Why do Mazda , and other Japanese manufacturers, wheels bubble so quickly? Only 31K miles on my Arctic’s 20-spokes, no curbing or scuffs, but lacquer peeling everywhere.
About to have a set powder coated but seen reports on other forums about Honda wheels collapsing after powder coating. Never had problems with Ford wheels, are Japanese
wheels made of different alloys which are affected by the heat process in powder coating?
Because they where never really made for are great weather, but their own market.
M-m
Age old problem, presumably they must have decided its more economical for them to replace a few sets of wheels under warranty rather than provide a coating that lasts. I had Ford alloys for about 6 years and not a sign of any breakdown of the coating in that time, but my mazda wheels were going after not more than 2 and the warranty replaced ones did exactly the same.
As for powder coating I’m aware of reports recently of mx-5 wheels failing with cracks appearing after the powder coating process which it has then been presumed are as a result of that process. Don’t know any more than that. Not sure if there is more on this forum about that, ?
Do you drive on gravelly or damaged roads, ( most roads are damaged these days I reckon)? It may be stone chips that are breaking the laquer and our wonderful weather doesnt help either.
I had my originals powder coat refurbed over a year ago and they have been fine. The process did involve a chemical clean and shot blast, followed by an oven bake but mine were fine.
No, the car leads a very pampered life and there is no physical damage to the wheels. The bubbling is worst creeping out from the wheel centre caps, not an obvious place for damage.
The wheels on my Puma were powder coated after kerb damage but otherwise the paint and lacquer were perfectly sound after 10 years.
Its not damage, its just poor coating I think. They mostly go on the edges of things such as the centre cap hole, sharp edges on spokes etc where the covering is presumably thinnest, and my sport wheels are worst on the inner edge behind the spokes where the gloss coating gives way to the more machined finish…
The wheels on my father’s 08 Focus CC are wrecked, with the amount of laquer that is lifting.
Powder coating seems to ok if the operator is using an oven with good temperature control, to keep the temperature from getting too high. If an oven is used with too high a temperature, or poor temperature control, the wheels can be reduced to unsafe scrap. For that reason, I’d never buy a set of used wheels that have been powder coated.
Reading around, most cast alloy wheels are 356-T6 aluminium, and forged wheels are 6061-T6. 356-T6 is aged at 325F; heating the alloy to beyond that might overage the metal, and cause a reduction in strength. Apparently temperature has far more of an impact than time, so its suggested even 10 minutes at 400F can lead to a significant reduction in strength. Many powder coaters will set their ovens to 400-500F for 1 hour. Some wheel manufacturers, such as BBS, will powder coat their wheels, but it seems that powder coating is incorporated into the alloy aging process by them.
I had some Panasports restored, and the wheel guy refused to get them powdercoated.
First thing I do with a new car, is spray some more laquer on the alloys!
It’s truly amazing how car manufacturers shorten the life of their paint, wheels etc for the few pennies that it saves, by skimping on it.
Apart from physical damage to the rims etc. the main cause is salt from the roads in winter I realise there are other contributary factors such as thin/poor paint and laquer but road salt is the real pain. Just before winter I remove my wheels, clean them and apply several coats of polish and only buff it off on the outside, washing the wheels frequently in winter also helps.
Regards Geoff Peace.
Yep, agreed with everyone and would add that acid cleaning may not help especially if it’s not rinsed off well.
I took my centre caps out, cleaned and replaced with waxoyl around them and the wheel hole. That and regular washing in winter means those on our Mazda 6 are still good after 5 years.
On refinishing, I no longer go for powder coat. It does not “flow” into crevices well and does not stick to edges well. It may be ok on rounded smooth surfaces but not sharp-edged wheel spokes and definitely not on steel rims when the joint between rim and flange is left completely bare and rusts in weeks, found that the hard way. A liquid paint, epoxy or 2 pack, with heavy laquer is best imho.
The 20 spoke Artic wheels are the best looking Mazda ever produced. But then I’m biased.
Nevertheless I’ve had a similar problem with my front pair.
Had them powder coated at BJV Engineering, (Wheelrefurbishing.com.)
They have a place at Flaunden, Herts, presumably relatively close to you.
They charged £40 a wheel last year. They did an excellant job, no complaints at all.
It never occured to me that baking could damage the alloys, but so far no problems.
My Arctic is a totally pampered 32k mile car and probably rarely seen rain, let alone salt as it is a summer only toy. I believe thin/poor paint is the culprit but will take your suggestions on board
once I have a replacement set of wheels refurbished.
I agree that the 20 spoke are the best looking MX-5 wheels. I have already used BJV Engineering at Flaunden to powder coat my Ford Puma 9 spoke wheels with excellent results at a very reasonable price. I intended to have a spare set of Arctic 20 spokes powder coated by BJV until I read about too high temperatures making wheels brittle on various forums.
Finally got round to having four Arctic wheels powder coated by BJV. Did a very good job and still only £40 each. I had my Ford Puma wheels done by BJV two years ago with absolutely no problems. Can highly recommend them.