This never really occurred to me until I got around to switching wheels, but I was wondering if anybody that has powder coated wheels were having issues with ride/balance/braking.

A little background info to help clarify;

I have a set of 16" aftermarket wheels as well as a set of 15" powder coated fat five wheels. The fat five wheels were in pretty bad shape when i acquired them (painted by previous owner) so I had them stripped and powder coated at a local shop. The work was great, but I did notice that they coated the entire wheel (including the back face of the wheel where it meets the rotor).

Got 205/50/15 tires mounted and I installed them on my EJ (using OEM wheel lugs, no hub-centric rings). I noticed that when I brake, the brake pedal seemed to pulsate. Seemed to only happen when I want to slow the car down (like exiting the freeway), but harder braking where the pedal is closer to the floor, it's not as pronounced.

I always thought it was warped rotors, or just the need to flush the brake fluid (I'm thinking there's air in the lines).

But this is where it got weird on me. I switched to the 16" aftermarket wheels (conical lugs, also no hub-centric rings) and everything was fine. No braking issues at all. No shaking, no pulsating, everything was OK.

Just curious if the problem lies on the powder coated wheels. I'm thinking it could be the combination of the back face also being coated (not a flat surface anymore) as well as improper balancing (I told the tire shop to use tape weights on the inside rim only).

Granted I don't think it might be the tape weights as my 16's are also using tape weights and were properly balanced.

To me, I think the main culprit would be the uneven coating on the inside of the wheels. Should I sand this back down to the metal so it's even, or would I make it worse?

Just would like to know if others have similar issues and what was done to resolve it.

 

Any flaws (uneven coat, etc...) in the powder coat would be eradicated in wheel balancing. The powder coat would not be thick enough to cause issues with the mounting hub, either. I've got 3 different sets of freshly powder coated wheels that have no issues balancing, nor any wheel vibrations during driving.

 

same here, never had problems with my sets, maybe they over baked it or warp it somewhere!

 

The vibrations/pulsating doesn't occur while driving. Only when braking and using the powder coated fat fives.

Would like to know what else would cause this when it doesn't occur with other wheels.

 

The only other thing that could be causing problems, is if the powder coat caused a lump on the lug nut seats. That would prevent the lug nuts from properly seating, and cause you some vibration.

 

Tracy,

Your problem IS most likely due to the powder coating. I have ALWAYS had my powder coater tape off the center bore and back side of the wheel to ensure a smooth and even contact patch with the hub. If you look at any decent quality painted OEM or aftermarket wheel, you will notice that the back of the hub is machined and the centerbore is also machined AFTER painting, to ensure a proper fit and proper mating to the hub.

SEMA WTC Wheel and Tire Installation Guidelines recommend cleaning the back side of the hub, centerbore and wheel studs to ensure a proper fit:

The uneven buildup of powder coating on the back side of your hub is most likely causing the vibrations. Most powder coaters are not wheel industry professionals, so they don't even think twice to tape off the backside of the wheel or the centerbore. You normally have to pay a little extra and make sure to ask for this service.

If, by chance, this is not the problem, the only other issue would be potentially bent wheels, since you picked the up used, but the tire shop should have pointed that out to you when they balanced them. However, if the wheels were bent, you would most likely notice the vibrations or steering wheel shimmy under regular driving too.

 

To be honest, the wheels would have had to been balanced by a complete novice for them not to notice an improper mounting surface during the wheel balancing process. If, by strange coincidence, the mounting surface did manage to have an imperfection after the powder coating process (which is a self-leveling medium), the imperfection would be entirely visible and could easily be removed. The only way I could see there being an imperfection that would cause such a problem, is if the wheels weren't properly cleaned/prepared before the powder coat was applied.

 

toyomatt84:

Why did you delete a link to the SEMA Wheel Tire Installation Guide?

I wasn't trying to sell the guide. It's FREELY available on the SEMA website, and it provides good, quality information that should be distributed to ANYONE who even thinks about touching a wheel or tire.

