Questions About Powder Coated Wheels

Anyone here have any experience with powder coated wheels?

My neighbor has asked me to do a top-to-bottom detail of his new vehicle. AFTER agreeing, he gets his wheels powder coated...

This has led me to a few questions:

- Does powder coating need time to cure like a fresh vehicle paint job would?
- Wheel cleaners? Are they safe on powder coated wheels? Some say they are, but are they really?
- Sealants? Will they damage a new powder coat job? I was planning on testing one of those spray on-rinse off type products on his wheels.

At this point I`m tempted to simply wash them with my mild car wash soap and leave it at that.

Thanks in advance for any tips/pointers/advice!

DesertNate -- Hope this finds you guys all safe and well..

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Powder Coated Wheel Help/Issue
Fenrir19
05-26-2020 07:27 PM

I am learning much from researching, and it looks like while they talk about how tough this coating is, etc., it appears to have issues with some cleaners, and can possibly be damaged that can only be fixed by stripping it all off and starting over.. Bummer...
Be careful what you do with this guys newly coated wheels and perhaps warn him of apparently, the danger of even going to a touchless car wash, as it talks about in this new thread above..
Good luck with this!
Dan F

There was recently (5/25) an interesting discussion about this on the Corvette Forum. They discussed clearcoating, cleaning and polishing powder coated wheels. Most, it seems, say no. Powdwe coating is very durable but also susceptible to staining and chemical blemishes. It was noted, however, that Eastwood makes a polish specifically for pc`ed wheels. This was in the C4 forum.

Thank you both for the information. For such a popular option when it comes to refinishing or simply changing the looks of a wheel set, there sure isn`t much information out there about even the most basic tasks like cleaning! I posted the same thread or at AG and only got one response there. as well.

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Originally Posted by Stokdgs

DesertNate -- Hope this finds you guys all safe and well..

You may have already read this thread - Go to first new post -
Powder Coated Wheel Help/Issue
Fenrir19
05-26-2020 07:27 PM

I am learning much from researching, and it looks like while they talk about how tough this coating is, etc., it appears to have issues with some cleaners, and can possibly be damaged that can only be fixed by stripping it all off and starting over.. Bummer...
Be careful what you do with this guys newly coated wheels and perhaps warn him of apparently, the danger of even going to a touchless car wash, as it talks about in this new thread above..
Good luck with this!
Dan F

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Dan, all is well here. Hope you safe and sound as well.

I did see that thread here and it`s twin over at AG. It was what initially set off alarm bells for me when I started looking into how to clean up the wheels on the neighbors car. Based on that thread and all the warnings I`ve see. I`m simply going to wash them with a soft brush and my normal car wash soap. They are a satin black, but still no reason to take any risks and ruin a set a wheels.

I thought that a great many, if not most, oe wheels are powdercoated these days. My understanding is that`s why it`s basically impossible to correct marring on so many of them..you`re not just dealing with "tough clear" the way you were a few decades ago.

Maybe Ron Ketcham will see this and chime in...

I also thought that all quality (and that doesn`t necessarily mean "most") powdercoats were OK to use most any LSPs/etc. on. The pieces I`ve had done never suffered from it.

Yeah...unless somebody withe expert knowledge corrects me on this, I`ll keep thinking that it`s *anodized* wheels that require special care, and that powdercoated ones (and other powdercoated things) are just "don`t mar it because you`ll have to live with that, but otherwise don`t worry".

EDIT: AND THEN AGAIN....I *just* saw on another thread where new member Fenrir19 had is freshly powdercoated wheels ruined by the chemicals at a Touchless :( Guess that their chemicals (esp. if maybe not mixed right) can potentially ruin anything, especially hot stuff...

I know a lot of aftermarket wheels were powder coated these days, but hadn`t thought about OEM too. Can powder coating create the same glossy look as a painted/clear coated wheel?

Right now all three of my vehicles I`m pretty sure have painted wheels because they have the facing surfaces of the spokes are brushed metal and the other surfaces are painted. When looking at all of them REALLY closely, you can see flaws in the clear coat on the brushed metal surfaces. Well, on our Toyota you don`t have to look too close because they are in full-blown clear coat failure at this point...

