Yeah, so I powdercoated my wheels…
Once I decided that I was going to go ahead and powdercoat my wheels, I posted a thread on performancetrucks.net asking for advice.
What powder should I go with? Gloss black? Semi-gloss? Satin? I googled it to see what others had done. Coincidentally, I happen to like the look of the Plasti dip.
Also, I didn’t know where to go to get the job done. I asked my coworkers and while they all recommended powdercoat, none of them had actually had it done.
As it turns out, I found a guy in the tiny town of Amity Oregon. We emailed back and forth discussing what should be done. He finally just gave me the website where he orders his powder from and told me to pick what ever I want.
He insisted on going with a matte black. I told him that I really wanted some shimmer to it. What I ultimately decided on was a powder named BlackJack.
Here’s the picture from the website.
I asked the powdercoater if he would take a few pics of the process for me. This is what I got.
He removed the center caps and coated them separately.
Then he sandblasted the wheel.
Finally, here is how it turned out.
I think they look great. As of this writing, I don’t have them mounted up yet. I ordered some black lug nuts from Summit to go along with my fancy new black wheels.
My only real complaint is the fact that he didn’t powdercoat the tire part of the rim, even though I asked him to. He told me that it is a waste of time to do so because you never see it. He also said that he didn’t want to put the powder there because it’s where the tire seals against the rim.
I think that’s an idiotic excuse and he just didn’t want to take the time to sand blast and powder the inside of the rim.
Either way, he wouldn’t do it and the tire will be covering it up anyway. He did coat the front and the back of wheel though.
Project "Charlie Murphy" 
I would have to agree with the coater. Why waste the time and money powdercoating the inside of the wheel where the tire sits? It actually is only going to beat up and marred and then covered up by the tire. Plus powdercoating that area increases the possibility of the tire actually blowing past the bead under hard cornering or during an emergency maneuver.
Listen to the man, he has good reasoning. And under MOST circumstances, the customer is right, but in this case it is a safety concern, whether he told you that or not. By the way, I like those wheels, they look very nice.
December 27, 2013 at 10:48
I also agree with the coater in this instance. I have had numerous engine parts powder coated and every time a part is coated where there is suppose to be a seal, a leak develops. I then have to suffer through the process of trying to remove the coating ONLY where I want it removed. Without a blaster, gasket remover is the only thing I’ve found that works. Anyway, if fluid will leak past the seal, air will for sure. I think the coater did exactly what he should have. That being said, he could have gone the “customer is always right” route, charger you more for more labor and material used and delivered the product. You may have had leaks, then you would have to return the wheels to him and he would have to charge you to remove the coating. Be happy he did it the way he did.
January 5, 2014 at 11:48