Vinyl wrapping wheels?

[1slo5oh]

So here's the deal!!

I have a set of polished Weld RTS wheels on my 2013 Mustang GT . I did some trading for the rears and simply bought the fronts to match but I just not digging the polished wheels on Grabber Blue. So I got a quote of $250 a wheel to simply paint the face of the wheel... re polish lip... & re seal. That seems a little steep to me but I am not totally against it... just figured I would explore other options before I dropped $1k on a set of $2k wheels.

[KilaByte]

Have them powdercoated, it's around $100 a wheel around here.

[1slo5oh]

Have them powdercoated, it's around $100 a wheel around here.

I need to get a couple more opinions / quotes I suppose... the one guy I have used for a few misc. parts wasn't real confident he could make it look good when I asked him.

[Godfrd824]

Post a pic

[1slo5oh]

Post a pic

[akmerle]

What type of finish you looking at?

I had my rims powder coated satin black on my SRT for $100 per wheel. Held up perfectly for years with Alaskan winter road sand / salt.

If it’s a daily driver it can be kind of a pain in the ass having to put vehicle up on blocks, tires removed, rims coated, tires back on, and then install back on rig. Was about a week long process.

[1slo5oh]

What type of finish you looking at?

I had my rims powder coated satin black on my SRT for $100 per wheel. Held up perfectly for years with Alaskan winter road sand / salt.

If it’s a daily driver it can be kind of a pain in the ass having to put vehicle up on blocks, tires removed, rims coated, tires back on, and then install back on rig. Was about a week long process.

Probably a gloss black finish in the face while keeping the lip polished. Luckily its not my DD but even still I have a set of 20's sitting in the garage

[akmerle]

Will probably cost a little more than normal since they will have to mask off the polished lip for the entire prep and process, but shouldn’t be bad.

[freeburn]

I just had mine powder coated and curb rash out for 125. Def wouldn't bother wrapping them on a daily driver. Maybe for a summer car.

[1slo5oh]

I just had mine powder coated and curb rash out for 125. Def wouldn't bother wrapping them on a daily driver. Maybe for a summer car.

Houston Bruh... its summer 24/7/365 LOL... but its not a daily driver

[10w30]

RTS look mean in all black matte/satin finish. If you want to see what they look like in all black you can plastidip just the drivers side wheels and see if you like it.

Have a buddy drive your car in front of your house up and down the street then you can see both sides all polished aluminum wheels on the passenger side or all black wheels on the driver side.

Either Plastidip rattle can, or you can get a liquid gallon of plastidip for around $60 if you have a gun that can spray plastidip.



All black wheels.

[1slo5oh]

RTS look mean in all black matte/satin finish. If you want to see what they look like in all black you can plastidip just the drivers side wheels and see if you like it.

Have a buddy drive your car in front of your house up and down the street then you can see both sides all polished aluminum wheels on the passenger side or all black wheels on the driver side.

Either Plastidip rattle can, or you can get a liquid gallon of plastidip for around $60 if you have a gun that can spray plastidip.

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/Nj0ygMCS/weld.jpg[img]

All black wheels.

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/Bnwjt0d6/blue-black.jpg[img]

Yeah I have dipped a few sets of wheels on different vehicles and they all came out... OK , but for this it has to be better than just ok. Personally I didn't like how the dip faded over time.. and yes I used several coats of the clear dip on top of it.

I bought this car brand new back in July of 2012 and have had several different sets of wheels on it.. including all black. So its not a question of wondering what it looks like at this point... I know what I need to tie it all in... just have to pick a method and run with it.

[10w30]

Yeah I have dipped a few sets of wheels on different vehicles and they all came out... OK , but for this it has to be better than just ok. Personally I didn't like how the dip faded over time.. and yes I used several coats of the clear dip on top of it.

I bought this car brand new back in July of 2012 and have had several different sets of wheels on it.. including all black. So its not a question of wondering what it looks like at this point... I know what I need to tie it all in... just have to pick a method and run with it.

If it's top notch work, I think $250 is about the rate you'll pay per wheel. The wheel is being sprayed with paint twice and the lip is being polished between the color coat and clear coat.

It's that you're going to pay $1,000 to refinish used wheels that you could get for around $2,000 brand new. It's a toss up.

Any chance you can find someone local that will do a straight up trade for your set of full polished RTS's for a set of factory black/polished RTS's?

[10w30]

Another thing also if you buy a brand new set of black and polished lip RTS wheels you can dismount your tires off your used wheels, and put those tires on the new wheels.

New wheels for ~$2000, sell old wheels for ~$800. You're paying around $1200 for brand new wheels.

Versus $1000 for refinishing used wheels that you're uncertain of the quality of how they'll look when refinished.

[Antonio519]

Powdercoat

shop around, there is a place that does wheels for 50 each near me, if you bring them just the wheels without tires.

