Powdercoating aluminum wheels

[googe]

I'm planning to powdercoat a set of aluminum OEM takeoff wheels that I plan to use as a winter set. I've read that this is either totally fine, or a terrible idea because it will supposedly severely weaken the aluminum. The place I'm working with charges double for aluminum (about $75/wheel here in the US) and they are a wheel/tire shop, so I assume they do it "properly", if there is a proper way, and whatever that means.

Has anyone done this and had bad results? Bent or cracked rims?

[EK 2.0]

I can't speak to OEM wheels...

But I and a few friends have had out Volks powdercoated....And after doing so, have tracked with the wheels. I don't know if that speaks to anything...

[ercchry]

Powder coat is baked at 200C... brakes at the track can hit 500C+... should be easy to figure out that people on the Internet forums (especially large American ones) never fact check and perpetuate myths often. Also oem wheels are not pure aluminum, they are an alloy

[98brg2d]

6061 T6 is a very common alloy for manufacturing, although I am not sure if it is used for wheels. It might be a 2000 series alloy, which is good for casting. Either way, the solution temperature (i.e. the temperature that turns any amorphous sections or grain crystals back into a consistent solution) is about 500°C and would take hours to convert an entire wheel back into a solution. Even the precipitation hardening would be done at 160 to 175°C for many hours. Powder coating is usually done at about 200°C for less than an hour so not even close to the solution temperature of most alloys.

Lots of aftermarket wheels are powder coated and almost all "silver painted" OEM wheels are actually powder coated as well. One good reason for this is that the casting is quite rough and the powder coating covers this surface roughness nicely.

https://materialsdata.nist.gov/bitst...=3&isAllowed=y