reece146

I only get a season and a bit out of my tires regardless of tread compound anyway so it doesn't seem to make much difference. I bought new tires last spring and after a summer of occasional driving and something like fourteen auto-x events they need to be replaced because the tread depth sucks in rain. They aren't bald but heavy rain and cold temps is, umm, exciting.

Certainly other manufacturers make the same size 225/245... they aren't a weird size or anything to my knowledge.

hyper

where did you get that done and how much?

do they do other types of finishing?

kwasley

toyo t1r's are great tires imo.




stock ap1 rims are junk, 16" are also too small.

iDomN8U

big difference in sideway stiffness, it was terrible for me. Remeber these are 205/55/16-245/45/16

If they were 17's with a thin sidewall, it might be better.

zeroptzero

well I got it done at a local powdercoating shop here in my hometown. I will say that I probably paid too much compared to other places but there is only a couple shops in my town that do powdercoating. But I knew that I was getting a perfect job. I paid over a $100 per wheel, I know guys in the states say they can get it done for $40 a wheel and all that. There are probably 100's of places in GTA that can do it for a decent price if you check around.

But my guy did an amazing job. He sandblasted each rim completely down to bare metal. He de-gassed the rim (some kind of process that ensures that the finish won't peel), he powdercoated the rim, and then clear coated each rim. He painted the entire rim inside and out, and he masked off the mounting surface of the rim to keep the paint off the mounting surface which is a good idea.

The rims came out in showroom condition, and powdercoating will be much more durable than regular painting. The shop that did mine only does powdercoating, they don't do other forms of painting. You could get any autobody shop to do just a regular paint job and clearcoat for less money I think. You could do your own sanding or the shop would sand it for you. Mine got sandblasted to bare metal, I didn't even wash the rims, just dropped them off totally dirty. For me it was worth every penny as I really like my Ap1 rims, and now they look better than original OEM new condition. I'm totally pleased with the price and end product. Powdercoating will outlast regular painting, regular paint will chip easier, so it all depends on what you want. Lots of guys do their own wheels with Duplicolour rattle cans (check the body and paint forum on here) for less than a hundred bucks a set, but I don't want to fool around with noxious fumes or the mess.

BTW, I got to weigh the rims tonight, they come in around 19 lbs, they feel lighter than that, but my cheapo bathroom scale said 19. I haven't gotten any pics yet I'll try to get some tomorrow, they should be mounted on new rubber by end of day.