Will powder coating SSR's hurt them?
 

I was told that because of the temps involved in the powder coating process it would soften the metal on SSR wheels. Could this be true? I've powder coated lot's of wheel and never had a problem. I'm interested in the Comps but I'm tired of the color "choices". I wanted to get some powder coated bronze. However,I don't want to spend alot of money and then ruin them over a color preference. Anyone have an answer?

i personally would not powercoat rims if they are going to have track duty.

Paint em. Some guy on another forum color matched them to his car, looked awesome.

Sell them and get a set of SSR Type-C's in bronze ?

Found this here.

Question: Found your article most enlightening. A metallurgist friend told me a few years ago that things like aluminum wheel spindles should not be powder coated. He explained that aluminum billet material (6061-T6 ?) changed crystal structure at a critical temperature around 410 degrees F (as I recall). The thrust was that the heating step would adversely affect the strength of the material. Non-structural components would be OK, but not something that "holds the spokes on".

Answer: The metallurgist is correct. Products like wheel billets, scuba tanks, etc. can be powder coated, but only with powders which cure below peak metal temperature of 300 degrees F. The magic temperature is about 275F. The crystalline realignment at 400 degrees F causes the previous ductile aluminum to become brittle. Imagine the catastrophe when an 80 cu. ft. scuba tank explodes under 3000 psi pressure after an unauthorized powder coat (this actually happened). To my knowledge, all Aluminum wheels and other strength-critical aluminum components are powder coated with these cooler curing powders.

Heating Al alloys above this temperature causes a granular rearrangement of the metallurgical structure resulting in a significant change of bulk properties. The tensile strength of the metal is dramatically lowered, much like a stress relief anneal on a steel piece would do. The resultant metal is not as strong, nor will pressure vessels made of such treated aluminum (e.g., scuba tanks) hold near the pressure that they were originally rated for. Since wheels are essentially load-bearing structures, they should never be heated like this unless the alloy is known to tolerate it well.

With an experienced coater, it WILL NOT hurt them. I had my stockers done in black 6 mos ago. Went to the track last weekend. My g-meter was up to .97. I even slid off the track sideways and into the dirt HARD. Scratched up the powder coating pretty good. Pulled out and ran another 5 hours. No bend, no break. Even Enkei says its o.k. Dont buy the paranoia.....

I'm guessing these horror stories we've heard about wheels cracking were possibly due to excessive heat during the powder coating process.

I would assume a seasoned and knowledgable powder coating facility will know what that threshold temperature is for aluminum wheels.

^ Correct, you need to make sure that the powder-coating is done under a low-temp cure. You should try to find a place that can cure at 250-275F, i'm still trying to find a local place near me that can do that temp :)

So you need a special shop to perform this? I have always been told not to have it done.

Thanks for the info.