The last wheels I polished were on a 2010 Mazda. Those were painted and I was able to do a little correction on them , but I haven`t attempted anything like that since.

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Originally Posted by Desertnate

I know a lot of aftermarket wheels were powder coated these days, but hadn`t thought about OEM too. Can powder coating create the same glossy look as a painted/clear coated wheel?

Right now all three of my vehicles I`m pretty sure have painted wheels because they have the facing surfaces of the spokes are brushed metal and the other surfaces are painted. When looking at all of them REALLY closely, you can see flaws in the clear coat on the brushed metal surfaces. Well, on our Toyota you don`t have to look too close because they are in full-blown clear coat failure at this point...

The last wheels I polished were on a 2010 Mazda. Those were painted and I was able to do a little correction on them , but I haven`t attempted anything like that since.

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Desert Nate,
Thanks, I am all good up here in the NorCal Farmlands..

I find it amazing that we went decades with painted wheels, hardly ever had issues, I have used Meguiars Wheel Brightener diluted, on zillions of clear coated metal and painted wheels, and never damaged 1, and now all I see is powder coated wheels apparently super sensitive to strong cleaners and could be damaged forever from them...
Is this one of those 1 step forward, 2 steps backwards kind of things?? :)
Dan F

The clear on my "Machined finish" wheels isn`t even *close* to "normal clearcoat", MUCH harder than that and trying to correct anything major will lead to a FAIL of one kind or another (gee, ask how I know...fortunately I only went to town on ones I was replacing anyhow).

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Originally Posted by desertnate

The last wheels I polished were on a 2010 Mazda. Those were painted and I was able to do a little correction on them , but I haven`t attempted anything like that since.

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Gee, that surprises me as the ones on my `01 MPV were some kind of silver powdercoat that drove `em nuts when they tried to refinish them under the assumption that it was just clearcoat...ended up being a major project that they never expected.

Attachment 37280I found this from Toyota,,,,

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Originally Posted by Accumulator

The clear on my "Machined finish" wheels isn`t even *close* to "normal clearcoat", MUCH harder than that and trying to correct anything major will lead to a FAIL of one kind or another (gee, ask how I know...fortunately I only went to town on ones I was replacing anyhow).

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Agree, what I have on my mixed finish wheels is some sort of odd clear coat. On my old Subaru, one wash with an OTC wheel cleaner, I think Meguiars, and they turned cloudy and never were the same again. Didn`t even try to polish them out for fear it would all go wrong. On our Toyota, three of the four have managed to get a small pit or chip from road debris which then became full on failure and the metal underneath starting to corrode. I vowed to never get that style of wheel again and now I have two more in the garage...ugh...

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Gee, that surprises me as the ones on my `01 MPV were some kind of silver powdercoat that drove `em nuts when they tried to refinish them under the assumption that it was just clearcoat...ended up being a major project that they never expected.

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I could have it wrong, I`m by no means an expert. The wheels on my Daughter`s Mazda3 appeared to be completely covered in some basic silver metallic paint. When I`d hit them with an AIO or a mild polish by hand I would notice an improvement in the shine. To this day they are still in great shape and haven`t needed a repair or re-finish of any sort. Based on appearance and my ability to clean them up I only assumed they were painted and no powder coat, but you never know.

Desertnate- If you ever have to try polishing out real marring on the Mazda3, I suspect you`ll find it`s incredibly hard stuff...the same as my MPV. Those wheels would shine up nicely, and *VERY* minor marring could be dealt with, but as far as "doing correction" like on the painted wheels of my Jag...forget it.

Look at pitted/curbed/etc. wheels and sometimes you can see that the finish is some weirdly thick stuff that`s different from "regular paint". And it`s generally *on there* too, doesn`t just "flake off more" the way a "normal paint chip" can. Heh heh, just look at all the scare-quotes I need to discuss this stuff!

Anyhow...IMO the real points are that today`s wheels have pretty tough finishes, and/but you can still ruin most anything with the wrong chemicals + heat.