Painting wheels

[tree grower]

Several of the wheels on my 1993 F350 are fairly rusty, and I would like to paint them. The tires are nearly new, and I would like to avoid the cost of having them dismounted, remounted and rebalanced. I have a sandblaster (Northern Tools), but am fearful of blasting sand working its way into the bead, I have thought about filling the bead with heavy grease, and washing it clean after blasting and before painting. Is this feasible? Plan B is to use a heavy wire brush on an angle grinder.

 

[ovrszd]

Sand Blaster material bounces off rubber. Unless you hold the wand in one spot at the bead you aren't hurting anything. You'll have a lot more trouble not damaging the valve stems unless they are steel.

Sand Blast them. You'll be glad you did. And it'll take less time to do all of them than it would to do one with an angle grinder, which won't get into the critical places....

 

[Granthol]

Or just spray them with Ospho then paint of your choice.

 

[Threepoint]

Hmm. Agree with Richard that there isn't much risk of the media getting down in the bead. But what about some of it ricocheting around the hub and ending up between the rotors and pads? :scratchchin:

But, then, I suppose that's a risk even from just driving over sandy areas at speed.

 

[ovrszd]

I might have jumped the gun a bit, but I assumed he was removing them from the vehicle?? I would never shoot paint on my truck wheels with them mounted to the truck.

 

[4570Man]

I painted the wheels on my ton truck last year. I cleaned them up with a wire wheel and sprayed them. The first 2 I taped off the wheels that’s kinda a pain to do. The second 2 I decided to stick index cards around the tire kinda pushed in the bead which was a lot faster but it didn’t work as good. I’d recommend taping them. It wasn’t clear if you intended removing them from the truck but I definitely would.

 

[ovrszd]

And taping them is definitely a PITA. But worth it.

 

[tree grower]

No risk to brake components. I will take the wheels off and prop them up so I can work on both sides.

 

[Deere Dude]

I sort of did that to my dually and camper. But, I took them off and got some light aluminum strips two inches wide and a little more than the circumference of the wheel and tucked them in where rubber and steel meet. Works good for a paint shield and can be reused..

 

[yomax4]

Blue masking tape is what I just used on my plow truck wheels. Sucks a bit as stated above but simple and clean to remove.

 

[jaxs]

Or just spray them with Ospho then paint of your choice.

That's what I do,it's quick and work's well.

 

[chim]

Never tried it, but have read that some people stick playing cards in between the wheel and tire for masking the rubber off. Paint on the tires makes it look like a half-hearted attempt to spruce up the tractor.

 

[oosik]

I used some type of Blue painters tape. Tedious - getting the tape on just right and around each tire. Then a floor jack - one tire at a time. Lift just enough so the tire can be spun. Hand sand down the rim. Used a brush and put on an industrial grade of Rustoleum.

Slow, but I had a good layer of paint on the rims when finished.

 

[RBLapham]

When I paint wheels I always smear thin grease on the tires next to the rims using a trim paint brush - spray paint and then remove grease and overspray after paint is really dry. They also sell a liquid masking tape, but never tried it - grease is cheaper.

 

[fried1765]

That's what I do,it's quick and work's well.

Sandblasting is best, but OSPHO is MUCH quicker, and works very well.
I don't brush paint wheels, I only spray them.......much better looking job.

 

[PILOON]

I, one time sprayed rims, and naturally some ended up on the tires.
I lightly brushed some Tremclad flat black paint on the affected areas and it was very difficult to see my bloopers.
LOL, naturally dirty tires helped a bit, but then that vehicle never saw a waxing job either.

 

[CoyPatton]

I might have jumped the gun a bit, but I assumed he was removing them from the vehicle?? I would never shoot paint on my truck wheels with them mounted to the truck.

 

[CoyPatton]

One truck from an old timer when I was a kid (I will be 58 in just over a month) is to only break down one side of a tire at a time. You can then wrap a heavy trap or several layers of plastic around the tire and wheel. Either air it back up with the plastic in the wheel or take care to tape it well to keep sand out and blast away. Too much sand inside the tire will likely effect the balance. Shop vac well before final inflation and you should be fine. By inly breaking the bead on one side at a time and carefully marking locations of any weights and the valve stem, you should be able to get it all realigned with no issues to the balance of the tire. You may want to do a light punch mark for alignment purposes on the back side of the wheel. It is lots of work but probably well worth the trouble if the truck otherwise looks nice.

 

[fried1765]

I, one time sprayed rims, and naturally some ended up on the tires.
I lightly brushed some Tremclad flat black paint on the affected areas and it was very difficult to see my bloopers.
LOL, naturally dirty tires helped a bit, but then that vehicle never saw a waxing job either.

My lady friend does a great job taping items that need spraying.......I do only the spraying.
Team effort!
My team!

 

[js5020]

I'm interested in this is ospho product, I have some older steel rims that have a chrome finish that I would like to paint. Would this product help the paint stick?