Wheel Refurb

[Shropshire Tim]

After nearly 50,000 miles my old AT2 General Grabbers were looking more like racing slicks. I was looking t getting a set of Cooper Discover SST's on black steelies, but didn't want the extra weight of the steel wheels.

Solution- clean up my tatty old alloys and spray them up. A couple of before and after pics below, for comparison. Chuffed with the results. Next up- big speed stripe and some neons.....

[mr.rosco]

looks good, did you use a special paint?

[Shropshire Tim]

looks good, did you use a special paint?

Thanks for the kind words.

Did a bit of research on the net, just used normal rattle cans from Halfords. Total cost was about £30.00, plus a weekends work (mostly watching paint dry). The way I went about it was as follows:-

-Gave each wheel a real wash and scrub to remove as much brake dust and crud as possible.
- Used coarse glass paper (160 grit?) to remove the laquer, then fine sand paper to get a decent finish.
- Gave it another wash. Let it dry thoroughly.
- Masked up each tyre, then applied a light coat of grey primer. Left to dry for 15 mins.
- Repeat with two heavier coats of grey primer.
- Same again, but with flat black paint.
- Same again but with clear laquer. The laquer is important because it dries rock hard and provided decent protection.
- Leave for thirty minutes minimum, then put it back on the truck.

I only have one trolley jack so had to do each wheel in turn (plus the spare).

If you kneel down by the wheels you can see blemishes and the odd bit of blistering where I applied too much paint too quickly (my first go at spraying), but from 5 feet away with a couple of week's worth of brake dust, they look like factory jobs.

[bullet513]

they look really nice, same wheels as my truck, think i might be busy this weekend now

just out of interest, what are them tyres like? on and off road? where did u get them and how much if u dont mind me asking

[Shropshire Tim]

they look really nice, same wheels as my truck, think i might be busy this weekend now

just out of interest, what are them tyres like? on and off road? where did u get them and how much if u dont mind me asking

I got mine from here:-

http://www.tyrespec.co.uk/products/?...scoverer%20STT

The price includes VAT and delivery. I brought them over two months (two each month), both times they arrived next working day. Excellent service.

Compared to my old General Grabbers, these tyres feel like they weigh more, maybe two or three kilos extra. The tyrewalls are taller too. The truck sits maybe an inch higher.

I've only driven them on roads so far, so can't vouch for their off- road capability, but there are some positive reviews here:-

http://www.tyrespec.co.uk/products/?...scoverer%20STT

On- road, they hum a bit compared to the Grabbers, but if I start to get bored with it I just turn the radio up. Fuel consumption seems to be no better or worse. I normally trundle along at around 55- 60mph, and still get 28- 30mpg. The car sits flat and happy at this speed. Same at 75- 80mph, with no signs of the tyres getting too hot.

In terms of handling, I thought I'd made a big mistake for the first few days. The new tyres gave next to no feedback through the steering, making cornering vague.

Then they seemed to 'bed in' and were fine after that. Again, no better or worse than the General Grabbers.

I do seem to need to leave a bit more stopping distance than with the old tyres. Not sure if this is down to the extra unsprung weight, or the tread pattern.

Hope this helps.

As an aside- if you are thinking of spraying up your old wheels, I used 1 each of the 500ml cans of primer and clear, and 1 can of 500ml black and 1 350ml can of black. Dunno why I need more black, might be my rubbish spraying technique. The Stealth- Roader movement starts here!