DIY - Painted my stock rims

Just-RAM-it · Apr 17, 2018

Hey everyone, decided to paint my stock rims on my 2017 RAM 1500 Sport.
I think they turned really well! Now I just hope they stay nice.... at least a few years until I buy rims and tire upgrade!
3 coats of red, masked off, 3 coats of black, then 3 coats of enamel.

Ethan16 · Apr 17, 2018

looks good!

grizzstang · Apr 17, 2018

Looks nice. Do you have a pic of the whole side of the truck with the wheels done?

MADDOG · Apr 17, 2018

Looks great!

What kind of primer and paint did you use?

Jwithing · Apr 17, 2018

Looks good man. I spent 40 hours painting my stock wheels on my 2006 300C many years ago. They did not last long at all and looked like complete crap once they started to chip... I think plastidip would have held up better.

CanadianNick · Apr 17, 2018

Jwithing said:
Looks good man. I spent 40 hours painting my stock wheels on my 2006 300C many years ago. They did not last long at all and looked like complete crap once they started to chip... I think plastidip would have held up better.

Lol I hope you’re exaggerating the 40 hours

Jwithing · Apr 17, 2018

CanadianNick said:
Lol I hope you’re exaggerating the 40 hours

Nope. Literally 40 hours just prepping them by sanding, taping, priming, and painting. I wanted to make sure they were perfect and prepped correctly. I don't think they lasted even a month before they started to noticeably chip.

Needless to say... I was devastated.

Jwithing · Apr 17, 2018

Jwithing said:
Nope. Literally 40 hours just prepping them by sanding, taping, priming, and painting. I wanted to make sure they were perfect and prepped correctly. I don't think they lasted even a month before they started to noticeably chip.

Needless to say... I was devastated.

So I actually went back to the 300C forum and looked it up lol. It was almost 9 years ago. I used SEM auto paint, but the issue was that the wheels were chrome and I was warned it would not stick to chrome and would have better luck with an adhesive promoter.

Here is a pic... Front end was still on jack stands.

CanadianNick · Apr 17, 2018

That’s ****** that they only lasted a month for all that work put in. But since you mentioned they were chrome to begin with it kinda makes sense.
I do know that painting chrome is a PITA and a lot of times it doesn’t stick unless you actually sand all the chrome off and get down to the bare metal.
40 hours is still crazy amount of work to put into painting rims. But it makes sense now that I see them. You didn’t just paint over the whole rim. You had a design . I bet taping took forever.
I painted my Lexus rims and it took me about 6 hours in total, prep, primer and paint. They came out pretty good and lasted about 2 years and they started chipping. They weren’t chrome to begin with though. Lesson learned I guess.
I know Dupli-Color makes a shadow paint kit that is supposed to stick to chrome. No sanding or buffing required. Just degreaser and then paint. It’s more of a tint though. So the more costs you put the darker it gets. Supposed to give a black chrome appearance

Jwithing · Apr 17, 2018

CanadianNick said:
That’s ****** that they only lasted a month for all that work put in. But since you mentioned they were chrome to begin with it kinda makes sense.
I do know that painting chrome is a PITA and a lot of times it doesn’t stick unless you actually sand all the chrome off and get down to the bare metal.
40 hours is still crazy amount of work to put into painting rims. But it makes sense now that I see them. You didn’t just paint over the whole rim. You had a design . I bet taping took forever.
I painted my Lexus rims and it took me about 6 hours in total, prep, primer and paint. They came out pretty good and lasted about 2 years and they started chipping. They weren’t chrome to begin with though. Lesson learned I guess.
I know Dupli-Color makes a shadow paint kit that is supposed to stick to chrome. No sanding or buffing required. Just degreaser and then paint. It’s more of a tint though. So the more costs you put the darker it gets. Supposed to give a black chrome appearance

Yup, lesson learned for sure lol. My OP stated they lasted 3 months lol.

Bert · Apr 17, 2018

Dude what did you do? Looks amazing

stimpy433 · Apr 17, 2018

Just-RAM-it said:
Hey everyone, decided to paint my stock rims on my 2017 RAM 1500 Sport.
I think they turned really well! Now I just hope they stay nice.... at least a few years until I buy rims and tire upgrade!
3 coats of red, masked off, 3 coats of black, then 3 coats of enamel.View attachment 125707 View attachment 125708

Those look awesome!!!!

Just-RAM-it · Apr 18, 2018

Well now you have me worried..... I felt like I did a good job (hand sanding, primer, multiple layers of paint, enamel, etc..) I just want to last for a year or so.... until I need new tires.

chrisbh17 · Apr 18, 2018

FWIW I painted one of the winter wheels on my G37 as a test.

Sanded with 3 different grits to remove the clearcoat (because it was corroded underneath).
Polished with the Meguiars cone buffer that uses a hand drill
2 coats of self-etching primer (I think the self-etching primer is important)
2 or 3 coats of whatever color (I used silver)
2 or 3 coats of clear.

I used VHT brand paint from AutoZone because it got decent ratings without having to travel to a body shop.

2 winters later the wheel is still holding up (I only painted 1 as an exercise to see how long it would last).

Just-RAM-it · Apr 18, 2018

chrisbh17 said:
FWIW I painted one of the winter wheels on my G37 as a test.

Sanded with 3 different grits to remove the clearcoat (because it was corroded underneath).
Polished with the Meguiars cone buffer that uses a hand drill
2 coats of self-etching primer (I think the self-etching primer is important)
2 or 3 coats of whatever color (I used silver)
2 or 3 coats of clear.

I used VHT brand paint from AutoZone because it got decent ratings without having to travel to a body shop.

2 winters later the wheel is still holding up (I only painted 1 as an exercise to see how long it would last).

Well, that's a little reassuring! Thanks for the info. I am happy with the results, just hope my effort lasts.

Jwithing · Apr 18, 2018

Not trying to scare ya man lol. Just trying to give you a heads up. Nothing you can do about it now. I can't tell if your original wheels were chrome plated or if it was a polished aluminum/steel. I think that's going to be the deciding factor. If they last, no need to get new wheels imo... Looks like you've got a sweet combo/theme going. Show us some more overall pics. Did you do the red striping yourself on the truck?

CanadianNick · Apr 18, 2018

I agree. The truck looks sharp and something you don’t see everyone else doing. I really like the matte black stripes with the red thin stripes

MarshRam · Apr 18, 2018

Very nice. I don't see any reason for new wheels if that paint job lasts. Do you have that matte black on the hood? If so, would like to see it.

Just-RAM-it · Apr 23, 2018

As requested.... here are a couple more pics, to include front end!

Jwithing · Apr 23, 2018

Just-RAM-it said:
As requested.... here are a couple more pics, to include front end!

View attachment 126260 View attachment 126261

Looks awesome. Nice touch with the front lip.

DIY - Painted my stock rims

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