Questions on WarSurfer's tire and wheel weight threads

[WarSurfer]

Another option for colors:

Dupli-Color :: Wheel Coating

get the polished version, scuff 'em real good with a green scotch pad and spray them down. Cheaper than powdercoat and you don't have to worry about making them brittle with heat. Won't be as durable as powdercoat but you can re-spray anytime for about 5 bucks.

 

[Riverboy]

Just as I suspected you guys are full of good information. There is a chart from ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America) who makes forged aluminum trucks wheels on the thread I posted above (can't get it to copy and paste though). It seems to confirm Birdman's information shown above. As long as you keep the forged aluminum wheel below 300 degrees (for 6000 series aluminum) you should be okay. I am assuming Centerlines are 6061-T6. Whew! I was starting to sweat it there for a minute. I have to assume I can find a powder coating company that has probably dealt with forged wheels before and can cure the coating below 300 degrees. Let's face it, a truck wheel has to be able to survive some fairly warm temps even if it is not going through the powder coating process. I have never done any desert racing but between the 110 degree temps of the desert and the extreme heat coming off the rotors and calipers, a forged wheel is going to get pretty friggin' hot for long time. Not to mention almost every race car in existence right now (except NASCAR) runs on forged wheels that must get hot as hell! If they can survive that I'm sure there's a way to get them to survive the powder coating process.

One other thing I just thought of, and wonder if Silverbolt has figured out a solution. I am assuming the hub cap/cover on the Centerline wheel is made from plastic. If that is the case I would also assume it will not survive the curing process. Hmmmm...Rattle can? You know, it would be a heck of lot easier if Centerline would just make some of it's wheels with a powder coat on it!

Also, we somehow got off on the beadlock thing. As much as I like the look of the beadlocks I am not willing to accept the weight penalty whether they are genuine or simulated. I was never planning on getting beadlocks.

One more thing, I was looking at the Method Wheel website. It appears some of their wheels are forged, some cast and some spun. I think spun and forged is really about the same thing but I cannot tell for sure which of their wheels are forged and which may be cast. You can usually spot a cast wheel because the "spokes" are thicker than those on a forged wheel. I was assuming all the Methods were forged but now I don't think so. Maybe WarSurfer can clear this up?

 

[WarSurfer]

FYI, real beadlocks are a weight penalty, the fake one's are only a pound or two.

Method's come in forged and cast, if you go to the website it tells you which one's are which.

Also, we somehow got off on the beadlock thing. As much as I like the look of the beadlocks I am not willing to accept the weight penalty whether they are genuine or simulated. I was never planning on getting beadlocks.

I brought up the simulocks as a way to 'mask' the looks of the centerlines. I like the weight, I hate the way they look.

 

[SilverBolt]

Low temp P/C is 300f for a max of 20 mins.

 

[Riverboy]

Yeah, I've checked out the Method website. It specifies one of it's race wheels as forged but says nothing about the other wheels. I guess I am supposed to assume they are cast. Details are pretty weak on a lot of these wheel websites.

 

[WarSurfer]

I should have clarified, sorry. The load rating is the identifier. I don't remember the exact numbers but it is like 3300lbs each for forged and 2100lbs for cast. Something like that. You'll be able to tell because the descriptors are next to each other, high load rating is forged, low load rating is cast.

 

[SilverBolt]

I just spoke to Centerline. They said it's not a problem to powder coat their forged wheels. The process does not heat them high enough or long enough to alter the integrity of the wheel. For an extra fee they will even do the coating for you.

 

[WarSurfer]

I can't wait to see your ride once you get the new rims on!

 

[SilverBolt]

I can't wait to see your ride once you get the new rims on!

I can't wait to see it either. All my parts will beat the truck here. Wheels will get powder coated next week. Truck will arrive who the hell knows?

 

[Riverboy]

I went down and talked to the guy at my local powder coating shop. The guy was a little cocky and looked at me like I was crazy when I started talking about the tempering process of forged wheels. He said he has powder coated thousands of aluminum wheels both cast and forged and has never had a problem. He says he cures them at 400 degrees for 45 minutes and that the reason it is no problem for the forged wheels is because the cure time is so short. Maybe he has a point. My next call was going to be to Centerline but fortunately SilverBolt already took care of that. What does Centerline charge? Did you happen to ask? What about the center caps? This guy wanted $120 per wheel to powder coat them! Seemed kind of spendy but then everything seems a little spendy these days. I would think that letting Centerline take of it would be the best option because I would assume they could take care of the center caps as well. Would keep the warranty intact too.

Pretty sure I am leaning toward the Eight Ball but the Grizzly might look okay too. Tough to envision what they would look like if they were black.