WHEEL POWDERCOATING QUESTION

[ctroger24]

Hey freak, this is mainly at you but anyone can chime in. I have been looking at powdercoating my wheels for a while now. I see that you had had these done for a while and was wondering how they hold up to chips and scratches? I do mostly trail riding so there are alot of rocks, stumps, etc. Also did you use stock or heavy duty spokes and did you have to drill the hubs and wheels bigger? And if so, what size? I talked to a local wheel shop and they said even if I use stock spokes I will have to drill bigger to compensate for the powder. And the chrome base? was that needed? Anything chrome plated just sounds expensive. Sorry for all the questions, I really just dont want to screw up my perfectly good wheels, but also dont want to fork out $800 for some Excels either. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Freak]

Hey bud. No I did not have to drill out the holes. I did use stock spokes, and there were no problems. They say use new ones, but my bike was still pretty new when I did it. We used a base on the hubs, but it was not needed for the wheels. My rear one has taken a beating and is starting to chip, but that's several years old now. I ride in the same kinda rock and crap you do. I see your in Washington, I'm in Central Oregon, so are trail systems are pretty close to the same (rocks, brush,crap) I say do it, sure is a lot cheaper, and that powder is tough. My bud bought this kit that had all different sizes of plugs for making sure powder does not get into areas it should not be. Like I said, I had no problems with the spoke holes. One problem I did have thou, was the front wheel. Where the rotor goes on the hub, that little face the rotor sits on had to have the powder ground off. No biggie and it only took a few minutes. Come to think of it, we did two other sets of wheels, and no problems with spoke holes there either.

[ctroger24]

Thanks alot, i think that I am going to get it done now for sure. I guess I will just have to take my chances on relacing and truing my wheels and hope I dont screw it up too bad. My wheels are perfect now, so hopefully that will make it easier. Do you know if where your buddy got that kit to plug the holes? Btw, you got probably the sickest looking 450's ive seen.

[Freak]

I don't know where he got the kit, some of the plugs came with the powder gun, then he bought some more. There like foam pieces. I laced mine, just took my time and went real slow. After I put all my spokes back on, I put my axle with my rim on it in a vice on the work bench so it would spin freely. At the bottom of the wheel, I had a small wire that was hooked to the bench, and almost touching the rim. All I would do is just turn the wheel and look at the wire as to when it would touch, and then tighten or loosen the spokes in that area. Once I got it straight, I just went around the entire rim with 1/8 turns till all was tight. Just takes time.

To most, my method seems a bit oakie, but it's all I had to work with and the end result was a nice wheel that was just as straight as it came off the bike. I think the reason they said that about the spoke holes is some people might be putting the powder on too thick or spraying the powder to close. I think people shy away from the powder coating, but I like it, and it's so much cheaper.

[Freak]

for some reason my pics are not showing up

[MXtras]

Excellent stuff, guys!

Might I add that you can mask areas - like the brake rotor mounts.

Freak - do you know if you used a urethane, epoxy or polyester powder?

Scott

[Freak]

Originally Posted by MXtras

Excellent stuff, guys!

Might I add that you can mask areas - like the brake rotor mounts.

Freak - do you know if you used a urethane, epoxy or polyester powder?

Scott

You know, I'm not sure. I'll ask my buddy, he's the powder coater. If you click on the pics above, I did do the front wheel and hub. He was watching my every move, but I did do it ha ha. And your right about the masking, I'll do that next time around the rotor area. I never thought it would be a problem there, but it was.

[ctroger24]

Did you have to take out your wheel bearings when you got them powdered or just mask them off? Thanks again.

[Freak]

I took mine out. Not sure if you would want to leave them in. It would cook the grease, but on the other had, the temp is not that high and there only in there for a short time.

[Beans]

looks good freak but take the bearing out. we took a set of wheels to the guy who does all my stuff and he had to take the bearing out as to not mess them up. he told me the oven gets hot enough that the seal will burst and leak grease all over your new powder coat job while in the oven and mess it up.

[nutty]

I took my wheels all the way apart and had the rims "hoops" anodized black. It only costed me $25 a rim and it holds up great. I paid a shop $40 a rim to true them and mount the tires. So for under $200 I got some sweet black wheels that have lasted over three seasons! I would think that anodizing would be alot lighter than powdercoat cause it just dies the aluminum.