotes.
powder - 85 per wheel - 125 for all tire removal - 50 for keeping car on their lot = $515 total + tax = 551.05
paint - 120 per tire, tax included = $480
My boy here at customs functionz gave me a good deal for all four powder coated with 2 coats. Base chrome and then a black translucent. All of that took a turn around of about 4 days and cost me 475.
I took them to a tire shop near by to get them forced balanced <----- highly recommended if you going above 80-120. haha.. That was about another 80, but it was not done properly so took it to the dealer. Sometimes the dealerships have the better tools. With alignment and balancing everything came out to 129.
So it all depends where you go for prices and such. Also just like everything else painting/ powder etc. as long as you take proper care of things they will last.
Last edited by SamR; 09-25-2012 at 08:17 PM.
09-26-2012, 02:38 PM
#7
Well, i've had my wheels powder coated in black before. Everything was all good and well. But after about 2 years I noticed some gloss starting to fade and chips more abundant. After 3 years, they looked nothing like when i got them done, mainly due to the gloss being completely stripped. I filled in the chips with touch up paint which was good enough for me, but after 3 winters and 50,000miles they didnt look good. im sure it also depends what shops you take it to and how many thin layers they put on, but I wouldnt really expect any painted wheels to last very long if they take the beatings of an everyday driver.
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09-28-2012, 03:03 PM
#8
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Thread Starter
I think I'm going to end up painting route. I would really love to powder coat because its worth it to pay a little extra for durability, but the fact is that white inifinitis are really hard to color match and I think powder coating would compound that issue. IMO there is nothing worse than having 2 shades of white clashing next to each other. I am fortunate enough to live in the bay area so we don't have anything close to even a semi-harsh winters and I garage my car every night so I should be fairly safe. Also I am only painting the inside of the rip and lip stays chrome so that should help from curbs and stuff. I'm definitely going to find a shop that will do a thorough job so because half assing it only makes the paint go faster.
10-05-2012, 11:09 AM
#9
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I had mine painted and it was the worst decision I have made. I have had mine painted now 3 times. Why? Because no matter what type of pain they use it will never be as hard as your OEM paint will be. Repainted wheels scratch way to easily. I dont really worry about curbs but the worst part is getting your car serviced with painted rims... The techs will scratch them up for sure removing the lug nuts... My dealers said they wont touch my car anymore because they scatched them and had to get them repainted.
If I were to do it all again, I would get them powder coated 100%...
If I were to do it all again, I would get them powder coated 100%...
10-05-2012, 08:34 PM
#10
Registered User
Thread Starter
I had mine painted and it was the worst decision I have made. I have had mine painted now 3 times. Why? Because no matter what type of pain they use it will never be as hard as your OEM paint will be. Repainted wheels scratch way to easily. I dont really worry about curbs but the worst part is getting your car serviced with painted rims... The techs will scratch them up for sure removing the lug nuts... My dealers said they wont touch my car anymore because they scatched them and had to get them repainted.
If I were to do it all again, I would get them powder coated 100%...
If I were to do it all again, I would get them powder coated 100%...
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