Current Best Wheel Coating 2019

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Accumulator

Well-known member
The OptiCoat (?v1.0?) I used previously lasted for *years*, it`s still doing OK on one set but new tires = new weights = need to at least do the barrels and might as well do the whole job. BUT I keep reading about coatings only lasting a little longer than my idiot-proof AIO + FK1000P regimen, and if that`s the current state of affairs I`ll save my money and effort (one set of wheels is *VERY* challenging to do properly) and just do them annually, or maybe even go back to just leaving them undone and using a Wheel Cleaner (well, probably not, but maybe..never had problems with that before). But I`d really like to coat them so I can just wash with shampoo for a few years as I`ve been doing with the OptiCoat.

OK, "best" is subjective. Here`s what matters to this subject:

-Durability. If it`s not gonna last well over a year I have zero interest. While ad-copy usually errs on the side of optimism, that`s sure not how I read "lasts up to a year".

-Ease of Use. Gotta be Accumulator-proof, if not truly foolproof. My vision isn`t what it used to be and spotting "high spots"/etc. could be very problematic, sure don`t want to discover an oops! later as I`m *not* gonna redo them over such a thing.

I thought I had narrowed it down to Gyeon Rim or Kamikaze Stance, but I gather the former isn`t all *that* durable and I`ve yet to get good feedback on the latter.

I do question whether "WHEEL coatings" are all that different from just plain Coatings in the functional sense. Noting that I`ve used Temp-Indicating Paint on rotors (but no, never tried an IR thermometer on the wheels themselves), I simply don`t believe that the rims in question will get all that hot. They sure don`t get too hot for FK1000P, nor did they get too hot for the other LSPs I used previously (there were Track Day exceptions on other cars, but that was with wax).

So, what`s the current Fave in durable, easy-to-use Wheel Coatings?
 
I still like PBL Wheel Coating. I’ve been using it since it was released. My original bottle is still 1/4 full and have been using it for 3+ years. It lasts a good 12 months and all I do is a soap and water cleanup. Many of the other brands only give you enough to do one set of wheels or if you don’t use it up it hardens in the bottle where PBL doesn’t seem to have a shelf life (this includes the paint and glass coating too). The only other wheel coating I have used is CarPro Dlux and PBL works just as well at a lower cost.
 
Have used Gyeon Rim, IGL Wheel and Kamikaze Stance. Stance, although pricey, is the best and easiest I have used. Easily over a year including a winter with 2 coats.

With Stance on the wheels and TuffShine on the tires cleaning wheels during a wash is a spray and dry process that takes about 5 minutes. Wheel and tire coatings are the biggest time savers for me, more so than even paint coating.
 
C5 with exo. Coated both of my daughters cars and still performing at 18 months. Cars are in Michigan and Germany.
 
When you find the best one be sure to let me know.

I would skip Gyeon Rim if you are looking for something long term. It does meet the criteria of ease of use.

I haven’t used Stance so I can’t comment on that.

CarPro DLUX is good and it seems to get to about 12-15 months before it needs a reapplication. This is a little more tricky as it feels tacky upon leveling. Nothing to be concerned about.

GTechniq C5 is straight forward to use. Claimed durability is 1 year and that is about right.

C5 does better with Exo as a topper and you will get more than 1 year. The downside is the time it takes to apply multiple layers.

I’m currently testing out 22ple VM1 and have high hopes for it.

A regular paint coating like Cquartz UK does surprisingly well as a wheel coating.

Too many factors to consider as wheels tend to take a beating.

kbmag1 said:
C5 with exo. Coated both of my daughters cars and still performing at 18 months. Cars are in Michigan and Germany.
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I agree that it is a nice combo but I’m already seeing signs of Exo V3 losing its hydrophobic properties in 1 year’s time frame.
 
+1 on the 22ple VM1. I’ve used it on my last two cars, both of which made horrendous brake dust. I’m at about 20 months right now and the wheels are still easier to clean than they were for the one month I had the car before coating the wheels with 22ple. Every few months or so I hit the wheels with gyeon wet coat, so I can’t use beading alone as an indication of how well 22ple is holding up. Just basing it on how easily the brake dust comes off.
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
I still like PBL Wheel Coating. I’ve been using it since it was released. My original bottle is still 1/4 full and have been using it for 3+ years. It lasts a good 12 months and all I do is a soap and water cleanup. Many of the other brands only give you enough to do one set of wheels or if you don’t use it up it hardens in the bottle where PBL doesn’t seem to have a shelf life (this includes the paint and glass coating too). The only other wheel coating I have used is CarPro Dlux and PBL works just as well at a lower cost.
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I’m with RLM. I’ve tried some toppers (HydroBlue, PA SuperSport), but I’ve never needed to try another wheel coating. So many uses out of PBL, so easy to use, and lasts a year before I redo.
 
I appreciate the responses!

So far I`m leaning towards either just using FK1000P or going with Stance.

