painting my rims

so i have a 2003 toyota tacoma prerunner and i plan on painting the stock rims black (as i dont have alotta of cash) do i have to take them off the truck to paint them and iff i do will that have nay effect on driveing etc. after i put them on. thanks

 

idealy, you want it to last, and not need any touch ups. get powdercoated.

below that next best choice is removing wheels from vehicle, dismounting tires, and throughloy prepping and painting. includes primer.


and i guess some masking tape and rattle can would work if your incapable of the above two options.

finally, plastic dip. not a bad one, just not permanent.

 

Plasti-dip
Cut a garbage bag down the side and slide it through a hole in your wheel. Slide the bag all the way around and COMPLETELY cover your rotor and pad. Spray 5-6 coats waiting 15 min apart.
Bam. Black wheels.

 

garbage bags are a pain in the ass but so is removing, powder coating, and remounting.

so heres what ya do:

1. remove wheel
2. sand with metal sandpaper of varying roughness. wash well with soap and water.
3. stick 5x7 note cards in between the rim/lip where the wheel meets the tire until completely surrounded.
4. paint with two coats of primer
5. paint two coats of paint
6. let dry
7. look bad ass

 

^This

 

^^^^
This is how I did mine and its pretty simple to do. If you want to touch them up it is also very quick with this method. I also use the same brand clear coat and it does IMO make it more durable. I have had these painted since 2006 and have only touched them up twice, both times after getting new tires installed.

 

I'd look into a self-etching primer for your base coat to really get a good grip for your top coat. Make sure your read the details though, depending on the brand some self-etching require a layer of primer on top (and sometimes a specific type of primer), and then your topcoat.

If I were to do it I'd go:
-self-etching
-compatible primer
-compatible 2k topcoat

You should be able to find all those things in rattle cans if thats what you're looking for.

 

Most everybody's methods are good. For black paint, I've recently been using Dupli-Color High Performance Caliper Paint with Ceramic (#BC102)
Very smooth - powder coat shine and forgiving in prep. Good for suspension, etc. Try a can on something and you'll see.

also another good black paint (made for aluminum) is the Mercury Outboard Motor touch-up paint. Comes in the rattle can. Tough as nails, not asforgiving in the prep. clean-warm-dry! Has more solids/pigment or something (brain fade). I used to use it for suspension pieces on Mopars. Not as shiny as Caliper Paint.

I painted my motorcycle wheels and other parts with the Dupli-Color Wheel Coating mentioned above. (Graphite) good stuff. Even worked on a rusted shotgun barrel.

I like to throw the rattle can in a bucket of warm water for about 15 min. (under 120*) and maybe a little heat gun on the wheel (98.6*)
The faster the paint sets up, the less time for defects to happen. Follow directions on the can.

Joe R.
Kelso

 

sub'd

 

Id plasti dip them the stuff is really durable and pretty cheap.