scouter4life

You may want to wait and have them balanced after you paint. You will throw off their balance as you're sure to not have the paint perfectly even everywhere. I did mine and did not get them balanced and now I'm paying for it with uneven tire wear and vibration.

Cameron1022

Yea, that makes sense, didn't think about that.

mdnky

Actually that won't make much of a difference at all. The weight of the paint is negligible at best. You can put 1/4 ounce of weight on any balanced tire and, with maybe the exception of some high dollar racing rim and tire combo (BBS magnesium and BFG R1s) on a super-tuned suspension, you will not feel or see a difference.

Most tire techs are trained to put a 1/4 ounce weight on the outside (rims that take these) even if the machine doesn't call for any weights. This keeps the customers who are used to seeing a weight on there from complaining.

The real reason for not balancing until after painting should be so that you don't cover the weights and have spots under them unpainted. Especially important when when you rebalance or put new tires on.

Croce

Hey i have a few questions about Painting the Sahara Stock 18" Rims

I just painted my spare rim but am having a little trouble...
I used 320 Grit sand paper (made sure the clear coat is gone) Then acetone to clean the rim. I then used Rustoleum White Metal Primer and then about 4 coats of rustoleum Metallic Black night paint and it looks great! but i've been letting it dry for about 40 hours now and i can easily peel the primer and paint off with just my fingernail

Is it possible the Primer is still drying or did i use to much primer? Any one else run into this when painting thier rims?

Phoenix07013

Might have been that you didn't get the clear coat off. I just scuffed my clear coat with those 3M pads, then again I went with the bedliner route.

Croce

Thats what i was thinking, but i was literally sanding the rim (by hand) for about two hours straight and cleaned the sh!t outta it with acetone, then let it dry out for a while before priming

Luckily it is the spare so i can always re-sand it and try it again, maybe this time without primer if thats the case.
The paint seem to stick fine on the inside of the rim where i didnt sand or use any primer ..go figure

Hooliganpiper

I am seriously contemplating the bedliner route. It looks awesome and I do like my stock rims. Anyone know how many coats/does it need a primer/or clearcoat? If I really lay it on thick will it last awhile, or will it be chipped all to hell in a matter of weeks?

Cameron1022

Yea I am now thinking of doing the bedliner instead of painting them. I like the stock rims but they would look so much better black. Wondering about the durability...? It sounds like a simpler process then painting because it doesnt seemed to be primed before spraying

Phoenix07013

i did five super light coats, first specks on the rims, complete cover by third, follow in the same fashion up to 5.

the biggest thing for me was to get the angled edges on the spokes covered, that's where the 4th and 5th coats came in handy

clear coat for me is matte, i like the flat look, and i only did two coats of that, i waited about an hour in between coats, which was easy cause i dont sleep, then let it dry about 8 hrs


i know of people making it in the great white north at least a winter through the summer, wheeling included, until they had to re spray, which takes literally... 30seconds plus dry time, keep all the salts and road chemicals plus the powerwash that a lot of these people do



i like it cause i can carry a can in the storage thingy, after a wheeling trip spray all my brush - lining, and pretend nothing happened, the flat is easier to make look good, take care of, and repair, on top of the fact that i think it's way easier, and more durable than any other route... i mean, you don't see people spraying their pick up truck beds with engine enamel, or "wheel" paint, do you??

Hooliganpiper

Thanks guys! I am now convinced and will definitely be doing mine in a couple weeks. I will be going satin black so it matches everything else. While I am at it, I will try the bed liner on the front tow hooks, seeing as they're starting to rust. Haha I will do my front grill too.