Best black wheel paint?

Alright... not getting much attention in the detail forum, so...

So I've bookmarked a multitude of walkthroughs/etc for painting the stock alloy wheels.

I am definitely going to paint them black.... and I'm leaning towards flat black. Definitely shying away from glossy. I don't like when the wheel is gloss black and the tire is either a dull black or grayish in color.

However I'm trying to decide what's the best paint option.

I see some flat black wheels around town and they almost have a purple-gray hue to it. I don't like that.

What I'm after is a really dark/deep black that isn't glossy. I saw one member who painted his front plate bumper "industrial black" or something like that and it was awesome looking... and for some reason I don't have it bookmarked.

Any thoughts/insight would be appreciated.

 

Any flat black paint will fade over time and the end result will be a grayish color. You could try clear coating them to help offset the grey look they get. I used rustoleum satin and it seems to be holding up fairly well.

 

Did you clear coat the satin or just go with its sheen as protection?

I'd like to try and stay away from clear coating the wheels just for the sake of ease of touch up.

Do you have pics of your wheels?

 

Rustoleum Matte Black 248928 with no clear coat... working good for me after a few months. Satin finish that shows some definition to the wheel but not what I'd call shiny.

 

I sanded mine down, then used rustoleum black and threw on a clear coat after.

but honestly, if your going to be offroading your going to chip the hell out of your wheels no matter what. just throw on some flat black and repaint em every year or so.

 

Heh, just posted something similar in a slider thread. I hate to be a traveling salesman for Rustoleum Satin, but what can I say? It gives a nicer luster than flat black but isn't glossy, and won't fade and look dirty all the time like flat black.

 

krylon satin black (over primer, after sanding/scuffing), no clear:

 

clear coat def isnt needed. that shit is just gonna wear off fast as hell anyway.

 

See I like that satin look but your (plural) tires are nice and clean and deep black. Looks great.

I'm just worried that my tires have that grayish/light brownish hue to them most the time and the negative contrast is something I really don't like.

 

Plastidip



Don't mind the wheel weights, I just had the tires mounted and balanced before this picture.

 

Did you plastidip over the weights eventually?

And how does it hold up for wheeling?

 

Yes I did, I don't think I have any recent pics of the wheels though. I would say they hold up very well and you can easily apply another coat over spots that get scraped. I think plastidip is the better way to go for painting wheels on a rig that gets wheeled personally.

 

I might try it. I've never had good luck getting a nice even coat with plastidip though.

One can per wheel? One can for two wheels? Can you remember?

 

I think 1-2 cans for all four wheels iirc. I would maybe buy 3-4 to be safe so you don't have to drive back and forth to the store if you run out.

The best way to do it is to take the wheels off, wipe down, allow to dry then spray them with plastidip.

Here's a pic of my old wheels.

 

Did you do the index card trick (between the rim and tire)? And did you mask the actual tires to prevent overspray getting on the tires?

 

I didn't mask at all, overspray can be peeled off easily so I wasn't too worried about it.

 

That does. Love the wheels. And it's not so bad with the faded tires truthfully.

 

I used a green scratchy pad to clean the hell outta my OEM wheels before painting. I then put on 2 coats of Rustoleum wheel primer and 4 coats of Rustoleum satin black wheel paint. It was very durable...even through the thick sand and rocks out here in AZ, they didn't chip or peel! Ran em like that for over a year before I got after market wheels.

Good luck

 

Steel wheels or alloys? (for your painted stocks)

 

I have a few cans of satin black in the garage, can't remember which brand, but I'll be using that if I choose to paint my stock wheels. I agree with you, I don't like the gloss on a clear coat with tires that I never apply tire shine to. And I don't like the flat black because I think it will fade and is hard to keep clean. It seems like satin is a nice middle ground.