Had mine done. Much stronger than paint

 

I'd be more worried that the guy mounting the tire will scrape the new powder coating with the spoon (tire bar) when rotating the wheel to mount the bead of the tire.

 

That's why you go somewhere that has a touchless tire machine

 

All professional tire machines are "touchless" until the minimum wage operator sets it up wrong. The first mistake they all make is that they inside clamp your wheels. Every manufacturer of tire machines states that rim clamping should be done using outside clamping. The problem is that outside clamping is a pain in the backside. So most shops inside clamp. Inside clamping gouges the barrel of your wheel and can even break the wheel since the barrel is the weakest part of the wheel. Inside clamping is also not secure so if the tire starts to bind up, the wheel can slip. When that happens, the duck head of the machine makes contact with the face of your wheel and we have all seen the results of that. Tire machine manufacturers could solve that problem by only providing outside clamping, but they won't do that since most shops would not buy a machine that does not allow them to take the fast and easy inside clamp approach.If you watch them change your tire and you see the guy put the wheel on the machine and just kick the clamp pedal, that is an inside clamp - super easy and super wreckless.

Problem number two is that the operators all believe that plastic duck head or metal duck head with plastic protectors will prevent wheel damage. It will not! The pressure involved means that even a plastic duck head can tear up the paint or powder coat on the face of your wheel. The only way to prevent that is to take the time to set both the height clearance and radial clearance on the duck head so that it never touches the wheel even when the bead is about to pop over the head. That is when the tension is the highest - and that tension can be huge. Especially if the operator is not making sure the bead rides below the bead seating surface of the wheel. That can be a big challenge with high performance low profile tires. Tire machine manufacturers list a range for those clearances. With 60 series tire, anything in the range will be fine and the duck head won't get pulled into the wheel. Now when you do a 30 series tire, you better have those clearances set at the biggest value or the duck head is going to touch the wheel - maybe the plastic saves the wheel finish - maybe it doesn't.

I had to learn all this the hard way when I bought my tire machine. I practiced quite bit before I attempted to mount tires on a good wheel. And i experienced all the bad things mentioned above. I have watched tons of tire changes and never even knew there was such a thing as outside clamping. If you see how it works you will understand why it is so much better - and also why it is such a pain. I believe all rim clamp tire changers can do both outside and inside clamping. There are also a few machines that use center bore clamping. Center bore clamping is not a good option either because the cone damages the finish of the wheel on the edge of the center cap hole.

I hope some of you liked this info, and you might be able to use it to get the tire shop to use their machine correctly. Tell them you want the wheels outside clamped on the machine and tell them to keep 1/4" clearance on the duck head. They will probably tell you to go somewhere else - but if not and they follow your directions, you might get your tires changed without wheel damage!

 

I wanna see the whole car!

 

One more tip... I see tire shops make this mistake all the time. High performance tires are marked with a dot for the lightest point of the tire. That dot should be lined up with the valve stem to allow the minimum added balancing weight to the wheels. Tire shops tell us it does not matter and just throw the tire on the wheel at random. If it does not matter, why do the tire companies go through the trouble and expense of measuring and marking the light point of the tire?

 

Some Benefits

• Higher resistance: Wheel rims see a lot of action. Corrosion, chipping and flaking can be caused by exposure to outdoor elements, not to mention damage from road debris like stones and gravel. Powder coating creates a non-porous surface shield that is more resistant than traditional liquid paints, which means that your powder-coated rims will be able to withstand even the most unforgiving road environments.
• Durability: Once the powder coating particles are sprayed onto your wheel rims, the rims are baked in an oven at very high temperatures. This baking process not only causes the particles to fuse together, but it actually allows the powder coating to cure. The end result is a thicker, more durable surface coverage. In fact, under the same conditions, powder coating lasts up to three times longer than traditional painting.
• Better coverage: Powder coating provides better coverage compared to liquid paints. For some complexly designed wheel rims, certain facets of the rim can be difficult to reach with liquid paints. With powder coating, however, due to the electrostatic method combined with the curing process, even the most difficult-to-reach parts of the rim get adequate coverage.

Per Powder Vision

 

Where did you have your wheels powder coated? I would like to have the wheels on my wifes BMW done but want to make sure they are done right .

 

Those really look nice!

 

Just realize that if the shop doesn't know what they're doing they can completely destroy your wheels. I wound up dropping ~$6,000 worth of forged wheels at the dump because of a shop that destroyed them beyond the point of repair. My advice is live with what you have or sell them and get a new set.

 

^^^
Can you tell us what "technique" the shop used to damage your wheels?

 

When I got them back from the powder coater they were all bent. Both rears were so bad that the lowest numbers we could get on a road force balance was 50. I suspect that they may have baked them too hot. To make matters worse they didn’t tape up the hub and center bore before applying the powder coat. Afterwards they ground some of the material out of the center bore for some reason. The uneven shape of the center bore made it impossible to straighten them with a hydraulic wheel straightener. It was a major nightmare and I just want to help others avoid having to deal with it.

 

After powder coating, is clear coat usually put on ? One coat ? Local shop to me quoted $600 for powder coating my Z51 rims, clear coat and obviously remounting.

 

No. Chrome. I bought black lug nuts off of Amazon. Looks 100% better.

 

Did they pay for the damage?

Now i am scared to get it done if there are any wheel issues

 

I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

 

^^^
The Corvette wheels have more metal on the side opposite the valve stem/TPMS. Whether that's enough to totally equal the TPMS assembly, I don't know.
Certainly, many tire installers are either ignorant or lazy about the dots.

 

I know a one forum member who bought top of the line forged rims and had them powder coated. During the prep the shop that did it altered the mating surface that bolts to the car and the rims were junk. They vibrated because this surface was altered. Be careful. Maybe he will see this thread and comment. Can't remember who it was. After reading his post I would never get expensive rims powder coated.