Refinish my one wheel?

[redhat]

Much to my dismay, one of my wheels had its clearcoat damaged when my new Dunlops were mounted and balanced. I am curious to hear your opinions on the best way I can fix this. I am going to take a shot in the dark and say wet sand and re clear? How many coats of clear. Other wheels are fine.

Been like this for a couple months and it's an eyesore.

 

[Fastcompany]

Ya your on the right track. Any rattle can clear coat won't hold up in the long run. I'm not a body tech so I can't give many pointers but I have rattle canned a decent number of wheels. Start with a light coat and then a medium wet coat and see how it blends in. Chances are it will appear too glossy and have orange peel but it should be less noticeable. PS tires are not hard with the machines today. Find a shop that is more careful. No reason to damage anything that isn't an 11 wide reverse mount wheel with 20 series rubber on it.

 

[AndyinAL]

Do not use clear that you can buy off the shelf. The good 2k clear with the separate chamber in the can is good stuff. But it is like $25 a can on Amazon. Very much worth it. I used one can and cleared all four wheels on my car 2 years ago and it still looks like the day I put it on.

 

[Fastcompany]

Oh that's true. You can skip Amazon if you'd like. You can have those cans filled at many auto body supply stores

 

[redhat]

I agree. To put it bluntly I am PO'ed that this happened. In 4 years of having thee wheels, I have never hit a curb or dmanaged them. They have small chips here and there. Then the alleged "super awesome tire mounter" goes and does this. Really ticked me off.

 

[gregk24]

So the shop damaged them? That would NOT fly with me. Whenever my vehicles have been damaged by a shop / dealer I quickly bring it to their attention. Most times they try to resolve the issue, but one shop blew me off. That was a poor move on their part, they no longer have my business (long time customer of me and family) and now anytime someone searches for them online my review is there to deter them. My guess is they have already lost more money from those reviews than it would have cost them to fix there sloppy work on my car. Shame.

 

[L_Sludger]

They damaged your car, man. If you don't squeak, then they will keep damaging people's cars and keep getting away with it.

 

[mightymousetech]

Agreed. The shop that did that should be sending it out and having it refinished.

 

[Kira]

I saw a tire mounter with little "guide or pusher" wheels mounted on long, bent arms. They swung into place and seated the tire without touching the wheel.
So I ask you by way of comparison.

Remember how the locations of road force balancers would spread in the "car community"?

Maybe we should spread the word regarding locations of these superior (?) mounting machines?

In my case the super-duper mounter is 220 mles away in Maryland.

 

[redhat]

I'd be the first in line to complain, however, the installer was a friend of a friend at a shop off hours.

Guy was supposed to be super great and has mounted low profile on wide rims without damage.

I got robbed.

 

[eljefino]

It's possible your clear coat was 95% of the way to jumping ship before you hit the tire store. Rim flanges are a wear item-- the bugatti veyron requires new wheels after three tire mountings because of this.

 

[redhat]

-

 

[khittner]

Obviously, you take very nice care of your car, and are justifiably proud of its appearance. Nonetheless, I wouldn't worry about it. Auto wheels, particularly in
a place like Buffalo, live out in the real world of potholes, curbs, street chemicals, rocks, dirt, grit, and ham-fisted tire techs. I know that you don't want your car to look like every other box in the shopping center parking lot---but that little bungus doesn't make it that way. No one, except you, notices. Life's short--drive on, Ranger.

 

[Rolla07]

Clear coat wheels are my nightmare. If I was the only one driving my car, I would fix them but I just used some armor all wheel coating and will keep using it. Im not sure how well sanding and clear coat will look in ur case but id assume it might not match the rest. Curious to hear how it turns out though.

 

[Panos]

Do we see a crack in the tire sidewall too? (Next to the word SERIOUS)

 

[redhat]

Originally Posted By: Panos
Do we see a crack in the tire sidewall too? (Next to the word SERIOUS)


Could very well be.

These tires are gonna go back to their retailer. Been balanced twice and still can't get 'em right.