New powder coated steel wheels: should I worry?

[ymc226]

I have a 95 Land Rover Defender with alloy wheels but bought steel Wolf type steel wheels (with the proper steel nuts) which I had powder coated ivory white to give the truck a more classic look.

I've read on another forum the smooth surface from the fresh PC may allow the lug nuts to become unfastened. Is this a concern as not a few cars come from the factory with painted wheels? Should I "rough out" the area around the holes with sand paper before installing?

 

[SuzukiGoat]

Torque em down, drive 30 miles away, fix your land rover a few times on the way home, and then retorque when you get home.

Most powdercoat in that area will be gone within two tire rotations.

 

[bepperb]

Originally Posted By: SuzukiGoat
Torque em down, drive 30 miles away, fix your land rover a few times on the way home, and then retorque when you get home.

Most powdercoat in that area will be gone within two tire rotations.


Ha!

 

[SuzukiGoat]

Had to be done. Lol.

I'm sure it's a nice rig though, I love the discos myself.

 

[ymc226]

Thanks SuzukiGoat. I actually bought my Defender from someone from Tulane.

 

[bepperb]

In all fairness I'm scared to use the cruise control in my Highlander or I might fall asleep of boredom. Would be cool to drive something with more character.

But I would plan to retorque any wheels, especially those refinished. And powdercoating does have a tendency to chip, so I'd keep an eye out. But I don't think the surface of the wheel is the only friction keeping a lugnut from backing out, otherwise the safety police wouldn't have a huge fit when a jar of anti-seize came within 8 feet of a wheel stud.

 

[Colt45ws]

Ive read up on this before with another issue. Its not the lugnut to wheel surface, its the wheel to hub surface that is the issue. When you bolt bare metal to bare metal, you get a hard bond between the two.
That isnt exactly the correct terminolgy, but its past my bed time.

Anyway, when you have paint or similar between the two, its no longer hard, but soft, and the two pieces can flex against each other. Its very minutely, almost inconsequential, but it allows the bolts to begin backing off. Its probably more noticeable with PC due to it being soft and relatively thick compared to wet paint.

 

[ymc226]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Ive read up on this before with another issue. Its not the lugnut to wheel surface, its the wheel to hub surface that is the issue. When you bolt bare metal to bare metal, you get a hard bond between the two.
That isnt exactly the correct terminolgy, but its past my bed time.

Anyway, when you have paint or similar between the two, its no longer hard, but soft, and the two pieces can flex against each other. Its very minutely, almost inconsequential, but it allows the bolts to begin backing off. Its probably more noticeable with PC due to it being soft and relatively thick compared to wet paint.


Thanks for the insight. If this is the case, has anyone removed the PC from the hub side of the wheel or am I making more of the situation than it warrants? I guess I'm OCD when it comes to wheels coming off when flying down the highway.

 

[A_Harman]

Carry a torque wrench and socket around with you, and check the wheelnut torque every 50-100 miles. If the nuts move some before the wrench clicks, it probably means the powder coating under the nut seats or between the wheel flange and bearing hub is compressing. If you keep checking the torque, eventually everything will compress as as far as it's going to, then no more worries.

 

[leeharvey418]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Anyway, when you have paint or similar between the two, its no longer hard, but soft, and the two pieces can flex against each other.

Just how much powdercoat are you getting on these wheels?

I'm intimately familiar with the process you're describing... and I can confidently say that for coatings with a finished thickness of less than 0.0005" it's not even remotely an issue.

 

[SuzukiGoat]

My steel wheels are powdercoated and I have a non hubcentric design. I doubt your rover uses the same. But literally ALL of the weight rests on the studs and the minor crimping force of four lug nuts torqued to 60 ft/lbs.

If they come off due to that...I'll lick my own foot.

 

[wings&wheels]

You should be fine. Put them on, torque to spec and check/retorque in 30 miles or so. Check again after if you want.

I have the Wolf's (w/ G90's) on my Series, had the same concern, did the above and have never had a problem. That said, I put a dab of touch-up paint on each lug nut pointing towards the wheel center as an quick indicator of any of the nuts moving. Haven't seen any movement yet.

Nice truck..they look best w/ the Wolf's or RoW Disco 1 wheels. was looking at a NAS, stumbled across a cool diesel

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: SuzukiGoat
Torque em down, drive 30 miles away, fix your land rover a few times on the way home, and then retorque when you get home.

Most powdercoat in that area will be gone within two tire rotations.
Spending excessive money on repairs is one of the rewards of English craftsman ship.

 

[ymc226]

Originally Posted By: wings&wheels
You should be fine. Put them on, torque to spec and check/retorque in 30 miles or so. Check again after if you want.

I have the Wolf's (w/ G90's) on my Series, had the same concern, did the above and have never had a problem. That said, I put a dab of touch-up paint on each lug nut pointing towards the wheel center as an quick indicator of any of the nuts moving. Haven't seen any movement yet.

Nice truck..they look best w/ the Wolf's or RoW Disco 1 wheels. was looking at a NAS, stumbled across a cool diesel


You've got good taste in trucks.

Now that the Defender is all sorted out, I kinda want a '66 Series II with the headlights in the center.

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: leeharvey418
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Anyway, when you have paint or similar between the two, its no longer hard, but soft, and the two pieces can flex against each other.

Just how much powdercoat are you getting on these wheels?

I'm intimately familiar with the process you're describing... and I can confidently say that for coatings with a finished thickness of less than 0.0005" it's not even remotely an issue.

Well..thats good. I had only lightly researched this and hadnt determined how much was okay.
Though, Ive seen some THICK powdercoating in my time.

 

[WishIhadatruck]

Part I have seen powder coated are generally thinner than wet coat parts, maybe .001-.003 thick. I would just check your lug torque every 50 miles for the first few hundred miles. If you find they are not loosening up, quit checking. You'll be fine.