My rims had all the classic corrosion issues. But I love the rims. To me they pay homage to the classic Crager rims of `ol. I decided to do all the prep work myself and have them powder coated since I found a private guy who would clear powder them for $40/each. First thing is I invested in 6 cans of Permatex gasket remover which worked perfectly to take of the factory powdercoat off. That was a bit expensive since it`s $8 a can here in Canada. I covered all four rims with it and within 20 mins the powdercoat was easily scraped off. Please take care using that stuff as I took all the scrapings and disposed of them properly aka I didn`t pour it down the storm sewer. Be sure to have plenty of rubber gloves, a respirator, and safety glasses on hand.

There will be places you miss which I removed with my angle air grinder and a hook and loop / velcro scrubby. The front of the rims were all nice and shiny at this point. Sad but that didn`t last since now I had to take the hardest part of this project on which was the inside of the rims. For those that don`t know this, when you have powdercoat or even if you decide to have them clearcoated, to do it properly the WHOLE RIM must be free of ALL rust and corrosion of any sort.

Here`s the reason I`m writing this. Don`t make the same mistake I did. I went after the corrosion on the inside of rim rim with a vengeance. My back is paying the price as I write this. I used three or four different power tools including a sand blaster (aluminum oxide only blasting material if doing powder) and who know how many wire brushes. It would not come off completely. With some research I found phosphoric NOT HYDROCHLORIC OR MURIATIC !!! acid will do the trick. Problem is cost and the obvious hazards. Not to mention proper disposal and how to keep the 20" rim saturated with it for over 24hrs.

After a couple of days of contemplating giving up I remembered an old recipe which is Borax cleaning powder or baking powder and vinegar will take off corrosion. So that solved my cost problem but not my problem of how to keep it saturated for 24hrs minimum. Pondering life`s greatest mysteries while standing in my garage I saw my box of 3mil contractor black garbage bags. DING DING DING!!!!. They just barely fit the 20in rims. I triple bagged each one (total 12 bags) filled them each with a cup of Borax, a gallon of white vinegar, and enough water to cover the rim half way. I suppose you could fill it up completely with more water but it would of dilluted it and have been a real b**tch to move. I triple zip tied each bag and put them outside. The beauty is that after 24-48hrs All I did was flip them over to soak the other half of the rim.

Let me be clear. This DID NOT REMOVE the corrosion but it softened it to the point I could practically wipe the corrosion off and start buffing. As my father always said "Work smarter not harder"

I won`t get into the buffing part of aluminum rims. There is plenty of info here and other places on how to polish/prep aluminum. Hope this help save someone from the back pain I have now. Thank god they sell muscle relaxers over the counter in Canada.

 

If anyone goes with those acids/chemicals I wouldn't put any of those acids near my tires... I hope you removed the tires before you did all of this..?

Anyways good write-up... post some pictures!

 

My bad. Yes the tires were off. I should not have assumed that people would know that they should not be prep`n a rim for powdercoat/clearcoat with the tires on.

 

lol you never know...

 

sounds cool, post some pics after the powdercoat job

 

I want some pictures of before they get Powdercoated....

 

All i have right now is a b4. I`ll post an after asap. There is a pic of three of them in the bags. The 4th one is in my truck since the guy powder`n them wants to see one. BTW the little bucket is from furnace humidifier. It was caked with mineral deposits so that is soaking in the same solution.

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...04-00240-1.jpg

Let me know if the link doesn`t work.

 

They look just like mine, except mine feel like they have a plastic cover on the front... lol

 

Alright. Here are some before and after pics as well as a couple of videos.

Yes I know I suck at vid's/pics. Some aren't of the same area but I figured it doesn't matter because the proof is in the videos. As soon as I get the rims back for the powder'n I'll post pics.

Photo's
http://s1198.photobucket.com/user/ei...jason/library/

Videos

 

I took my rims to Powder Dave ( I still don't know his last name) just to discuss his schedule and ask some questions before I brought him all four rims. I took him one of the rims just show him the work I had done and to make sure he could do what I was asking.

In our almost hour long conversation I found out something everyone who is interested in doing this will want to know. IF you are planning on just having your rims RE clearcoated then you obviously have to have the fronts of them in the very best shape because everything will show through. You can make it as bright or flat as you want but the clear will just be the protective layer. As far as the backs of the rims are concerned. You DO NOT have to take them absolute bare aluminum and clean every single nook and cranny to bare aluminum. You just need to get all of the "loose" stuff off. If you were to do as I instructed above in regards to the corrosion you could have your rims ready to be powdered in a couple of days.

Even better news. I found a website called www.prismaticpowders.com. They had this sweet color called inkblack. Some other sites call it hyper black chrome, smoked black chrome, etc, etc. So I asked him about doing that. Basically he said it's a two coat system and would be nearly twice the price BUT (here's the good part) the back of the rims you have to do the same as above. The fronts only have to have the scratches out and a smooth finish. NO EXTREME BUFFING UNTIL YOUR ARMS FALL OFF.

He said the powder has a fantastic adhesion property in that it is not a chemical (unlike paint). It will adhere to almost any material that can withstand about 400 degrees (F). As long as it's not rust or corrosion that is flaking off the powder will stick. Now of course take that with a grain of salt. The cleaner the better. So the more corrosion you leave, the more likely or possibly quicker it MIGHT fail.

And in my opinion some great news. Lets say you have a chromed rim with some really bad road/gutter rash. Let's say that it's so bad it would need filler. If you were to use JB Weld Industrial. Not that quick crap. The industrial has to cure for 15-24 hours and can withstand 525 degrees of heat and has nearly a 4000psi tensile strength. So if you were to fill and sand all that down you could have the rim(s) color powder coated and be as good as new. I say color powder coated because if just have it cleared you will see the greyish JB Weld. Powder Dave did say that he could powder coat rims with JB Weld on them and has done it before. Of course the JB Weld has to be applied correctly per the manufacturer's instructions.

Since finding out all this I've had some second thoughts about what I am going to have done so I haven't taken them in yet. I may do a color but it is twice the price. So money is a bit of an issue.

Here are the pics of the rims as they stand now. I may or may not polish the fronts depending on if I do a color powder or not.

http://s1198.photobucket.com/user/ei...%20Dodge%20Ram

Good luck to anyone interested doing this. Hope this info helps. I'll post some pics when I get the rims done.