refinish options on 8 spoke 20s

[truckman1974]

Is it really just as easy as brush (or spray) the stripper on and then spray it off with a pressure washer? If so, I guess that's not so bad to have to do a few times per wheel.

I don't know much about sandblasting but I do know that before they powdercoat them they do some kind of blasting/stripping process. Even if you didn't want to coat them, I bet you could contact a local powdercoat place and ask them about stripping the wheels for you. They may even have some kind of dipping process that removes all the old finish and impurities off the face of the wheel. (I'm sure someone can chime in that knows the process better than me.......my knowledge of the process ends with "drop them off at the powdercoat place and tell them what color you want").

Either way, they really ARE looking good!

I just like the powdercoat idea because then you have something that not everyone else has. You're set apart a little bit more....

 

[mandkole]

Is it really just as easy as brush (or spray) the stripper on and then spray it off with a pressure washer?

Yes, that is all I did before the pic was taken..

 

[truckman1974]

Hmmmm.....that's not too bad then. I was thinking it would be a lot more work than that. Thanks

 

[mandkole]

It's going slow-- trying to maintain the commitment..lol. A couple more pics after the 2nd coat of strip and next to an untouched wheel. The pic doesn't show the real difference.

I'm now doing the wet paper-- 800 is working good for basic cleaning.

 

[truckman1974]

World of difference!

 

[mandkole]

Well, Im beginning to wuss out. It took 3 hours to run the 800 over one wheel. You can get most of the clear off with the stripper, but it leaves little spots that just dont want to come off and have to be sanded off. If I go for just polish/clear, my plan is to call a few wheel refurb shops to see if they dip the wheels in stripper. If they are powdered, a little media will take care of them.

Once everything is sanded, it polishes fairly easy with a power wheel or buffer to get enough pressure to finish working the metal. I can do the top surfaces but the small wool pad wont get into the holes. Im thinking that a big die grinder and attachments to do it right. However, if you miss one of those little spots of clear it shows up as a dark spot, you have to stop, re-sand and start over.

A few more pics-- the second one is of the sanded wheel that's been polished a little.

 

[truckman1974]

Man, I don't blame you.....you probably made it farther than I would have. That's a lot of work!

I'm with you on calling a shop and either getting them dipped in some kind of solvent or just having them powdercoated (You know I'm leaning toward the powdercoat...lol).

 

[drunk on diesel]

looks great though. want to do my AF's for me? LOL

 

[mandkole]

Im still thinking that maybe I just didn't give the stripper enough time to work right. If I could get the wheel real clean, all of the surface sanding wouldn't be necessary.

Ive also wondered if Ford used a semi gloss clear on the factory wheels. Wheels on new trucks are shiny, but these are like chrome underneath the clear and Ive never seen them that shiny.

 

[truckman1974]

someone on this forum had their AF wheels coated with some kind of clear when they bought them. They said that it dulled them a little (but all the polishing wasn't required)....I'm sure it's something similar to what you're talking about. Probably just a protective coating because Ford knows not everyone's going to get out there and polish stuff....

 

[mandkole]

Im going to continue to cleanup the one wheel with the polish, but Im really feeling this argento color...anyone with photoshop skills

 

[AlaskanTrucker379]

Love those wheels on older style trucks. I think newer oem wheels look better than most aftermarket wheels on a 99-07 truck. I would run them in heart beat if it didnt involve spacers.

My vote is to keep working at stripping and polishing them. Nothing beats a polished aluminum wheel.

Try some acid, such as alumabright or zep-alum. mix with water, and spray the wheel. leave it on from 1-4 minutes depending on your desire and it will start to eat off most anything that is on the wheel. Then just spray it off and your wheel will look almost white in color. Then just buff it out when dry and it will be prime. Thats an old trick from when we use to polish our big trucks. Now we run them in the winter and its just to hard to keep up with it anymore.

 

[mandkole]

One down and 3 more to go..lol

I'm pretty much sold on the polishing. This color (dark teal) looks so much better with the polished wheel.

I got after this first wheel with the power cone after hitting it with 800. Good investment for $21. It came out pretty good considering I don't have all of the bonnets, etc. Besides, even if I did, it would be surface scratched after the first washing.

I really want to avoid that sanding so I'll keep experimenting with the strippers . It cleans it so good and doesn't hurt to coat it multiple times so I'll keep trying.

Gotta take a couple days off due to the cold weather coming but here's a couple of pics.

 

[Jason]

No reason to be afraid of running the spacers. Run the proper type, and I see no issue. I'm running them on my '00, but then again, it is a light weight truck, and I don't tow much...7-8k lbs tops.

 

[psduser1]

What brand and thickness of spacer are you using jason? I'm looking at some newer 18" rims for my 03 excursion, don't really know what's available.

 

[Jason]

2" billet ones. I don't know the brand, I bought them from a buddy who had '07 20's on his '02 f350. You want hub/lug centric. New Fred Goeske or whatever spacers are like $800 for a set. The front wheels on my 379 Pete are lug centric. Lots of old trucks are, so a lug centric spacer couldn't be that bad on a basically grocery gettee type pickup. Dunno if I would hook on to a 15k lb toy hauler with em...

 

[psduser1]

Thanks for the info....
grocery getter on this one. Just can't see 250$ a rim, so following this thread, trying to learn from someone else's practice! I'm not very good at stripping and polishing, although the finished product does look nice!

 

[BBottoms]

Wow. That pic makes me want to strip and polish my KR wheels and get rid of the tan/gold color all-together.

 

[mandkole]

Just bought my spacers today and should see them next week.

It's not that bad so give it a shot. More work than I expected but hoping to see it get easier now that I've learned a little.

 

[Pockets]

Damn this is making me want to strip my wheels! Great work so far..