Painting rims?

After much thought I am concidering painting my rims. I have been doing alot of research on the subject such as prep work, type of paint ect.. , but the other day while at the local Sportsman's Warehouse I saw a truck with "painted rims" but instead of your normal rattle can they used the "DIY" bedliner. I didn't care for the textured look but the durability has to be up there with powdercoating. Anybody know of a smooth finish product or recommend a good quality paint?

 

good sir u have stumbled onto my area of expertise haha..i actually spraypainted my stock wheels black a few days ago, go into my profile and check out the pics! if it looks like something you'd wanna do just let me know and i'll tell u everything i can

 

alright ya'll gather round now i'ma tell u how to get-r-dun...

step one, take off ur wheels
step two, have a beer for your effort
step three, use a 200 grit sandpaper to sand as much of the finish as you can off of your wheels, making sure to get every edge, crack and crevice.
step four, have a beer, you should almost be sweating by now
step five, apply one coat of a spray-on gray primer, then lightly sand with a 500-600 grit sandpaper
step six, have a beer and a steak
step seven, using the black scratch resistant wheel paint you purchased at the local auto store, begin to spray the first coat of paint on. do it very lightly with the wheels laying flat on the ground to avoid paint runs. P.S. you dont need to tape off the tire, the paint will peel off of the rubber within a couple hours.
step eight, have a beer. you may be mildly buzzed but maintain your focus.
step nine, after a few coats of paint the wheels should be completely covered and the color should be even. DO NOT use a clear coat to seal it unless you are positive that it wont ruin the paint's own finish.
step ten, have a beer and watch the paint dry
step eleven, carefully reinstall the wheels so you dont scratch the paint, but wait about an hour from your last coat to do this because you dont want fingerprints in your paint either.

If you don't drink, skip every even-numbered step and it will take half the time out of doing the job haha. the paint i used was Krylon interior/exterior gloss black, said it stuck to metal and it did. my wheels do look pretty good considering i didn't use a paint designed for wheels like they have at pepboys or autozone, and I DIDN'T EVEN PRIME THE WHEELS CUZ I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO. even so, it came out well.

VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THIS NEXT SENTENCE!!!
When i painted my drivers side wheels, i left the plastic toyota center caps on. the paint did coat it, then it turned gray and looks very faded compared to the wheel altho i used the same paint as the wheels and it said it would stick to plastic. on the passenger side, i removed the center caps and sprayed them with Krylon Fusion outdoor plastic paint. this did come out much better but even tho i used the gloss black, it came out flat black.
so here is what my recommendations are.
remove all four center caps before painting the wheels. go ahead and get started painting the wheels using the black wheel coating spray paint from autozone or a decent quality gloss black paint that will work on metal, such as the krylon. get a can of the KRYLON FUSION PLASTIC PAINT in gloss black. sand the center caps as much as you can and spray a very thin coat of primer, you'll need it especially for the paint to stick to the ridges of the toyota emblem. after those all dry after a few coats, either be satisfied with the flat black which doesn't look all that bad, or do what i did. i went and bought two tiny jars of Testors enamel gloss black model paint, and using a very soft brush and applying it heavily and evenly, i did my center caps with that and it turned out PERFECT. a nice, deep gloss black.


any more questions?

 

by the way, keep a can of the black wheel coating handy in the garage, if you need a touch up from a curb or a rock, just clean it and spray it.

AND I FORGOT TO MENTION IN THE INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE that you need to use a degreaser/wheel clener before you sand it cuz paint wont stick to oils even if you sand everything that may be some left. then wipe the entire wheel down with a damp cloth to remove all dust dirt and debris after sanding and after priming/sanding again. after you wipe them down with the damp cloth, use a dry microfiber cloth to pick up everything else you couldnt see or that the first wiping didnt get

 

any more questions?

Yea should I go black or maybe gunmetal gray?

 

that was actually a decision i had to make too, i ended up going with black because it matches the bhlm and my blacked out taillights too....not sure what else u plan on doing to yours but gunmetal gray will look good too

 

it should still come out fine especially since you're using the primer. the only issue i had with not priming the wheels was that the paint wouldnt stick to certain spots of the wheels for the first couple coats but it gradually filled in as i put more on, make sure you put up pics when you're done tho

 

Well I just finished my second rim I think they turned out pretty good ( of course i'm probably higher than a kite right now from the fumes!) I am gonna finish the other two tomarrow. How did yours turn out hodge?

 

cool bro, did u do the front/backs or passenger/driver side first?

 

weather shouldnt make a difference, just paint the wheels in the garage or basement, and make sure they're completely dry by blowdrying them and heating up the paint will not only make it cure faster but will give it a bit of an extra shine also

 

I did the front of mine will do the back in the morning. Wife was complaining about the fumes so i'll wait till she goes to work.

 

haha did you do them in your living room or what lol. how many coats did you end up doing? was the paint coverage even with the primer?

 

I usually don't start painting in the living room till the snow flies JK. I ended up using a metallic black paint so should look really good in the sunlight. Coverage was good using a automotive primer and 3 coats of paint.

 

good, i'm really glad i could spark a few ideas to everyone in here. this is something thats cheap and easy, yet it makes a HUGE difference for the looks of the trucks

 

it was 50 degrees and dark out when i did all of my wheels, just used the blowdryer to help the paint cure better but i havent had any problems yet as far as the paint sticking, i washed it the other day and it seemed fine

 

How many days between your paint job and washing?