Painting Stock Wheels

Bronze on that color always looks dope.

 

I say spray them.
Buy a couple extra cans to touch things up.

 

Gun metal grey rattle can for the win...

 

Those are the TRD Off Road wheels?

 

Etsy decals all the way. That's what I ran for years before getting off my cheap wallet and buying an actual set of wheels.

Cool thing was that it was easy to bring them back to stock when it was time to sell. And the decals kept the shiny bits scratch free. Win.

 

Yes. I also didn't like the 2 tone look but couldn't justify new tires and wheels right now.

 

X3 for vinyl blackout stickers. You MIGHT be ready to open your wallet in a few years OR replace the stickers. I’m 27 months in on mines.

 

They look really good in single color.
I've been on the fence about painting my stockers, and you might have convinced me.

 

Hi. What option of Hyperdip did you use? Is that brass monkey?

 

I forgot to post after painting mine.

 

They are dirty but mine are black spray paint. I’ve used bed liner in the past on my Jeep and it didn’t hold up as well as the krylon fusion is. I just used playing cards to cover the tires and then put shop towels in the wheel opening

 

Yes it is

 

blacked out wheels are too over done and don't look all that good in my opinion.

 

I felt same as OP here, my truck was relatively new and I was spending money on lift, winch and bumper, camper shell, etc. It was a big stream of money all at once

But, I was making mine what I wanted it to be: an attractive but functional off-road weekend warrior. Did I need new rims...no. I was able to fit 33" tires on my OEM rims with a basic lift from Toytec. It is THE RIGHT size tire for me, lots of traction and clearance and the cost and difficulty curve rises sharply to install anything larger. Essentially, I spent my money on things I needed, not things I wanted.

I actually thought about having the rims painted but, by the time you pay for dismounting, remounting and the cost of painting, you could just buy new rims. So, I left the tires on, stuck cards around the rim to mask the tire, scuffed the wheels real well, wiped with acetone and a tack cloth. Prep is everything in paint. Then, I spray painted them. I added the OEM TRD center caps (also painted) and black lug nuts. Been on for about a year now. Good luck on your choice!

 

@Mas Olas do you have a link to the vinyl stickers you bought? Looks fantastic!

 

Did the derp deal on my off road wheels. Felt that it came out good, not great. Wanted a blacked out look and that’s what I got…always felt like the finish never really looked “clean” though. Anyway, was impressed with the durability as it lasted over 2 years before I upgraded to legit Trd pro wheels. Getting the deep off the wheels was not quite as easy as many have stated (“just peel it off…”). Maybe I didn’t apply thick enough, but peeling it off was a huge pain in the ass and was taking forever…ended up busting out the pressure washer…still took a while, but I eventually blasted it all away. Happy I did it, but happy I’m done with it too…

 

Body shop/paint technician here. You can put a really nice finish on your wheels but if the prep work isn't done meticulously, they will fail in a short time. Ideally you should take the tires off, or at least break the beads so you can get the prep and paint around the lip of the wheel.
I recommend a base coat/clear coat (you can use a matte clear if that's the finish you desire) like the factory uses. If you want to do it DIY there are some decent single stage, wheel specific brands of paint available in a spray can....... clean clean clean, no grease/wax/tire shine/road grime at all. Use a strong detergent based cleaner first, then scuff them with a red scuff pad, every nook and cranny, then use a solvent base cleaner and lint free rags for the final cleaning. A tack cloth isn't a bad idea either.
It's a lot of work to get long lasting results.

 

That bronze belongs on the army green, looks awesome.

 

That looks great!

 

These were purchased gloss black, I used a brushed metallic (self adhesive) film and made the spokes appear anodized/machined. The film is an actual metallic type, not vinyl so they're super durable. The film is available in different colors.
You can get pretty creative with wheels and make something unique. They make an anodized gold, red and blue film.