10 Spoke Renew

[ZL1 TIBS]

Just dropped my black 10 spoke wheels off at my painters shop this morning. I asked him to finish them as close to factory as he can. Well except he will actually apply color on the back side of the wheel as well. $50 to $75 per wheel and I should have them back in a week or so.

[vinman]

Why not powder coat them? More durable

[Mpsmith1]

Powder coating was one of the best things I ever did for my car. Paint was just too much to handle on a ten spoke wheel.

I'm sure they will look nice, though! Please post some pics!

[Nick S]

Originally Posted by vinman

Why not powder coat them? More durable

Powder coating might be more of a durable finish but if you track your car at all powder coating can hurt you if a low temp process is not used. The heat and length of time held to cure powder coating can weaken the alloy material and weaken your wheel strength. If you don't track your car and just drive it for fun and car shows then I'm sure powder coating will not hurt you for your intended use.

[ZL1 TIBS]

I was going to powdercoat and actually had a decent price quote. Then I did some research and found out that the high temperatures used to cure the powder can make the wheels more brittle. I don't track my car, but I don't want to do something to harm the wheels. We have some pretty nasty potholes here in SE PA and I don't want a wheel to fail.

[STUNNAH]

I don't track either but I went with powder coating based on the durability...You should be fine with a couple of coats of clear...

[ZL1 TIBS]

I got them back the other day and I am very happy with them. Also got the BFG tires mounted. Pictures to come.

[Maiden69]

Originally Posted by Nick S

Powder coating might be more of a durable finish but if you track your car at all powder coating can hurt you if a low temp process is not used. The heat and length of time held to cure powder coating can weaken the alloy material and weaken your wheel strength. If you don't track your car and just drive it for fun and car shows then I'm sure powder coating will not hurt you for your intended use.

While I do understand this argument, 90% or more of the racing forged wheels in the market are powder coated. I heard in some cases that wheels have become brittle with the heat cycle, but don't say how the heating or at what temperature it was done. Normal powder coating stays around 400 degrees F, at that temperature the aluminum is not compromised, unless it is a cheap alloy.

I do understand that "be safe than sorry" though...

[Firemaro]

is there definitive proof of the 10 spoke wheels failing after powder coating? I don't recall ever seeing any pictures of cracked/weakened wheels because of powder coating them. Maybe there are some examples floating around...I'd like to see what damage was attributed to the wheels that were powder coated. My original 10 spokes have held up well for 20k miles- no fading/paint chipping etc but I'm sure at some point they will begin to loose their luster and I'll be in the market for paint or powder coat.

[vinman]

Originally Posted by Nick S

Powder coating might be more of a durable finish but if you track your car at all powder coating can hurt you if a low temp process is not used. The heat and length of time held to cure powder coating can weaken the alloy material and weaken your wheel strength. If you don't track your car and just drive it for fun and car shows then I'm sure powder coating will not hurt you for your intended use.

I meant the low temp powder coating, there have been a few discussions on this already on here talking about temps and premature aging

[ZO6 Bryan]

FWIW Brian Tooley has told me that overheating aluminum valve heads over about 300 deg will significantly soften the aluminum alloy. And then the valves will beat the seats out of the aluminum heads if they are used again. He says if a cutting tool is used on them they will be much softer than before and he can tell they were overheated.

[E. Bryant]

If anyone wants to geek-out, scroll down to page 4 of this PDF:

http://www.aluminum.org/sites/defaul...2011-06-01.pdf

You'll see there a table that shows some effects of elevated temperature and time on 6061-T6 aluminum.

The effects are real; the question is whether the reduction in strength would cause an issue with respect to whatever design factor is built into the factory wheel.

To be safe, wheels, brake calipers, and other structural aluminum components really should be painted or powder-coated only via a low-temperature process.