Wheel painting results

Spent some time this past week giving my stock wheels a new look. I basically mirrored this method but figured I'd post some results and a few things I observed so others can be informed as well.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/wheels-tires/3804-ok-my-wheel-painting-kinda-walkthrough.html

First off, TAKE YOUR TIME. Prep work is crucial. I took one wheel of at a time and put my spare on so I had no excuse to be rushed. I washed and degreased my wheels before and after wet sanding.

2 good coats of primer and 3 good coats of paint. I waited 30 minutes minimum between primer coats a minimum of 1 hour between paint coats. I also waited overnight (12 or so hours) before putting the finished wheel back on the truck.

I used high heat flat black for the wheels and Krylon Fusion flat black for the plastic caps. I tried the high heat paint on the first cap just to see the result and it cracked in several places as it dried.

I know I'll get a ton of durability questions but I don't have that answer yet. I DO NOT expect it to be as durable as a powder coat or even plasti dip. It's a hell of a lot cheaper that powder coating and it will never peel like plasti dip will. I'm sure I'll get rock gouges and what not but that's the glory of the spray paint. Just a quick spray here and there and bam back to new.

 

did you remove the tire from the wheel to do this, or did you tape/cover/aim like a pro? man i hate chrome, amazing what a difference that makes!

-doing some homework, i guess you taped, would you recommend removing the tires from rim if you were to do it again?

Edit: no further questions, lol
other thread post has some people saying the paint will not adhere to the tire, but peel off same day/remove with a rag.. no need to put this one off anymore

 

For the first 2 I just slid 3x5 index cards between the rim and rubber. After that I just did it without. I got very little over spray on the rubber.

 

Put a layer of clear coat over those bad boys and they'll really look professional and the paint job will last a lot longer.

 

I decided not to clear coat for the ease of being able to do touch ups when I scratch them up.