Dear Collective,

I'm about to get a replacement set of wheels refurbished and have the choice of powder coating them or painting.

Which route would you take and why?

I have a fair bit of experience of powder coating (engineering components) but I still worry about once water gets behind it the whole lot comes adrift whereas paint can just be chipped without it spreading.

What would you do??

Paint for me. I did once have a set of Merc wheels powder coated but it looked like very thick paint and the subtle detail was softened. The internal corners where the spokes met the rim were a lot more rounded and I really didn't like the look. definitely prefer paint.

That old dilemma....

Powder coating lasts longer, paint looks better....

If painting make sure they 2K etch prime the bare wheels first...

If powder coating make sure they pre bake the wheels and coat them when still warm, this helps reduce the pealing you were mentioning, a lot of places cold coat the wheels because it's cheaper for them and the finish looks the same but isn't as durable....

I use a local powder coating place to me who do them properly and never had any problems with pealing, they also don't lay it on too thick so it doesn't look much different to paint.... Mind you if they get chipped I touch them in with paint to help seal the chip.... Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
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Company we use will powder coat x 2 then paint to the colour finish of your choice and lacquer over the top of that. Superb service and durability on top of great value.

Deff paint ya can't touch up powder coat after her indoors kerbs them  1994 softail full stars n stripes custom harley davidson

Powder coat is the traditional way of doing wheels, and stands up to brake dust better, and brake dust remover as well!
I remember years ago an old boss of mine had a BMW 850, this had polished and lacquered wheels, look great, but then the brake dust ate its way in to the finish , so he went home armed with some neat TFR to clean his wheels. He sprayed the wheels with TFR, and went to get the hosepipe, 10 minutes later he rinsed the wheels off, and the lacquer
Had to have them re-polished before being lacquered again. Best part of £200 lighter, he decided to use soapy water once a week, whether they needed it or not! Now I think you'll find that TFR and Wonder Wheels is roughly the same stuff, only wonder Wheels is a dilute. So do as it says on the tin and don't go off for a cupper half way through
If you don't do silly miles a week and you wash the car come rain or shine, either finish will look good, providing you don't let the kerbs have a nibble. If your more inclined to wash the car because it's changed colour for the worse, then I think I'd go for powder coat, as it's hard wearing. And if you do high mileage a week then I'd say that powder is a must, because it will resist the corrosive nature of the brake dust.
Now before you all go in to panic mode, when I say corrosive nature, I don't think that it's acidic, but, the dust coming off the brake pads has got to stupidly high temperatures (1000+) and when falling on to paint eats into the top surface, and then being ultra fine in nature it works it's way in to every little crack. If you've ever changed brake pads you'll know what I mean, pink hands one minute dark grey the next, and no matter what you wash your hands with, you can't get it all off. Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Wonder Wheels is 16% hydrochloric acid, it's much harsher than any traffic film remover.

Anecdotally there's a lot of internet discussion about powder coated alloy wheels cracking (fatiguing as a result of the high temperatures).

the TFR he was using was ph14 and had a dilution rate of 60:1 for washing cars, he used it 1:1, I used it to decoke the heads on my classic, took 30 minutes to get through 100k of carbon  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

I've used both powder coating and painting both with good results although I think the powder coating looks better for longer.
I would never use Wonder Wheels - hot soapy water is all you need.

cheers 2017 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography
2016 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography - GONE
2013 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography - GONE
2010 3.6 TDV8 - GONE
2008 3.6 TDV8 - GONE
2002 3.0 TD6 - GONE
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2003 Discovery 2 TD5 - GONE
1999 Discovery 300 TDI - GONE
1998 Range Rover DSE - GONE
1997 Discovery 300 TDI - GONE

I am about to put my summer 20s into a company local in Slough and their process

01 - Take the wheel off the car
02 - Remove the tyre, balance weight and valve
03 - If required, disassemble the wheel into its component parts (i.e. two or three-piece wheels)
04 - Bathe the wheel in chemical stripping agent in order to remove the lacquer and paint
05 - Remove any damage i.e. kerbing, cracks, dents etc
06 - Lightly shot blast in order to key the surface of the wheel and treat any areas of corrosion
07 - Hot wash the wheel once again to remove any last remains of paint
08 - Bake until the wheel is fully dry and at correct working temperature
09 - Powdercoat the entire wheel
10 - Paint the wheel to the customers choice of colour
11 - Apply lacquer to increase the gloss of the finish and protect the paint
12 - Bake once again until the paint has fully cured
13 - Reassemble the wheel, re-fit the tyre, fit new rubber valve and balance the wheel.
14 - Fit the wheel to the car
15 - Stand back and admire the finish

I am going to have them replace the tpms valves at same time

pretty sure thats what hey did on wheeler dealers [on the jag?] nice end result.. ... - .- -.




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How much should you expect to pay to have all 4 wheels powder coated?

My quote was £45 inc Vat per wheel for 20 in wheels smaller are less that includes full repair where needed albeit mine are in pretty good nick.

That is a good price. Everywhere I try want £90 per wheel or more!

Sorry my error was doing it all from memory it was 450 for 4