What the heck is going on with Honda-Tech? Everything is so censored, and now we aren't allowed to even post good information?

If anyone is curious, just Google search:

SEMA WTC POSTER

This is good, free information provided by SEMA for public knowledge.

 

Who's to say a complete novice didn't balance them? I just saw a post with another user bragging about going to Walmart for free tire mounting and balancing.

Also, even a more expert balancer wouldn't necessarily pickup on a powdercoated mounting surface. Most aren't trained to look for it, since it's uncommon.

Furthermore, why do manufacturers machine down the back pad of the wheel smooth and clean if it doesn't matter? It would be much cheaper and quicker for them to just paint the entire wheel and leave the back side painted, rather than machine off the paint.

 

First off, you didn't have a link to the SEMA install guide. It was a link to your for sale thread. I can restore the original version of your post, if you want proof. As it was completely unrelated to this thread, I removed it.

Wheels typically have their mounting surface machined to make sure its true after the manufacturing process. Molds can be imperfect and its a smart business practice to make sure wheels are true before distributing them.

 

Here is the link I was providing:

http://www2.sema.org/images/pdf/26481.pdf

Maybe there was a server glitch, or maybe I pasted the wrong link, but that was the link that was intended (as evidenced by my description of what I posted).

Yes. They do machine it to make sure it true, which is why they don't paint it, because paint would lay down an inconsistent surface.

Just curious - have you ever worked for or with a wheel manufacturer? I'm not trying to start an argument or a war of words. I'm just trying to pass on my knowledge from working in the industry for many years.

 

No I have not worked for/with a wheel manufacturer. I'm an avid enthusiast and collector of wheels. I do a fair amount of research regarding wheels and wheel manufacturing as common practice for my hobby. I'll never claim to be all-knowing, though. There's no way I could make a claim as ludicrous as that.

Now, I know what you're trying to state. I'm not just "arguing for argument's sake" here. Proper wheel coatings would not impede proper wheel mounting. Case in point: steel wheel manufacturers. Steel wheels typically don't have a machined hub, nor do they cover up the hub when the powder coat them.

 

Now that you mentioned it, when I did remove the fat fives off of the car, there was a bit of residue that came off of the wheels (I'm assuming it's the powder coat that got stripped off of the wheels due to the torqued wheel lugs).

So it might be a little bit of both that would cause the vibration while braking.

I'm gonna try to reinstall the wheels (they have a new set of tires and have been re-balanced) to see if the problem continues. If so, then I guess I would sand down the back hub area down to the metal.

Otherwise, I guess it would be safe to assume that the extra powder coat on the lug seating area would have been the culprit.

I'll keep you guys updated.

Sorry didn't mean for this to turn into a debate, just wanted some ideas as to what the problem might be.

I appreciate both of your help, it is much appreciated.

 

No need to apologize, bud. This was one of those extremely rare cases where there was a non-heated intellectual debate. Both sides provided solid information to go on, so it's not like there was just overheated puffery.

 

I absolutely agree that there should not be powder coating / paint in the lug seat area as well.

In fact, I normally suggested to my customers that had powder coated wheels that we attempt to remove as much of the paint from that area as well.

Basically, any surface where you have metal coming into contact with other metal (with respect to wheels, hubs, studs, and lug nuts) should be clean and free of debris, paint, rust, etc.

 

Thank you gentlemen. I appreciated the input. I'll work on the wheels to see if it alleviates the problem and I'll try to get back to you to update (for future reference).

 

Jeez, I have to reply to this.

If you only felt the pulsation while braking, it's brake related and not wheel related. Period. If the wheel was bent, badly coated, whatever, you'd feel it all the time.

My bet is there was a piece of rust or dirt stuck between the rotor and hub which you knocked loose when you swapped the wheels. Swap 'em back, I bet there's no pulsation anymore.