curb impact! what to check? (which is now about my steel rally restore)

[Phil513]

I need to check out your build thread. how does it do at highway speeds? I always hedge on lifting and big tired, cause mines a daily driver. it drives and handles so great now, I don't want to mess with it

It does great as far as that goes. I have driven it to my parent's house in Joshua Tree, about a 3 1/2 hour drive (one way) and back in the same day, it was perfectly comfortable. I drive it around town all the time. The lift is a Zone lift, which is probably stiffer than the Tuff Country lift, so you might want to go that route. And I pitched the front sway bar, don't notice a difference.

The gearing however needs to be changed. Working on that.

 

[RobTav63]

all geared up to clean and paint the steelies this weekend, and recommendations on which rattle can brand/type? would like something with and bit of Metalic luster

 

[diesel4me]

Rustoleum makes "wheel paint" that holds up well to salt and dirt exposure--also have clear coat for wheels too..

A lot of brands have "wheel paint",and all are probably good-but I have stuck with Rustoleum on most of my stuff...stores locally stock a lot of it too,so no driving around to find "one more can" if I run short too..

I used some appliance epoxy paint on some white wagon wheels once,it held up very well..not sure if that comes in silver or mettallic gray though..

 

[ryoken]

I avoid anything made by Duplicolor.. generally lousy...

 

[diesel4me]

^ Agree--Dupli-Color products SUCK for the most part--their bed liner is probably THE worst,and their paints aren't much better...

Those "touch up" spray bombs they sell do sometimes match OEM colors well,but good luck trying to apply any without it running like water,and all the mettallic sagging like curtains..it often reacts with original paint or primers and curdles like cottage cheese too..

"Krylon"is another brand I've had mixed results with--most of the time ,unfavorable..

"Valspar" I have used a few times with good results--most stores here carry that brand and Rustoleum,and not much else..

Another brand of paint "Magic" brand works great,and is cheaper than the others,but only one store carries it near me..

I used to like "Plasti-Kote" spray paints but no stores carry it around here any more...maybe they went out of bussiness?..

 

[RobTav63]

Thanks guys. Glad for the heads up on Duplicolor, almost bought it. They have a blue that matches my panels, thought it would look cool to do the wheel blue and keep the trim rings and centering posts natural metal, but if their paint is that lousy, it's probably not worth the headache.

Going to use Rustoleum, "steel" color wheel paint. I did a quick search and found my local ace hardware carries it in-store. Home Depot has it for online order only, and it's six pack, no single cans.

Going to try to prep tomorrow, before all the family hoopla starts, then paint late afternoon one day this week.

 

[diesel4me]

Some auto parts and body shop supply stores locally can mix you the proper color OEM paint and put it in aresol cans now too,and though it is more expensive,its the same paint you'd use with a spray gun,not department store "touch up" crap...

You can also get a "Pre-Val" sprayer that is basically a glass jar,that has a pressurized canister that screws on it's "lid" to allow you to spray any kind of paint,or just about anything else ,for cheap money too...

 

[RobTav63]

so I want to ditch these rusted out bolts and get shiny new ones. Can I just size and match these in the hardware aisle, or do I need something specialty with a particular strength/heat rating, or some unusual pitch or fitment?



Edit: If anyone's curious, I looked these up, they're 5/16" - 18 x 3/4

 

[ryoken]

You can also get a "Pre-Val" sprayer that is basically a glass jar,that has a pressurized canister that screws on it's "lid" to allow you to spray any kind of paint,or just about anything else ,for cheap money too...

I live by em for gelcoat repairs.... I went thru a dozen in the last 2 weeks... prolly use 50 to 75 a year...

 

[RobTav63]

surprise beneath the paint. weld looks clean, just hope there aren't any balance issues. And the edge is a bit wonky, but I think it'll hold a bead fine. I'm going to go ahead ahead finish em

 

[RobTav63]

almost done painting. trying to go with a lot of light coats to keep from pooling, with mixed success, but they're not looking too bad. 1 more rattle can to finish out. With dry time between coats, I should finish before dark. Can't wait to mount the center posts and beauty rings (which should cover up my lousy painting skills). I have clear coat cans too, but I think they'll just accentuate the imperfections...

 

[RobTav63]

gonna need new stems, any recommendations? street driver, don't need to air-down and refill on the reg.

 

[diesel4me]

I like the "real" brass screw in type valve stems better than rubber--after that run of crappy ones from China a few years ago that failed easily without warning,I don't really trust them much--they are also not cheap any more..also for any off roading uses the metal ones resist being broken a lot better,especially if you use the shorter ones..

 

[RobTav63]

got these, "Billet Specialties 999900 Bolt-In Valve Stem, Chrome (Pack of 4)"

 

[Phil513]

This is gonna look great.

 

[RobTav63]

I looked into repro's for the center caps, but they're ABS plastic

I'm going to stick with the original metal caps, and just polish them up best I can

 

[RobTav63]

fasteners for the center caps, stainless or zinc?

 

[RobTav63]

wound up going with stainless for the centerpost bolts, only a few bucks more, here are some pics with the posts mounted. Just need the valves and they'll be ready for rubber

 

[RobTav63]

finally got the new rubber mounted on the steel wheels, very happy with the way everything looks. Wound up just using basic rubber stems, the metal ones looked rad, but they were too short with the trim rings on (free to anyone that wants them, just PM me with your address).

 

[RobTav63]

i'm always debating to lift or not. With the weight off the springs, this is a nice preview of how it would look. tempting... Also, this is it for this thread, so I just want to give one last big thank you to everyone that gave help and advice.