[KilaByte]

Powdercoat

shop around, there is a place that does wheels for 50 each near me, if you bring them just the wheels without tires.

Damn, moving to Chiraq

[1slo5oh]

Another thing also if you buy a brand new set of black and polished lip RTS wheels you can dismount your tires off your used wheels, and put those tires on the new wheels.

New wheels for ~$2000, sell old wheels for ~$800. You're paying around $1200 for brand new wheels.

Versus $1000 for refinishing used wheels that you're uncertain of the quality of how they'll look when refinished.

Used Welds still bring in big $$$... no way I would let that set go for $800... lol.. but I see where you are coming from.

[10w30]

Used Welds still bring in big $$$... no way I would let that set go for $800... lol.. but I see where you are coming from.

lol $800 would be like a worst case scenario. If your wheels are mint with the center caps you could get around $1200 to $1300.

You might be able to squeeze more out by selling the front and rear pair separate. Probably $750 for the fronts and $650 for the rears giving you $1400 cash for the new wheels.

American Muscle has the front 17x5's for $526 each and has the rear 15x10's for $400 each with free shipping.

If you can get $1400 for your used wheels, the spread is now only $450 between your used wheels and a new set for around $1850.

[10w30]

Heads up, earlier today I noticed some online retailers have different pricing for identical RTS wheels even with the same bolt patterns, backspacing, and pad heights to clear bigger brakes.

There was a recent +55% price increase on average for Weld RTS non bead lock 15" wheels S71 model, and a +32% increase in price on 17" non bead lock S71 wheel models.

That brand new $1850 RTS S71 wheel set of 15x10 and 17x5 as of April 1st 2020 is now $2900+.

Used RTS wheels should also see a bump up in price from the new cost increase as now they're technically worth more money. If you sell your used RTS wheels don't sell yourself short.

[10w30]

Found a picture of a grabber blue s197 with black and polished RTS wheels. The front tire doesn't look tall and narrow but it'll give you an idea of what the wheels look like on a grabber blue s197.

If you're still getting quotes on refinishing your used wheels, some shops might mention this, and some will not. Your wheels are forged and should only be painted and not powder coated.

The prolonged set heat and slow cooling of the powder coating process can anneal the aluminum and compromise the structural integrity of the wheel.

Plenty will argue and say lower temps are used on forged wheels. Or that they've powder coated forged aluminum wheels and never had a problem.

The majority of those wheels are on cars that only cruise and hard park. For your application the wheels are pushed to the limit. Any chance of weakening the wheels is advised against.

[euphoric]

If you decide to powder coat there's a local shop I used for my wheels and calipers that I'd recommend, they are off BW8 between I-10 and 290. The calipers were a 4 color deal and the wheels were single color with two different clears, they did an excellent job on both. I can PM some pics and the shop name if interested in going that route. I've used several shops over the years and this place has done the best work thus far.

[1slo5oh]

Found a picture of a grabber blue s197 with black and polished RTS wheels. The front tire doesn't look tall and narrow but it'll give you an idea of what the wheels look like on a grabber blue s197.

If you're still getting quotes on refinishing your used wheels, some shops might mention this, and some will not. Your wheels are forged and should only be painted and not powder coated.

The prolonged set heat and slow cooling of the powder coating process can anneal the aluminum and compromise the structural integrity of the wheel.

Plenty will argue and say lower temps are used on forged wheels. Or that they've powder coated forged aluminum wheels and never had a problem.

The majority of those wheels are on cars that only cruise and hard park. For your application the wheels are pushed to the limit. Any chance of weakening the wheels is advised against.

[url=https://postimages.org/][url]

Yeah I have gotten a quote by 3 different places at this point all close to the original.. and all recommended painting them over powder coat. I bought some gloss black sheets of 3M vinyl and just going to give it a go this weekend... worst that can happen is it looks like $hit and I peel it off and I am out $40...

If you decide to powder coat there's a local shop I used for my wheels and calipers that I'd recommend, they are off BW8 between I-10 and 290. The calipers were a 4 color deal and the wheels were single color with two different clears, they did an excellent job on both. I can PM some pics and the shop name if interested in going that route. I've used several shops over the years and this place has done the best work thus far.

Dont think I am going to end up powder coating these but I do have another set of 20's and some other $hit I need done... send the shops name and contact info over , I will check them out

[10w30]

Yeah I have gotten a quote by 3 different places at this point all close to the original.. and all recommended painting them over powder coat. I bought some gloss black sheets of 3M vinyl and just going to give it a go this weekend... worst that can happen is it looks like $hit and I peel it off and I am out $40.

Wheels are wrapped all the time and 3M is the best to use.

There is a bunch of videos and tutorials online on how to wrap like the pros. It's worth trying.