Most Durable Wheel Finish for Sand/Gravel?

So a lot of the wheeling I do out here in AZ is in deep sand/gravel. Last Saturday I got to find out what a matte black TRD Pro wheel looks like because after I buried it, the sand/gravel literally sanded all of the clear coat off the rim. I have gotten a lot of "just replace it" but since it's inevitably going to happen again I would rather coat my current wheels with something more durable.

My current front runner is Raptor Liner as I have it on my sliders and will have it on my front bumper and the matching would be nice. I am sure that will add some weight (not sure how much) and also may make a wheel balance more difficult. Anyone have any thoughts on using bed liner as a wheel finish or have other thought on a more durable and easy to touch up wheel finish?

Pics of current driver's side rear wheel and how it ended up like this:



This was a desert clean up run with the Keep Our Desert Clean crew here in AZ so the old grill I picked up in the desert didn't help.

 

Let's hear from all those Ceramic coating fans!

 

Have you tried waxing them?

I think a concave wheel style might serve you better, than necessarily a different type of paint.

I’ve never buried them in sand but I have a several thousand gravel miles on these:

 

There is no wheel that will hold up to that kind of abuse. I had the exact same thing happen to my GMC 2500hd with the OEM polished aluminum wheels. It just simply took the polish right off and literally sanded wheel. You either have to accept the damage, or take care when you're in a situation where the wheel is buried in rock / sand.

 

I don’t have a suggestion, but cheers to you for really enjoying the hell out of your pro! I’m gonna watch this thread for the solution!

 

One thing that will help and likely prevent it from happening again is a proper tire. If you can prevent getting stuck like that in the first place, you wont ever have to worry about it again. A little bit of vigilance and a good tire should solve that problem altogether.

 

I completely agree, that's why i'm looking to refinish with something more durable but also easier to touch up. Roll on raptor liner seems like it will fit the bill as it will be a little thicker to fill in the current imperfections and also easy to touch up with the same finish. Just not sure how well it will balance, how much weight would be added, and whether or not bedliner is actually a good idea for a wheel finish.

 

Tires are actually on the way. They are pizza cutters which of course aren't the best for sand, but hopefully the better tread pattern will help.

 

I can't give any good first hand advice for wheel finish, but I have had good luck with spray on liner in the past. You can spray it as thick as you want too, so keeping it thin as to not affect wheel balance might not be too difficult. The thing that may suck there, is you'll end up having to spray all the wheels. If you wanted to just repair the one (or two) wheels that were damaged, you could have someone like Wheels America refinish the wheel for a reasonable cost.

 

Thanks for picking up the desert for all of us. Wait until you rotate tires before you do another cleanup, get stuck, and then they’ll match; wheeling patina is a beautiful thing.

 

Type 3 anodizing?

 

Interestingly, I got some tire shine over spray on the wheel yesterday and this morning when I got it out in the light the area right around the tire where the over spray was looks a lot "shinier". I'm going to hit the rest of the wheel with tire shine and see how it looks and how long it lasts. That may be enough until I do some (more) damage to the other three wheels and need to refinish/replace. If it doesn't last longer than a week I'll have to do some type of refinishing/coating soon.

 

for what its worth, i dig the scratched look. Its all memories! Shine up the scratches and roll I say

 

That GMC OEM alloy has some tough clear coat on them.

Spinning wheels in sand and mud will take any finish off quickly.

 

I love Raptor liner and have coated tons of stuff with it from an entire camper to my current rig's sliders and front bumper. I've finally found a method I like for applying it so you only get a light texture but all of the durability benefits of a urethane liner (Harbor Freight gun drilled out and using 100psi at the regulator). That said, I would hesitate to spray wheels with it. Too heavy and the likelihood of affecting the balance is likely. If easy touch-ups are all you're looking for, it's hard to beat a rattle can.

 

Heck yeah it does. I was shocked. Unfortunately for me, the truck was 2wd. Live and learn..

@therealprotaco One thing I forgot to mention.. Have you tried out the MTS modes on your truck yet? I wish they worked in 4 wheel high, although they can only be activated in 4 wheel low. With that said, throw it in the sand mode next time. You'll probably be amazed at how well it works. Between that, airing down a little, and throwing some good tires on there, you should be in good shape.

 

These wheels like to lose paint.
Striker Ravine in Moab is to blame

 

I actually did have it in sand mode on the MTS (I believe that was what it was called) but it didn't help. I was way high centered right between the TRD Pro Skid and the cross member. The rock was so lodged there that we couldn't even pull it out without jacking the truck up so the skid would clear the rock. Once it was jacked up I actually used crawl control in reverse to get it out but I think at that point I could have just had it in any 4LO setting with the locker and it would have backed out of it.

 

That makes a lot more sense. I was over here scratching my head how you got it buried that deep in the first place so I figured I better mention the MTS settings. One thing that has saved me a couple times out here is carrying a set of MaxTraxx. You can score some off brands for less. Cheap insurance. Although I'm not sure if they would have helped in your situation, depending on how hung up you were.

 

MaxTraxx are definitely on the list. Just pulled the trigger on a Demello front bumper too so I'll have a winch available too (not that it would have helped this time).