![]() ![]() “This is a hot topic for fleets,” he notes. There are gauges for measuring coating thickness, and Fogal recommends fleets audit their suppliers from time to time. It’s just another part of the process than can add cost. If the DOT stamping is not clearly visible, scrap the wheel.ĭepending on the coating, curing can produce better results than air drying. After the blast cleaning, defects will be visible. “Excessive coating thickness can lead to a loss of clamping force and eventually loose nuts and possibly a wheel loss.”Ī typical wheel prior to blast-cleaning. “The coating cannot be any more than 3 - 3.5 mils thick, especially on the mounting surfaces and between the bolt holes,” he warns. Pricing can vary with the type of coating used and the quality.Īpplication of the final coating is critical, Redding says. Some processes apply a primer coat, while others paint directly or use an electro-static coating. The bare metal should be promptly recoated to minimize contact with moisture. With the wheel stripped clean of previous coating material and rust, it should be handled with gloves, not bare hands, to prevent oils from contaminating the surface. “If you go too far you can weaken the wheel.” “When you take off layers of corrosion, you’re taking some base metal away from the wheel,” he says. He advises caution when working with deeply pitted wheels. Mark Fonte, marketing and sales manager for OE Truck Wheels at Maxion Wheel, says corrosion pitting is metal from the wheel that has been eaten away. Once the old coating and all the corrosion has been removed, the wheel is inspected once again for damage that may have been obscured by the paint. Pitting deeper than 3 to 3.5 mils could result in excessive coating thickness on critical areas of the wheel. Swabbing the wheel with acetone or methyl-ethyl-ketone will reveal if the paint was properly cured.Īll the previous coating has to be removed, and the surface of the wheel should be rendered reasonably smooth and free of shot pitting. Previously powder-coated or e-coated wheels with very durable finishes can take longer. IMI’s 20/20 blaster can strip a wheel to the bare metal in about three minutes in most cases with coating thicknesses up to 15 mils. Use too fine a media, and the process takes longer.” ![]() “You can short-cut the process by using larger, more aggressive media, but you run the risk of pitting the wheel or possibly peening thin cracks closed. “The media should be chosen for coating removal and paint preparation,” he says. IMI President and CEO Robert Fogal says the size and type of media makes a difference. The previous coating is usually removed inside a blasting cabinet, where the wheel is blast cleaned using media such as steel shot, sand or glass beads of varying sizes. ![]() If the DOT stamp and/or manufacturer’s marks are illegible, or the wheel is damaged it should be scrapped. I believe refinishing has cut our wheel consumption by about 70%,” he says.Īfter dismounting the tire, the wheel should be cleaned and degreased, and then inspected for obvious defects such as cracks or distortions. “That wheel would look pretty sad over that length of time in service without refinishing, and it’s much less expensive for us to refinish them rather than replace them. He says he can do a wheel for about $23, and a wheel could be refinished three to five times over its service life.Īn operator visually inspects a wheel prior to the blast cleaning process. He has his own wheel refinishing installation at the terminal. Chris Folweiler, the tire shop foreman at Wilson Trucking of Fisherville, Va., looks after the tires and wheels on a fleet of 900 trucks and 1,900 trailers.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |