Have any of you found a reasonably priced place to have your wheels powdercoated and oven baked for that best as can be look? I would love to know. Send phone number of business if you have it.

see this site and then think twice about powder coating wheels

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I didn't understand what the author of the site was trying to say. He has the same set of wheels as a friend, but the implication to me is the defects showed up before he intended to powdercoat them. Honestly, I'm not sure what was going on with the wheels, they seemed stressed, but even the "good" wheels looked like they had horrible construction defects.

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'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg

I'm not sure what the information in the linked site pertains to. Automotive wheels can be powdercoated safely.

how can powdercoating deform them that much?

The implication is the front wheels were stressed and lost offset after being driven after powdercoating. It is certainly not plainly stated. The pictures are quite clear, and show some seriously messed up wheels.

I don't know why the fronts would lose temper and not the rears. It is my opinion judging from the way the wheels constructed that they were junk to begin with. The inner and outer rim look to be interference fit from the zig-zag pattern -- I see no signs of welding. However, I am no expert on wheel construction.

I would not expect to see problems like that from a one piece Mercedes Benz factory alloy wheel. Powdercoating cure temperatures are not that hot, less than 200C.

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'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg

Wheels can definately be safely powdercoated... The temperatures generated in a curing oven are quite low in comparison to any metallurgical temperature. Motorcyclists routinely powdercoat wheels, and believe me, motorcycle wheels need to be completely true, and put up with a lot of stress. If powdercoating damaged wheels, people wouldn't put up with it.

As always, make sure you to go a reputable shop that is used to working on wheels and automotive parts. Ask your dealer what bodyshop they use, then ask that bodyshop for their recommendation (assuming they don't do powdercoating themselves).

peace,
sam

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"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)

the heat used in powder coating will anneal a wheel which has been heat treated for strength .... if the wheel was not heat treated then the problem wouldn't be as severe or in some cases even exist ....

what that website shows is what can happen to wheel that was heat treated when you powder coat them ... I have seen it happen dozens of times

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Please, call me to place orders or for more info
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Well, I just had my W124 '86 wheels powder coated. They are the forged type -- not sure if they are heat treated. Shop does motorcycle, car, hot rod and a lot of military/navy stuff. They said they do 7 to 8 sets of aluminum wheels a week. $200 for all four, coated on all sides, like they were dipped.

Not on the car yet -- will advise later if I see any probs.

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David
1986 300E Anthracite + ECodes + MB Mileage Award

Have you done a google search for Powder Coating North Carolina and maybe do South Carolina also and the surrounding states...I think that 500 degrees over a long period of time will have an effect on metal but not the minutes that it takes to actually powder coat them. The powder coating is actually many times more durable than sprayed on paint.

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James A. Harris

Aluminum gets its stength from a heat treatment called 'solution-treat and age". Even though it appears analogous to steel heat treatment, it is metallurgically different from the 'quench and temper' used to strengthen steel. When baking podercoat on aluminum, 350°F is okay for short whiles, but 500°F will overage aluminum and leave it soft and weak, even if it's for a few minutes.

Forged, cast, or billet, I expect all wheels to be in the proper heat-treated condition. It'd be silly to make aluminum wheels and leave them in soft condition.

I couldn't make sense out of that link. I find it hard to believe that the wheels got soft from overaging and deformed that much, while remaining true... especially two wheels deforming the same exact amount. The patterns of purported failure just don't make sense. It makes more sense that there was a mid-production change. If he'd check the part numbers on each wheel, he'd probably find differences between the two sets.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

the front wheels (with the extra engine weight ) are the deformed wheels

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Please, call me to place orders or for more info
use my name for on-line orders

I wonder how much brake rotor heat is conducted into the wheel when a car puls of the race track and just sits there not being cooled by the wind.

That is if you don't do a cool down lap

I just had this place do something for my work:

www.powdercoater.com

Darn I stumbled upon this thread and this website no longer has anything to do with the subject here. I have been considering this very thing....now I am thinking.

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche