Justthebutler
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2019
- Posts
- 125
- Reaction score
- 126
- Location
- BC
- Ram Year
- 2017 Ram 1500 SLT
- Engine
- 5.7L Hemi
Hey Y'all I thought I would share a DIY wheel refinish if anyone is interested in doing it themselves.
I really like the look of the stock 17" 5 spoke wheels, and they looked great on my truck; But I was due for tires and thought I would upgrade the look of the truck a bit.
The stock 5 spoke 20's are pretty much an exact match to the 17's and after countless hours scrolling through FB Marketplace looking for the gray ones,
I had a hard time finding them for a good price locally but I found a set of black ones that didn't break the bank and would look good; With a bit of work.
They were only 250 bucks and I knew I could get the look I wanted. They were damaged a bit here and there, and one had a big gouge in it.
I got them home and gave them a good wash and degrease, then I sanded the damaged spots and used Permatex Steel Weld to fill in the small chips and the large gouge.
I let that set for about 4 hours and then used a sanding disc on my angle grinder to sand the high spots of the filler. I finished hand sanding them all and then primed them with a dozen good coats.
After the primer dried I did some more sanding working my way up from about a 200 grit to a finer grit. Then Primed again, then sanded then primed. LOL
When they were all good to go, I grabbed about 4 cans of the Duplicolor Wheel Paint and painted them according to the instructions on the can. 3 light coats 1 wet coat let it dry and repeat.
After I sprayed them I let them cure for a day and then did some wet sanding to get them ready for the clearcoat.
I used about 3 cans of DupliColor Clear which is meant for wheels aswell, and then did some wet sanding before the final clear. It was nice to see after all the filling ans sanding it was worth it. The wheels looked almost brand new.
After the clearcoat, I let them cure for about 3 days in the garage, cycling them between open air and an hour in a make shift oven using a shop heater and a box.
When they were all cured up I gave them 2 good coats of Meguiars paste wax, then I headed to my cousins tire shop.
I had BFG K02's on my 17's but found them to have mediocre performance and wet traction, and I ended up going with the General Grabber ATX2's which were recommended to me by him, and several other people.
All in all, It cost me about what I would have spent buying the stock ones that were already done, but I learned alot doing this project, and really enjoyed seeing them go from old to new.
And they gave my truck an updated but familiar look. On to the next project!
I really like the look of the stock 17" 5 spoke wheels, and they looked great on my truck; But I was due for tires and thought I would upgrade the look of the truck a bit.
The stock 5 spoke 20's are pretty much an exact match to the 17's and after countless hours scrolling through FB Marketplace looking for the gray ones,
I had a hard time finding them for a good price locally but I found a set of black ones that didn't break the bank and would look good; With a bit of work.
They were only 250 bucks and I knew I could get the look I wanted. They were damaged a bit here and there, and one had a big gouge in it.
I got them home and gave them a good wash and degrease, then I sanded the damaged spots and used Permatex Steel Weld to fill in the small chips and the large gouge.
I let that set for about 4 hours and then used a sanding disc on my angle grinder to sand the high spots of the filler. I finished hand sanding them all and then primed them with a dozen good coats.
After the primer dried I did some more sanding working my way up from about a 200 grit to a finer grit. Then Primed again, then sanded then primed. LOL
When they were all good to go, I grabbed about 4 cans of the Duplicolor Wheel Paint and painted them according to the instructions on the can. 3 light coats 1 wet coat let it dry and repeat.
After I sprayed them I let them cure for a day and then did some wet sanding to get them ready for the clearcoat.
I used about 3 cans of DupliColor Clear which is meant for wheels aswell, and then did some wet sanding before the final clear. It was nice to see after all the filling ans sanding it was worth it. The wheels looked almost brand new.
After the clearcoat, I let them cure for about 3 days in the garage, cycling them between open air and an hour in a make shift oven using a shop heater and a box.
When they were all cured up I gave them 2 good coats of Meguiars paste wax, then I headed to my cousins tire shop.
I had BFG K02's on my 17's but found them to have mediocre performance and wet traction, and I ended up going with the General Grabber ATX2's which were recommended to me by him, and several other people.
All in all, It cost me about what I would have spent buying the stock ones that were already done, but I learned alot doing this project, and really enjoyed seeing them go from old to new.
And they gave my truck an updated but familiar look. On to the next project!
