New tires and renewed rims

[Ruadhrigh]

Finally got enough pennies put together for some much needed tires. Buying tires seems easy, but there are too many choices! 33's vs 35's, muds vs ATs, tall skinnies or extra wides....

I went with tall skinny muds (read: 255/85/16 BFG Muds.)

I also took the opportunity to update my very tired rims. There was very little clear coat left on my rims and a lot of oxidation

So I bought some Airplane Cleaner from Autozone. I read in another rim painting thread how well it strips clear coat. The stuff did not let me down. Then I attacked the rims with 120 grit sandpaper, and then 320. I sanded the rims by hand which was tedious.

I used Dupli-Color High Performance Wheel Coating from Autozone (Pep Boys had it too.) The color is WP102 Graphite. I then used Dupli-Color Clear Wheel Color. My method was following the directions. Pretty easy.


So here are some pics.

Before:

During:

After:

 

[Ruadhrigh]

Here are some pics of the tires:

 

[96r50]

Very nice! That colour is great. Did you do the backside of the rims too?

 

[cruisertom911]

I've been thinking of painting for a bit of time but could'nt decide on a color.....you found it. Well done.

 

[kup99]

Those look awesome!! Well Done!!

 

[cc93cruiser]

Wow! That looks awesome... How many coats of paint and clear did you spray on wheels? How many total rattle cans did you end up using on all wheels?

 

[maybe_a_80...]

nice!

How 'bout another shot of the whole truck from the side with both front and back new wheels?

would be a good visual for those of use thinking of mods down then road...

 

[chitown40]

Rory -- sweet rims and tires! Rig is looking great!

 

[Ruadhrigh]

Thanks guys!

Wow! That looks awesome... How many coats of paint and clear did you spray on wheels? How many total rattle cans did you end up using on all wheels?

I followed the can instructions: two lights and a heavy. I ended up using two cans because of my no spray can skills.

nice!
How 'bout another shot of the whole truck from the side with both front and back new wheels?

I'll get the pic when the other tires get here
Somehow they all shipped at the same time, but the last three must have taken the scenic route. They are due today according to Fed-Ex.

Rory -- sweet rims and tires! Rig is looking great!

Thanks Rob. I love the new ride height! Got anything else you want to trade

 

[reffug]

nice job on the rims...............

tires, nice choice just a little to skinny for my taste.

 

[Box Rocket]

Good work. I tried that same color on the stock wheels for my Evo. The curved spokes of the 80 wheel enhances the color better than it did on the straight spokes on my Evo wheels.

The Duplicolor wheel paint is really pretty good. It really comes down to the prep work.

 

[maybe_a_80...]

I'll get the pic when the other tires get here
Somehow they all shipped at the same time, but the last three must have taken the scenic route. They are due today according to Fed-Ex.

...sounds good! I had that happen to me once, it's a killjoy for sure. It was kinda annoying to have only half the tires I ordered...but then again the distributor took care of it and I had the second half of my order four days later.

Do you think it's possible to prep and paint all four wheels between a Saturday afternoon and Monday morning?

I think the (darkish) red FZJ80 would look sick with dark wheels - and it looks like this color would compliment the stock front bumper VERY nicely.

 

[Ruadhrigh]

Do you think it's possible to prep and paint all four wheels between a Saturday afternoon and Monday morning?

The paint requires seven days to cure. I was in no rush and let them have their seven days.



I went with this size tire mostly to experiment, but also because I removed the flares. I figured that having less tire outside of the wheel well I should have less mud spray.

 

[Atticus]

Me likey.

 

[IB14A69]

that is faulking bitchin, i love that color you piced. almost looks 40th anniversity colors

 

[Ruadhrigh]

Another two tires arrived today. Apparently the fifth tire was on back order, and I should receive it this Friday.

After putting the new tires on I took the truck for a test drive. The test drive had a couple of "firsts."
First drive on the new tires
First time on 33's for over month
and first time on 33's w/ out the front driveshaft

I puttzed around the neighborhood. Not much felt different, maybe a little quicker after a stop. And the hum.

Then came the freeway. No one was in front of me at the light, so when it changed I gunned it. And gawd damn! My truck has always been peppy, and especially after the HG rebuild. But this was ridiculous, I entered the freeway speeding! As to be expected the tires hummed. It wasn't too hard to drown it out with the stereo though.

First impression of 20 minutes worth of driving is "daddy likes" . Being back on 33's is nice. I can push the 35's no problem but I don't even notice the 33's now. Acceleration was great, and the handling was good too. It didn't take much weight to balance the tires.

Also the paint has a slight metal flake. Kinda hard to capture on film though.
enough babbling, heres the photo evidence:

 

[Ruadhrigh]

 

[96r50]

Did you have any trouble with the paint getting scratched/scuffed when the tires were put on?

 

[Ruadhrigh]

here are some pics to illustrate the difference of a 315/75/16 and the 255/85/16

 

[maybe_a_80...]

awesome. thanks for the great pics!

planning on 255/85s for mine sometime soon and seeing good quality pics of someone else's is great.