How to "darken" the 20" bright wheels?

[astonius]

I've almost decided I want the 20" non-staple wheels. I love the look of the dark 20"s, but being an LE holder I'm having a hard time justifying spending $3500 for them. Others have discussed powder-coating the brights, and while that may get the color I don't think it would get the finish right.

Is there a cost-effective process that could get the glossy finish on the brights?

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[shamoo]

When you powdercoat, you have an endless possibility of colors. So "getting the finish right" is dependent on you selecting the correct color.

It is definitely the best option as the $3500 black wheels are likely just painted/powdercoated wheels.

 

[crashmtb]

Lots of hard braking should get you a nice anthracite hue due to brake dust ?


powdercoating is ok, as long as you take it to somewhere that uses low temp powder. You WILL void the warranty. It is possible to overage the alloy when powdercoating a forged wheel.

 

[astonius]

My experience may be outdated, but traditionally powder coating seems to give a flat or at best satin finish whereas the official dark wheels have more of a high-gloss finish, maybe like a carbon flash. Can you really get an identical finish with powder coating?

 

[crashmtb]

My experience may be outdated, but traditionally powder coating seems to give a flat or at best satin finish whereas the official dark wheels have more of a high-gloss finish, maybe like a carbon flash. Can you really get an identical finish with powder coating?

Yes you can get a glossy finish with powder coating.

you can even do clearcoat With powder these days.

 

[Zoidz]

Vinyl Rim Wrap. Hundreds of colors, inexpensive, removable if you don't like it and posisbly a DIY depending on your skills and patience. Video. I have not used it, but I am considering it.

 

[Davethadog]

Powdercoat is lame and has been eclipsed by way better materials. Cerakote is a good option but you’ll have to remove your wheels, tires, and TPMS to do that or really any bake required job. Then there’s the downtime and the fucking around with people…

You could just plastidip them and then power wash it off when you get bored and wait for some good aftermarket wheel/tire combos after you blow through your first set of tires.

Or just spend the money and don’t ever look back.

 

[OverZealous]

Vinyl Rim Wrap. Hundreds of colors, inexpensive, removable if you don't like it and posisbly a DIY depending on your skills and patience. Video. I have not used it, but I am considering it.

This is a great idea, I might use some black vinyl on the default 20" wheel (floating staples), since I saw the photo of those as pre-production samples the other day and it looked pretty sharp. Doing the staples in a slightly different finish would look really sharp (like a black gloss or charcoal gray), and as you mentioned, completely removable if it starts to look bad.

 

[COdogman]

I’ve never done it, but hydro dipping is supposed to work pretty well on wheels. Definitely pay for an experience person to apply it though.

 

[kanundrum]

Plastidip or Powder Coat, anything else imho is a waste of time or resources!

 

[AxelR]

Plastidip or Powder Coat, anything else imho is a waste of time or resources!

Drive once in mud and your plastdipped wheels look like dirty black (or other color) for ever. It’s impossible to get all of the dirt/dust out of them.
I did it, learned my lesson and got my rims powder coated by a renowned shop.

 

[kanundrum]

Drive in mud and your plastdipped wheels look like dirty black (or other color) for ever. It’s impossible to get all of the dirt/dust out of them.
I did it, learned my lesson and got my rims powder coated by a renowned shop.

For me track dust lol it basically turned gold wheels black but held up regardless heat temp wise at least.

 

[lostpacket]

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