Ok powder coating do ya'll love it hate it have an opinion, I am thinking about powder coating my factory rims, the guy is going to charge 75 a wheel( is that high i have never had this done?) is it going to be cheaper in the end to buy brand new ones. have any of ya'll had experience with powder coating? thanks!!!

to spend $75 each you are best to get new wheels for your rig, and get backspacing if needed.

I had a friend powder coat some rims grey. Wasnt long before they looked chaulky white. Didnt turn out well.

i'm not a fan of powder coating. it chips off easily, especially if it is not prepped right. i've had it on bumpers and once you scrape it it flakes off.

$75 is alot to pay just for powdercoating...i bought new pro comp steel wheels that CAME powdercoated for about $50 a piece...

i think it has alot to do with the prep work... the rockers i got from PSC flaked and chipped off in places that didnt see any use/abuse. My bumper and other stuff i have done locally have taken HIT after HIT after HIT and are holding up ALOT better than painted stuff. I think a raw wheel(minimal prep/no sand blasting or acid dip) costs about $35 to get done where i'm at.

Painting is easier and can be touched up... as jgano23 said, poweder coating can chip or if it gets scratched you can't touch it up. then rust sets in and the rest will look like crud after awhile.

I've had my MOABs powder coated black for the past 2yrs and just now starting to look like they need some touching up.

I wheel it pretty dam good at the Badlands park so they've been seeing some more rock rash lately. I did do a touch up on them last year on them and you can't even tell the difference in them.

I only got charged $35ea for them at the time, 2yrs ago.

those are still looking pretty good. How do you touch them up though? I don't think I could get away with powder coating my wheelscuz they get scratched way to easy (the way I drive. lol). I repaint them occasionally with a cheap can of black paint can and they are good as new. Stuff that doesn't see rocks or the trail much would be good for powdercoating.

I ended up just using some gloss black rattle can. I acgtaully had a big chip area taken out, and masked the area and got it to blend pretty good actually. 1 yr later I cant remember wher the area was now... lOL

Id just use some good paint. Much easier to touch up and not as big a deal if it gets scratched up. If its gonna see the trail often anyway. If not then I could see powder coat being fine. But $75 a wheel is far too steep.

Be careful powdercoating aluminum, it can weaken the metal and cause cracks, steel is a different story. I'm not sure if is the cast or forged, I think it is the cast that can weaken during the process.......

I do some powder coating at work
We normaly charge around $150-170 for 4 rims (unless they are 22's or 24's then its $200)

powder coating when done right will hold up way better then paint

over the past couple years I have done an experiment I powder coated my front bumper and 2 years later it still looks as good as new this desert sun will fade paint faster then anywhere else and the powder coat looks as shiny as it did when I first did it

now for the rest of my experiment
last year I painted my rock rails with krylon using a metal etch primer and a sanding primer then krylon white
the rails started to rust within a year We dont get much rust out here its rusting from washing the jeep once a month and they started to chip real bad and the paint was rubbing off from getting in and out of the jeep
the paint was real brittle more brittle then if a body shop did it

the front tube fenders I powder coated then white then painted them to match so far its holding up better then expected there are no chips from running down dirt roads and look as good as new when washed

the rear quarters I painted like we would at the body shop (or any body shop would)
they chip real easy but besides the rock chips it looks good


I recently took my sliders off sand blasted them then powder coated then white and today I was painting a chrysler car that was the same color as my jeep so I shot them at the same time


in my opinion the powder coated panels are holding up the best

just make sure who ever powder coats those rims for you knows what they are doing or it wont hold up

In my experience - if you want powder coating make it chalk white - that's the color it'll be once it's exposed to the sun for awhile.
It looks good for awhile, then you have to rattle can it anyway.

It's just paint melted on instead of sprayed. Do a search on Google as to how it's done. Nothing trick about it.

I agree that $75 per wheel is way too much! I have had a lot of PC work done to my quad and it has held up well to a good bit of abuse, but for the the money you could get some decent rims.

Good luck and let us know what you end up doing.

i paid 100 a rim for new rims with a better backspacing for wider tires.. not to mention they are aluminum and not steelies.. also the chrome ring hides rockrash better than a black ring

by the looks of your avatar you got the same rims i did from the factory.. mine are now on my xj =D

you have NO idea what you're talking about

X2

most lift kit companys powder coat there parts (coils springs, control arms)

Hmm interesting it turns chalk white after sun exposure.....

I find it hard to believe since the company I work for has camera housings and assemblies in the desert for the past 7yrs and they still look as good as new once you wash the dust off them.

Chris

I havent seen powder coating turn chalky when exposed to the sun here in the desert
and we have powder coated alot of things out here never a problem

Desert in Ohio?

Like I said - "in my experience."

I live in the Mojave desert, close to Palm Springs - bumpers and such that are powder coated only last a short time here before they turn chalky. At least that's been my experience.

When given the choice, I'd prefer it to be unpainted and not powder coated.

Next time I get something that's been powder coated, I'll send it to you to work your magic on.

