I'm told the process of the powder coating could change the temper of the wheels, because of the heat process the wheels have to go through to bake powder coat

 

Powder Coating has come a long way in the last 5yrs or so. They now offer lower temp powders that work great for wheel applications. Make sure the baking temp. doesn't exceed 350 degrees. Many powder coating ovens are turned up over 400 degrees, this can over age the aluminum and make it brittle or too hard.

Hope this helps!

 

I'm kinda surprised with all the supposed wheel manufacturing companies here no one has given any answer.

In order to achieve a T-6 condition for 6061 aluminum the part must go through a cycle of anneal, solution, and precipitation heat treatments. Each process has a time and temp starting at about 775F for 2-3 hours, then solution of 970F for ** (memnon trade secret) and then precipitation treatment to get to T-6 at **F (memnon trade secret). The whole process takes 6-10 hours.

Powder coating has a series of washes then powder application. After the powder application, the full amount of heat required to melt the powder is only 350F-450F for 15 to 30 minutes. This time and temp is based on generic powders and doesn't take into account special color or compounds. The amount of time in a powder oven is hardly enough to change the temper of a forged center.

If you need any more REAL technical information on wheel manufacturing, PM me.

 

Be carefull about distortion, particulary with modular wheels. Aluminum will absorb heat quick, especially the rim halves and if the temp is high and for longer periods of time you'll have an out of round rim... Seen this many times.

 

As far as rims go, if you buy from Triangle Tool they only make rims from 6061 (6 series) aluminum which means they are already heat treated, no distortion to worry about.

If you buy from American Rim Supply you're gettting a 5454 (5 series) aluminum rim which is only work hardened not heat treated. I guess you could get distortion if the rim is powdered at 450F and left in the oven for more than a half of an hour.

The one I would concern myself with the most would be a rim from lets say, Ta Chang (I'm not sure if that's the way they spell it). These offshore rims are 5052 and will be the softest of the three. I could see where these rims could distort since they don't have enough Si or Mg to make them heat-treatable and can deform with only a small amount of heat applied.

The true is key is to find out what material the rims are made from. If in the raw state, the 6061 will be a darker grey (from heat treat) The others will be a whiter silver, if that makes any sense. Class dismissed