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Painted black Wheels (any info?)

6.5SmokeStack

6.5SmokeStack

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Killingworth, CT
As the years have been going on my gray stock wheels have been looking like crap. They have a little rust and what not... So i have been seeing peoples trucks with the black wheels. I was just curious how you guys have been painting them, what type of paint and how not to get the paint on the rubber.. thanks!
 
how not to get the paint on the rubber..
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Step 1 - Remove the tire from the wheel.
Step 2 -- Have the wheel powder coated.
Step 3 --- Put the tire back on the wheel.
Step 4 ---- Have the tire/wheel balanced.

Repeat for the other 4.
 
I was thinking of doing this myself! Now I'll wait and see what it looks like on your truck, first! Heeheehee...:smile5:

Most auto parts stores carry spray paint that is labeled "paint for wheels". I don't know what the difference is, but that is what I was planning on doing. Maybe it's a little more durable?

Other than that, it's pretty simple. Sand it, then apply light coats. You can even apply a few coats of clear coat.

I think it'll look pretty good. My center caps still look shiny and I have trim rings, as well.

As far as protecting the rubber, lots of tape (clean the tire really good so the tape sticks) and newspaper. Don't forget to mask off the fender, as well.
 
As far as protecting the rubber, lots of tape
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I'd, at the very least, break the bead so that you can paint the edge properly.
I really think that powder coating is the way to go on wheels.
 
RadioMan said:
I'd, at the very least, break the bead so that you can paint the edge properly.
I really think that powder coating is the way to go on wheels.
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Definitely agree with you - powder is better. But for some old wheels that you just want to give some new life to, it's worth the cost of a rattle can to give it a try. If you're careful with the tape, it should be OK. Besides, tires are black, anyways - at least mine are :smile5: If one does have trim rings, it'll give you a margin of error, as well (you could actually apply the tape to the inside of the wheel lip. It all depends on how intricate you want to get.

By the way, somewhere I saw masking tape that stretches to go around corners. It's sort of "crinkled".

On edit: Another thought. Maybe you could actually slip the first row of tape in backwards - sticky side out. Between the outer rim and the tire. That way the "first line of defense" would actually be sticking to the wheel instead of the tire. Or, how 'bout sliding something like playing cards into the space between the wheel and the tire?

On 2nd edit: Smokestack, glad you brought this up - it got me thinking more about doing it! Another thought (instead of playing cards): heavy stock paper that you cut with a 16" diameter arc in it. You cover up more area with one piece and it should stay in that groove between the tire and wheel better, too.
 
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I painted the rims on my tacoma I used to have, no need to break the bead. Just get the tape down in the edge with little pieces (tape will stretch a little) and then use newspaper and tape for the rest. Sand the rust off, prime with self-etching primer, and then use the wheel paint. It's worth it, very nice stuff. It seems a little thicker then other paint, and I never had an issue with chipping or anything when scrubbing the wheels out. I'll be painting this trucks rims black, a guy on another board I go on has an exact duplicate of my truck with black rims and 285's, looks awesome.

Not my truck, but same color/config.
 

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Sweeeeet! I like it - thanks for the pic. That's exactly what mine will look like - my Burb is even green! Now, the question is to go gloss or flat? I wonder if there is such a thing as flat clear coat?
 
With black I'd definitely go gloss. Here's the my taco I painted the rims on, tires still mounted. I did take them off the truck and removed the center caps for the job though ):h

GunmetalRims_sized.jpg
 
That really does look good. I'm definitely doing this once the weather warms up.

Jeff, you said you were happy with the durability - did you use clear? Or was it good enough without?
 
I never cleared it, but they do have a clear coat available, it would probably be a worthwhile investment. IIRC, one can of primer and one of paint got me all four wheels with some left over, and I put on a bunch of coats. It covers really well, so a little bit goes a long ways.

Powder coat is great and all, but it's not the end all durable coating either. I've seen plenty of chipped 'coat too. For a fraction of the cost, I'll definitely stick to the duplicolor wheel paint.

What I might do for this truck is to wait until it's time for new tires. I'll pull the wheel weights off before I go to get the new tires put on, and paint with the old tires on. No worry about masking at all, just paint 'em and call it good. Hard to say, it wasn't really all that bad masking either. I might just get impatient before then since the tires I have are very good yet. ):h
 
Sounds good. I'll have to see if "flat" clear is available, since if I use gloss clear on flat black, I think it would end up glossy, anyway.
 
6.5SmokeStack said:
As the years have been going on my gray stock wheels have been looking like crap. They have a little rust and what not... So i have been seeing peoples trucks with the black wheels. I was just curious how you guys have been painting them, what type of paint and how not to get the paint on the rubber.. thanks!
Click to expand...

All i did was clean it well, sand it lightly and cut a piece of aluminum (cardboard would work) I cut a slight arch inward, on one of the sides, and then by bending the aluminum a little bit the arch will match the rim exactly. Paint the rim around that part and move the flashing/aluminum/cardboard to the next part. Worked like a champion.

I did take the rims off and worked them on the ground. BTW, 600-800 grit sandpaper shines up those trim rings pretty well!
 

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Matt Bachand said:
All i did was clean it well, sand it lightly and cut a piece of aluminum (cardboard would work) I cut a slight arch inward, on one of the sides, and then by bending the aluminum a little bit the arch will match the rim exactly. Paint the rim around that part and move the flashing/aluminum/cardboard to the next part. Worked like a champion.

I did take the rims off and worked them on the ground. BTW, 600-800 grit sandpaper shines up those trim rings pretty well!
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Another trick an old timer told me about was getting a deck of cards and sticking them in all the way around.
 
I would just paint the stockers, if you go the powder coat, unless you have a buddy that does it, you can buy after market wheels for a little more than the price of powder coat. That is what I ran into.
 

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If your dirt poor like me you can just take a wire wheel to the rim and prime and paint it. I tried cutting a cardboard 1/2 circle but using newspaper and blue masking tape worked better for me bacause I had to do about 4 coats. Since it was all taped off all I had to do was mix the paint up and spray it.
 

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Michaeljp86 said:
If your dirt poor like me you can just take a wire wheel to the rim and prime and paint it. I tried cutting a cardboard 1/2 circle but using newspaper and blue masking tape worked better for me bacause I had to do about 4 coats. Since it was all taped off all I had to do was mix the paint up and spray it.
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LOL, i have an ol' Bar & Chain oil jug that looks just like yours!
 
ahh great guys thank you! I will bring it to my work (family owned) shop and see what kind of damnage i can do... I figured I would try and sand it down some smooth it out or just use the etching primer? and find the black wheel paint to put on it..
 
you can wipe a heavy coat of vaseline on the rubber, then wash it off when the paint dries. anything petroleum based like maybe even tire shine products will not allow the paint to adhere to the rubber
 
I painted my stock steelies black with stock black center caps and chrome trim rings. It turned out pretty good.

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