Why don't OEM car makers use it for car bodies?

How 'bout stoves, washing machines, driers, and refrigerators - et all?

So far PC has been limited in it's use, so it's relatively expensive in small lots. Detroit still uses wet paint - applied electro-statically (like PC,) often several coats, then clear coated, then baked on (like PC.) It takes several expensive steps to do all that. If using dust in one coat did a better job - and lasted, wouldn't they use it? - thus driving the cost way down.

Aren't all the OEM's always looking for a cheaper way?

Wouldn't ya think they've already looked into it?

Look at the video - the electro-static is used to keep the colored dust on till it's baked on (melted on.)

The good thing about PC - it's very easily removed by sandblasting. It comes off in chunks.

Dearest in CA... LOL calm down, you made a general statement and was just making one back. Everyone is going to have their own experience and opinions about powder coating.

I got a good deal on getting my rims done with PC and have been happy with them every since. Yes I've had to rattle can a couple touch up area, otherwise for the most part they've held up great.

Rock rash is eventually going to be on any rim no matter Steel or Alloy, depending on where you wheel & how you wheel, so there will always be some sort of touch-up or buffing to the wheel involved.

He He - I haven't seen anything that can take rock rash. Even rims themselves get destroyed. PC on rims seems to last longer without chalking than bumpers and things exposed directly to the sun. The sun doesn't hit directly on a rim like on a bumper.

Hmmm, I have no idea how PC stands up to male dogs - probably nothing does.

But it's a Jeep - if it gets used it'll get dirty, scratched, scraped, bent, bashed, smashed, broken, rewelded etc. - it's all to be expected. If "pretty" looks is important, a Corvette would be a better choice.

I make skid plates. I had some powder coated - after the first few runs the the PC was gone. At least with paint they scratch and bend without cracking and falling off.
High underhood temperature PC holds up better.
It's all in what you want to use it for.

I would show you my skid plates that have been powder coated that just scrach when draged over rocks but I dont have any pics at the moment

I never hear of electro static charging the paint in my experience of 20 years of doing body and paint work you dont want it to have any type of static at all the electric static charge will attract dirt and you dont want that expessally since the car manufacture paint jobs are not that good to begin with

I live in the desert and averything I have powder coated hasnt turned chalky
they must be using some bad powder coating product
you know 1# box of powder is $40 and thats enough to coat at least 2 sand rail frames

these pics arnt the best I took them with my cell phone
the whole frame is powder coat on this quad (and yes that a R1 motor in it I did do all the paint work on this quad to
we take this to the dumont every couple weekends until it to hot




on this low rider frame all the green and the rear axle housing is powder coat and its been sitting in the sun and weather for 4 months and its still shiny the cell phone pics are not very good


and this blue yahama peice is powder coat and has been for 2 years your boot rubs that area and its holding up

I forgot alot of the panels on the cars now a days are plastic and you dont have as many fancy colors in powder coat as you do in paint

If there was a market for the fancy colors, they'd be available.

In a factory mass production situation dirt is kept to a minimum, unlike a little paint shop. If it attracted dirt, then why doesn't the PC electrostatic attract it too?

I sent the skid plates out to have them "professionally" done. When they came back they were beautiful. But after a few runs - 2 or 3 - most of it had chipped off.
Underneath protecting the engine they won't get much sun - the occasional sun from a rollover isn't enough to chalk them.

I'm sure Detroit and other OEM's would use it if it was viable.

I have said it before and I'll say it again they need to prep the steel for powder coating if its not preped right it will chip off easy

and I got to thinking of why your stuff would chalk up fast and its because there are a couple differnt forms of powder you order up one of the forms (and they kinda tell you in the drylac book) will turn chalky if its in the sun but its suppost to stick better (used mostly for things like electrical boxes)

we at the shop use the powder that is suppost to look better and last longer for the shine


and as far as a little shop most body shops try to keep the paint booths as dust free as posable a good down draft bake booth cost around $20,000-$50,000
and I called a friend that used to work for GM until just a few years ago when he retired and asked about that electrostatic paint aplication
he never heard of it they paint the cars just like I do Exept the paint guns are different then my $700 dollar paint guns (I have 4 of them all with differnt size tips for what I am spraying at the time clearcoat , base coat, pearl coat or the house of color pearls)

he was telling me that when he was working in the paint side of the factory he was in he painted the jams but there were like 5 painters on a car they had to do up to 20 cars an hour
he said the guns they used was like a pressure pot gun the hoses that connect the guns came out of the wall and the paint its self was in anouther room in a big drum

sorry to necro-post, but i figure its better than starting a whole new thread. any major points against powder coating springs? im getting a lift & would like a little extra 'pizzazz' with green springs to match my Electric Lime Green paint. would the constant compression/extension be a big problem?

no I've powder coated many lift springs and they are holding up fine

I've had some bad luck with PC. My EMP rocker guards peeled and rusted and so did my bumper hoop. My Warrior diff guards are also surface rusting after one winter. But I'm in Cleveland and they use lots of salt. Could be bad prep work too.