Not gonna use a topper/prolonger if I go with a coating, that`s for sure. Still surprised at the limited durability being reported for some coatings (just a year?!?), but I guess every case is different. Perhaps our vehicles don`t get used very hard these days...

Heh heh, I bet I`ve never cleaned even a single wheel in just 5 minutes in my life! Well, rentals/loaners excepted. While I always find brakedust/etc. washes off quite easily (yeah, even with supposedly problematic vehicles/pads), it just takes me longer than that to do both sides, the pockets around the valvestem/lugs and so on, even with the car already jacked up for easy access to the back side. Eh, seems like all this stuff takes me a long time :o

Anyhow, thanks again to those who`ve responded, we`ll see if anybody else chimes in.
 
And of course, sigh....not finding Stance anywhere except in a pricey "kit" with stuff I don`t need :(

Hmmm...maybe the 22ple VM1. Guess I don`t have to decide right now, but summer-tire weather is getting closer.
 
I`d like to try a coating on my wheels. I was last using PNs, followed by BNS every now and then. Using only rinseless washes. Using a microfiber and wheel woolite on SRT Brembos which dusted A LOT!
 
See below. For over 3 years, I used a rinseless wash. Chemical guys hose free eco wash, spiked with a bit of Ech2o or just Ech2o.

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Sorry it wont let me edit my posts. I have used the Sonax Wheel cleaner and worked amazing. Me not having a hose and not wanting to use a harsh chemical each time stopped using it.

I use 1 to 2 microfiber towels per wheel, use them on tire too. Spray wheel generously with my rinseless wash as I used my wheel woolite, then spray again and use towels, spray with solution and wipe dry. I would also clean the red calipers and the wheel wells with same solution.

Anyone with the SRT brembos knows how much they shed and destroy your wheels. Mind you this works great on my personal vehicle.

I`ve had good success with 845 on wheels, Sonax PNS and then follow up with BSD every now and then.

Just to add this was a daily driver, come rain, snow or shine. Just recently sold with almost 30k miles :(.

I did the same regiment on my 2013 Charger wheels, using just 845 and Hose free eco wash with no issues.

Please dont stare too long or you`ll fall in love.
 
Here`s what i used, Durability ? couldn`t tell you since i`m new to this game,ease of application as easy as coating four panels,cleaning was a PIA for this type of wheel but it was what i wanted. I used C5 wheel Armour. Cleaning now is a breeze. at the end of the day it`s what i was after. Time will tell.......................
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Accumulator said:
And of course, sigh....not finding Stance anywhere except in a pricey "kit" with stuff I don`t need :(

Hmmm...maybe the 22ple VM1. Guess I don`t have to decide right now, but summer-tire weather is getting closer.
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VM1 is nice to work with. Has a long working window before leveling. The good thing about 22ple is its ease of use and I can attest to its ease of use. Claimed durability is 3-5 years for it but I can not comment on that as I have only had it for about 3.5 months and it is working quite well. Good time to pick up a bottle with the 25% off on DI`s site.

Esoteric carries stance but it looks like they are out of stock at the moment.
 
For me it would be igl Eclipse no doubt. But seeing as that`s not available to everyone igl wheel is great. Both can be sprayed or hand applied
 
By far the best I’ve used is Modesta BC06 applied with airbrush. Going on a year and I’ve used a ton of chemicals on it to try to hurt it! Nothing touches it! You get down my way, I’ll do them for you. As far as OTC products, I really had good luck with Kamikaze stance.
 
Anything I go with has to be available to anyone (and in-stock). Yeah, with the sale at DI maybe I should just get the 22ple VM1 and see whether I do get years out of it (I`ll be [ticked] off if I use a coating that doesn`t last that long).

Mike lambert- Heh heh, if I were in your neck of the woods I could consider no longer DIYing this stuff ;)

The Guz- Yeah, actually buying the Stance seems problematic at present.
 
A little late to the party, but I`ll give my 2c worth...

I used the "regular", i.e. non-UK version, Cquartz paint coating on my summer wheels and after two seasons it was still going strong. My wheels have a satin finish, so you don`t really see any gloss, thankfully, but the beading and self cleaning is still quite strong.

The nice thing about the CQuartz coating is you can get a 10ml sample bottle from the Carpro website. This keeps costs down when doing wheels since you won`t use anywhere near all the product in a 30ml normal bottle. My OZ wheels have a LOT of spokes which makes for a good amount of surface area to cover and a used all but a tiny bit of product in the 10ml bottle. Mileage will vary based on size and complexity of the wheel design, but I`d still think the sample bottle would work well.
 
It takes a lot of product (and time/effort) to do the Tahoe`s wheels, so I needed to be sure I got enough, but not so much that a lot went bad if not used promptly.

I ended up going with the 22ple VM1, we`ll see how it works out.

Thanks again to all who responded! I got a lot of food-for-thought and made a much more informed decision than I would have otherwise.
 
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