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Chrome wheels are a popular choice for car enthusiasts. They have a powerful look and add class to your vehicle. However, they can be difficult to keep clean because of road salts and brake dust.

Can they be powder coated to improve their durability? Let’s find out! First, we need to understand the plating process.

Surface Preparation

Powder coating is a great way to protect metal from corrosion. It’s especially useful for items exposed to mechanical stress or harsh environmental conditions. It’s an eco-friendly process that doesn’t require the use of harmful solvents. However, powder coating can be a tricky business when it comes to chrome surfaces. Chrome’s smooth and non-porous surface can inhibit adhesion, requiring meticulous surface preparation. In most cases, this involves stripping the chrome, sandblasting it, and applying a specialized primer before applying the powder.

Once the piece is prepped, it should be hung in an area where it can air dry for several hours. A clear coat can be added at the end of this process to provide extra protection and a glossy shine. For the best results, a professional should perform this work.

Chrome wheels can also be refinished with a silver solution that will look similar to a chrome surface once it’s cured. While this might not be as durable as a powder coat, it can be a good option for customers who want both durability and beauty.

Sandblasting

The powder used to coat a part needs a surface that it can grab onto. Chrome’s smooth, slippery surface doesn’t allow it to hold a powder coating. To get around this, the chrome must be stripped.

This is where sandblasting comes in. The sandblasting process uses abrasive materials to clean metal surfaces, including the chrome on your wheels. It’s an effective method of cleaning that gets into all the nooks and crannies, making sure no foreign matter remains behind. The sandblasting also leaves the metal a rough surface that helps the epoxy primer stick to it and create a strong mechanical bond.

Before the sandblasting, you need to neutralize and rinse the parts. This removes any salts left by the chrome plating system. This is especially important for your car or bike’s rims. Once you’ve done this, hang the wheel in the air. Low pressure is needed for this; too much, and the dry powder could deflect off the surface of the wheel.

A powder coating isn’t as shiny as chrome, but it provides better durability and resistance to impacts and rust than paint does. It’s also less harmful to the environment, as it doesn’t emit many (if any) VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, into the atmosphere. This makes it a great choice for items that are exposed to the elements or undergoing a lot of wear and tear.

Rinsing

Before powder coating your chrome wheels, they will need to be rinsed thoroughly. This step is important because it will ensure that any dirt or grit that was blasted off by the sandblasting process is removed. If this isn’t done, the surface won’t be able to hold the powder layer, and your chrome wheels will not look their best.

After the rinsing step, your chrome wheels will need to dry completely. This will help prevent water spots, which are unattractive and detract from the beauty of your chrome wheels. The easiest way to do this is to use a high-quality microfiber towel that is designed specifically for wheel use. Our Wheel & All-Purpose microfiber towels are very gentle on the chrome surface of your wheels and will not leave any water spots or streaks behind.

The last thing you want to do is let your chrome wheels dry out too long. This can cause cracks in the chrome and will leave the underlying metal susceptible to corrosion. Once the chrome is cracked or damaged, it is nearly impossible to repair and will need to be replaced. This is why it is so important to ensure that your chrome wheels are powder-coated properly to avoid damage or rusting.

Powder coating is a great way to protect your chrome wheels and other metal parts from corrosion. However, it isn’t something that can be done directly over chrome as the chrome surface is extremely slippery and won’t allow the powder to stick.

Stripping

The chrome surface of the wheels is very shiny and slippery. Powder coating won’t stick to this surface, so it needs to be stripped before the powder can be applied. During this stripping process, it is important to not damage any of the aluminum components that are underneath the chrome.

A good powder coater will have experience working with different metals and can help manage client expectations when it comes to restoration projects. For example, some of the more aggressive metals like nickel-chrome are very difficult to restore and may never look like they did prior to deterioration. There is also a limit to how many times a wheel can be put through the chroming process before it will start to pit and eventually peel around the tire bead. Once this happens, the wheel can no longer be re-chromed, so it would need to be replaced.

There are some newer clad chrome wheels being produced that have chrome on one side and machined or painted aluminum on the other. These wheels don’t corrode as easily and are much easier to keep clean in areas with harsh winters. They can still be re-polished, but if the customer wants them powder-coated, it will likely need to be stripped using aircraft stripper. Sandblasting wouldn’t work on aluminum, so they’ll probably have to be chemically stripped.