WWII HiStOrIaN

Looking to black out my stock wheels possibly with pasti dip, anyone have opinions on the best way to do this? Should I take the wheels off when I do them or is that not necessary?

jps0929

I did mine right on the truck. I just stuffed plastic drop clothes in the wheels to cover the brakes/rotors. I also tire shined the tires first. It helps any overspray peel off easy. The more light coats the easier it peels off.

Chad Walker

You can plasti dip with them on but it is easier with them off. Usually with them on they wrap the rotor and caliper with plastic. You can use playing cards or index cards stuck around the lip of the wheel to keep the dip off of the tire or put tire dressing on the tire and it will peel off. There are videos on dipyourcar.com.

Many coats and warm temperatures is a must for a good wheel dip job.

funford

Wheels will look good blacked out on your red truck.

Nice truck BTW!

nowcommuting

I've had good results by doing this:

First, if possible, have your wheels balanced using sticky-weights such that the weights are on the inside of the wheel, giving you the full wheel surface to work with and eliminating any unsightly bulges. Plus, if you need to re-balance in the future, there wont be a need to tear up the coating.

In any case, do pull off all the wheels, take out the center caps, and clean the wheels and tires as best you can. The idea is that you want to get any grease and contamination off prior to spraying. There is no need to scuff the wheels, especially if you want to be able to return the truck to stock.

Once the wheels are clean and dry, jam index or playing cards into the lip between the tire and wheel, and mask off the tires. Now you can start spraying. I know that with spray paint the general rule of thumb is to apply several light coats for best results, however I found that this caused the plasti-dip to take on a coarse finish. I achieved best results by going with heavier coats (still be mindful of running). Also, this works best if you lay the wheels flat of the ground so if there are any runs, they just drip into the back of the wheel. (Side-note, I used roughly 1 can of plasti-dip per wheel)

Once the dip is dry, carefully remove the tape and index cards. You may need to (very carefully) score the dip around the lip to ensure that you don't peel your work right off with the cards.

Now you can pop the center caps back in (clean them first, because why not), mount the wheels, and enjoy the new color scheme.

Everything I have typed above is my own opinion. There may be better ways to do this, and you may not need to do everything I stated. For example, the masking of the tires isn't critical as the over-spray will peel off anyway. Just makes clean-up easier. Also, my opinion is that your truck looks nice with the silver wheels, but hey, the good news is that plastidip is removable if you decide to change your mind.

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I "dipped" my FX4 a few years ago and have a picture posted somewhere on this forum if you want to see how it looked.

Good luck and post results if you go forward with it!

WWII HiStOrIaN

Finally got around to doing it and I love the way they came out! Let me know what you guys think!

chongo

I like it! What process did you follow?

WWII HiStOrIaN

Thanks! I left the wheels on and put plastic bags in between to cover the brakes and painters tape around the tire. You can see the bags in this picture.

EcoBoostJake

Looking good!

discodave

For anyone else that does this..... I've done this a bunch of time on different wheels. You don't really need to put anything on the tire since it'll just peel off (you're spraying a rubber coating over rubber). Also, if you spray the tire shine on the tires before hand you're risking some of the tire shine being on the wheels and the dip won't stick to it at all. I'd recommend just covering the brakes with the plastic bags and just spraying right onto the tire. It should just peel right off of the tire when you're finished.