I have an extra set of wheels that are half silver and half anthracite. In the off season I would like to get them painted or powder coated. I’m not sure which is better. I have heard you aren’t supposed to powder coat forged wheels. I’m concerned painting will add weight and that the finish won’t last. Any thoughts on which would be better?
Interesting, I have not heard that about forged wheels. I had a set of wheels that were powder coated and loved it. In light of your comments, I would reach out to Finspeed, BBS, TireRack, or other forge wheel companies to ask, maybe check their FAQ section.
@cirrusdriver, I am spending a few days at Spring Mountain and saw there SEMA show car and it has fluorescent yellow wheels. I asked them if they paint wheels or have them powder coated and they said that the use powder coat. They have been doing it for years and never had an issue.
I had powder-coated wheels on my Corvette, and I couldn't keep adhesive wheel weights on. I sent them back to Forgeline (the mfr), and they re-finished the wheels, but with no improvement. I'd take freshly balanced wheels on track for a session and when I came back to the pits and parked the car, I could hear the weights falling off the wheels. In the end, I just quit bothering to balance them. I never did figure out if it was something to do with the wheel coating, but it was very irksome.
Wow, never had that issue with my PC wheels, just the opposite. Could hardly peel weights or adhesive off.
Yes, that was a real puzzler. It was a silver powder-coat, and maybe it was just too shiny for the adhesive, or somehow collected extra brake heat or something. I'd roll back into the paddock after a session, get out of the car, and within a minute or two, you'd hear little pinging noises as the weights fell off.
I bet I balanced that particular set of tires five times with various attempts to keep the weights on. I used duct tape (the good kind), I used "high-performance" weights, I had the balance shop buy new weights, we cleaned the crap out of them with acetone and alcohol. Nothing worked. Looking back, I wonder if scuffing the powder-coat with 120 grit sandpaper would have done the trick. Of course, if you're gonna scuff it, no real sense having it anyway, lol.
