Why Do Salt City Wheels Not Offer Powder Coating For Wheels?

We’re so glad you asked! There is a simple answer, and it happens to be the same reason that professional WRX rally drivers will almost never powder coat their wheels, even though they are all about the aesthetics of their gorgeous turbo-charged beasts. And what might that reason be, I hear you ask…

Well, inflammatory though this may seem (literally and metaphorically!), the process of powder coating a wheel can actually physically alter the integrity and strength of the wheel, making something that should be part of the structural foundation of your car weaker and therefore unreliable. Clearly, this isn’t a factor you want to contend with in an otherwise carefully-crafted, highly-tuned machine in which you drive around precious cargo!

During the powder coating process, the sheer levels of heat and the amount of time these are applied can mess with the heat treating and aging of cast or forged aluminum wheels. This can result in unpredictable fissures, hairline cracks and internal weak points in the metal that could buckle when you least expect it. Who wants to be enjoying a drive in the mountains, only to take a corner and have a wheel break in half and send you careening heaven knows where?

In our opinion the risk simply isn’t worth it. We only offer the very best products and services to our clients, and we would be too concerned about the potential safety hazards powder coating can result in to offer this product to our customers.

AEV Conversions, the world’s premier supplier of OE-quality, performance-driven aftermarket parts and accessories for vehicles geared specifically to off-road recreational driving and overland adventure travel, follow a similar policy. On their website, they include a special disclaimer for any wheel products a customer chooses to have powder coated after the fact - they do not cover powder coated wheels under their usual lifetime structural warranty. This gives you some idea of how the world leader in OE-quality aftermarket parts views the potential hazards of the powder coating process. Checkout what they say about powder coating in their disclaimer at https://www.aev-conversions.com/product/jk-pintler/

So what do those professional WRX rally drivers do to personalize and beautify their machines? They use the super-reliable, proven, and most importantly, safe process of painting to create the wheel aesthetic of their dreams. Wheel painting offers virtually endless color and finish possibilities, from elegant satin black to matte gold to high gloss red and everything in-between. Painting is a strong surface treatment, so it will never impact the physical integrity of your wheels, except in one important way: painting, when applied by a professional using industry-specific paint products, creates a physical barrier that actually protects your wheels from road dust, salt and water corrosion in a way that other processes can only dream about.

If you’re ready to line up your vehicle with WRX rally drivers and create the wheel finish of your dreams, give Salt City Wheels in Salt Lake City, Utah a call today at 801 425 3044. Our wheel repair and finish experts know their way around a wheel and are highly-trained in the art and science of wheel finishes. We guarantee you will love your new wheels, and better still, you’ll know you are driving around on a safe foundation that will hold up to the wear and tear of the Wasatch Front’s impossibly beautiful mountains.