So I want to paint a set of limited wheels, In the past Ive done yota steelies on my work truck and some crappy alloys on my 95 pickup. But what to do on the limited's should I sandblast them or just hand sand them? I know 1-2 primer 4-6paint and 1-3 clear. But what about prep?

Aaron

 

Sand blasting or bead blasting should give you the best results, it will take forever to hand sand those things otherwise.

 

Send em to me....you will never have to worry about them again!

Sand blasting with aluminum oxide abrasive, 1 coat primer, wet sand with 320 grit, another coat primer, wet sand with 320 again, 3 coats of base coat, 2 coats of clear. Will give you a smooth finish by wet sanding the primers....but just knocking off the rough surface of the primer.

 

so, if sand blasting is not an option? sand with 80, 100, 150, then proceed with the standard steps?

isnt it possible, as long as the clear is not peeling off, just to sand it for mechanical adhesion and then prime paint and clear?

 

Yeh sand the clear with 220 grit, then wet sand with a scuff pad to make it smooth, then primer and paint. You run the risk of it flaking off after a while though...but its your call.

 

A fiber cup brush works nicely too. Then hand sand the edges.

 

So in preparation for some new rubber I took the opportunity to freshen up my rims.

1st PREP I started by sand blasting my limited 4Runner wheels front and back. The only section I did not sand was the center section where there tire doesn?t touch and no one will see.Then wiped them down to remove any sand debris in preparation for primer.

2nd PRIME I started 1 of 2 coats of primer, I would wait 10 minutes like the instructions said, then freshened the primer coat. Then waited for it to dry.

3rd PAINT After making certain all spots had been hit with primer I wiped them down again to remove unwanted debris, them started in with my color coat. I waited 30 minutes for this coat to dry and then applied on the second coat.

4th CLEAR The only thing left to do, again wipe the rims down to prevent unwanted debris, and then apply the initial coat of clear. Then I waited 20 minutes so the clear was smooth to the touch and not tacky, and applied the second and last coat of clear.

5TH center caps, I had already done these and used a foam sanding block with a light textured sand and then followed the same steps with 2 coats of primer, paint, clear.

Materials. Sand blaster hopper $59, Aluminum Oxide blasting media $60, Ingersol Rand Compressor $2300, MX goggles, 3M respirator, heavy gloves, long pants, long sleave shirt, 4 cans Duplicolor DAP 1692 gray hot rod primer $5ea, 4+ cans Duplicolor WP102 paint HIGH PREFORMANCE COATING $5ea, 2 cans Duplicolor HWP103 Clear HIGH PREFORMANCE COATING $5ea.

I did notice the operating pressure listed for the sand blaster was 125psi @ 4.5 cfm. My compressor is an unregulated constant 150 psi @ 25cfm. So the harder it hit the faster the media will cut through the target.

I felt as my first set of thought out wheels to be painted they turned out 90% good. There were a few spots where I wish I would have paid more attention but all in all they did turn out well. The Duplicolor paint, primer, and clear are very reliable and predictable products. The wheel paint has a high solid content with a lot of metal flake giving you that depth clarity. Everything dries quick and looks good.









On a side note look at all the weight my BFG AT 285/75/16?s took what a bunch of crap!

 

ill be real interested to see how this turns out, my center caps are in desperate need of a touch up, maybe ill just paint the whole wheel

 

well it turned out! Im done. I also painted my other set silver. Now I have yet to master the center emblem being a different color but im over it.


Aaron

 

thats totally sweet, when I get my 5 stars I may do this to them later.

 

check this youtube video out of a guy painting his 4runner wheels


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5eK5OnHfqA

 

i think thats christian...964runner

 

do you have any better pics of the center caps? i have to paint mine to match my powdercoated wheels and i was just wondering what color you used. I think the one i probably need is called graphite.

 

It was the Duplicolor wheel paint in a dark grey, but on my other set of wheels the silver I used was a Duplicolor car match silver paint that was similar to the OE wheels.

Aaron

 

DONE





Aaron

 

Those came out great! That dark gray looks really good against your 4runner's color. Imo the limited wheels are the best looking 4runner wheel. I think that color will be as close as i can get for my LC center caps. The wheels are close enough to that color.