The Ohio Random Thread... aka We Should Probably Be Working

If they're going to be your track wheels, paint them. If daily driving wheels, and don't mind throwing away $300 just for a change of color... there's not much wrong with powder other than potentially weakening the wheels.
 
I was dedinitley going to rattle can the track rims as I did before, but I didn't know what to do with the the RH's. Thanks Phen.
 
Phen, not to call you out or anything, but do you have any links or info on how PC weakens the wheels? I might PC a bunch of mine (pretty much all of them) and am curious.

Regardless, $75 a wheel is about the going rate, I think that's how much Motomotion wanted. They did a great job repairing my RPF1 and PC'ing it.
 
its actually pretty basic,
powdercoating needs heat to make the finish cure, the heat needed to cure the powdercoat can actually in some cases be hotter than the temp used in actually making the wheel.since most wheels were designed with the idea of the hottest they would ever get would be the casting etc. and we dont actually know for sure what temp the wheels were made at, IMO its not worth the risk, especially when the side effects will causing the wheel to weaken

now thats not always the case and its not a sure thing you would weaken the wheel but i sure as hell aint paying 300 some bucks and risking a chance that a set of track wheels would get weakened... if they were DD wheels i wouldnt care as much about powdercoating them
 
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I worked in quality control in a powder coating shop for 2 years. I've powder coated a handful of wheels for friends and myself and never had any issues. We had our oven set at 500'. And some of our parts we PC'ed twice when the first coat was too thin.
 
and how many of those friends put those wheels through the process of road racing, autocrossing or drag racing?


racing is going to put more stress on a wheel than daily driving, the potential for a wheel to fail is greater if you are racing... why add an extra factor into that with PC-ing a wheel and pontentially risk messing with the structural integrity...
 
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Just one set of wheels. He tracked his EG all the time and never had an issue. I DD'ed my PC'ed Konigs for 2 years on my EG and sold them to an aquintance and for the year I saw them on his car he didn't have an issue either. I'm looking for solid evidence. Here say isn't evidence in my book. I'm not saying it doesn't affect anything, I'm simply looking for proof.
 
Just to play Devil's advocate, are we sure the temperatures generated in the powdercoating process are high enough to disrupt the heat treat originally performed on the wheel? I mean, most wheels are cast or forged, both require pretty high temperatures. I don't know the standard powdercoat application temperature but I feel like it's under 1000 deg F.
 
road racing will put more stress on wheels, as you have stiffer suspension and if you are hitting the curbing the wheels are going to take a pounding more so than auto-x or drag racing. Painting is the way to go, as far as I am concerned, cheaper and just as effective from an aesthetic look. just my $2.00 holla
 
hey i never gave facts that proved my theory, just said that theoretically its possible to jepoardize the structural integrity by powdercoating and that there would be enough risk IMO to not bother powdercoating a set of wheels i intended on racing with...

key in all that was IMO (IN MY OPINION)
 
Yeah man, and I was asking Phen for any links or proof that PC'ing wheels will weaken the structure, not for opinions. I understand what IMO means, dude. That's the exact point I was trying to make. I would simply like to see some proof, not opinions. I want to PC my wheels because the finish looks much better and they won't chip nearly as easily as spray painting.

We used to PC parts for Freightliner, sometimes 2 coats, and I think if these parts weren't good enough for semi's I would've heard some complaints about it. The only problem with powder coating over powder coat is that you'll get eggshell pretty easily if it's not applied correctly.
 
road racing will put more stress on wheels, as you have stiffer suspension and if you are hitting the curbing the wheels are going to take a pounding more so than auto-x or drag racing. Painting is the way to go, as far as I am concerned, cheaper and just as effective from an aesthetic look. just my $2.00 holla

Even non-powder coated wheels fail when subjected to bashing them on curbs and all the other stress of racing as Marlon says. Why risk it? Besides they are going to get beat up from rocks, bits of rubber, and whatever else.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_xIzvh_5vec" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Again, I don't know much about it, but I think some lightweight aluminum wheels are created in the 400-500 degree temperature range. So, powdercoating them in a 500 degree oven will mean they are reaching a temperature that could potentially weaken the metal. I'm not saying it will happen, but it could. Do you really want that extra factor in the back of your mind as you hit a curb going 80 mph?

PC--Daily Driver
Paint-- because Racecar

EDIT: http://powdercoatingbeginners.blogspot.com/2008/09/powder-coating-wheels.html

not really an "official" read, but interesting nonetheless
 
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Most wheel manufacturers recommend against it, stating the possibility of weakening the heat treatment on the wheel. 949racing comes immediately to mind. Don't have time to troll their site for the info, but it's out there.
 
I think it'd be hard to say factually that "Yes, powder coating will definitely harm a wheel." or "No, it definitely won't." In order to determine that definitively you'd have to know the metal alloy that was used to make the wheel and the heat treat condition. Like if a wheel is made from 6061-T6 aluminum (Forgeline Wheels) the aging process of T6 is 320F. Powder coating in an oven at a greater temperature would cause overaging of the metal which I think would weaken it?

Of course I'm no metallurgist and only have a basic understand of the process so I could be completely wrong.
 

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