Hi guys/gals,

I have to say I am soooooo tired of the lack of quality chrome these days. I had purchased some nice, 10 spoke chrome wheels for my truck 3 years ago. Yes, I looked after them but they STILL started to get pitting and the worst part is, on the back side, the chrome actually started to peel off!!

I went back to the manufacturer as peeling chrome is not indicative of a quality chrome coating. Anyway, the manufacturer hid behind their warranty which has certain restrictions in it about use, which I can understand about the pitting but NOT the PEELING.

Anyway, my point to this thread is that I am now considering some beefier, steel, although hopefully decent looking wheels. Have been reading about some military wheels as an option but coming up short.

Does anyone have some decent looking black steel wheels of some sort on their lifted rigs with at least 38 inch tires??

Thanks for the help. And please post pics if you fit the bill.

Case in point about quality chrome. I was in the Yukon last week traipsing around in the bush and came across several old vehicles, millitary. The bodies were in bad shape but where there was a chrome part (bumper, ****, etc) the chrome was perfect. Go figure!!!

Kalsc

 

Have you considered blasting and powdercoating them? There are tons of colors, even chrome powder coat. They have a black chrome that looks pretty cool too.
Powder Buy The Pound -Powder Coating Equipment and Supplies

 

Hadn't considered that. Does chrome blast off nice enough without running the risk of pitting the exposed metal underneath? Not sure glass would be hard enough to cut the chrome, aluminum oxide might but that's pretty abrasive.

 

I know that Jim had done his wheels and they looked awesome. He had blasted the chrome off of his in order to do it. I will be doing mine someday

 

Thanks for the info. Going to check around town to get options. I guess one would have to weigh the cost of blasting (per hhour) and then powder coating, against new wheels altogether.

If "Jim" reads this thread, would like to hear of his experience with the ordeal and maybe check out some pics.

Cheers!

 

Here maybe you could PM him, Jim that is! (rat49f6)

 

We powder coat at our shop and hate blasting
Chrome! That stuff is tough. But it is possible. We use steel shot and it
Is some mean stuff. As long as they are steel! If
They are chromed alum. You can hang it up. It will wear the alum around the chrome. Wheels when powdercoated do look good but I like my polished alum dually wheels.

 

Dang, the powder coating folks that Jim listed are close to me. Only about 25 miles away.

 

The reason the mil vehicles you see have better chrome plating than your wheels do is due to the quality of the plating. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find quality commercial chrome plating these days. The military doesn't struggle with this as much. Also older chrome plating will hold up better because it was done properly. The type of chrome on your wheels is most likely trivalent chrome aka decorative chrome. In the old days this was done by first flashing a layer of copper, then two layers of nickel, then the chrome. These days the copper is often skipped and only one nickel layer is applied. The duplex nickel is the key to durability. The chrome layer was and is extremely thin and it is the prep, processing, and base layers which provide the finish and durability. This is an industry-wide problem that most manufacturers are struggling with.

I agree with the others that powdercoating is your best option. The other feasible option would be thermal-cured ceramic spray but finding a shop that does it will be more difficult. Forget getting them rechromed. Even if you could find a plating shop to do it right cost would be prohibitive.

 

You can not blast a harder metal off a softer metal.
Maybe there is a chemical process to remove chrome plating, but I doubt sand blasting is gonna work.

Old chrome used to last. New stuff is friggin crap. Thats why I didn't get a truck with chrome on it, cause you never know how long it will last.

 

You can not blast a harder metal off a softer metal.
Maybe there is a chemical process to remove chrome plating, but I doubt sand blasting is gonna work.

Old chrome used to last. New stuff is friggin crap. Thats why I didn't get a truck with chrome on it, cause you never know how long it will last.