2006 Yaris Wheels - paint or powder coat?

[keeptoyotarolling]

Fed up with the rusty steel rims on my 2006 1.0 Yaris I have looked at options including buying new rims (found some c£47 each from company called Oponeo https://www.oponeo.co.uk/steel-wheels-finder), and also perhaps buying second hand and then getting them blasted back to bare metal and then powder coated. 

Anyone had any experience of either Oponeo wheels or buying used and powder coating?

The question you might ask is - why bother? The car is a little teenage character and is only let down by seeing rusty steel through the (still smart) plastic trims. Want to do a proper job, rather than just rub down and paint with a rattle-can.

Suggestions please..

[furtula]

Tell us your budget, do you have power tools, the time, etc?

If you have power tools, you can just sand it down and do it yourself, paying someone to do half the work, might as well pay them to do all the work.

[flash22]

Once the tires are removed you're looking at £15-30 a rim to get them bead blasted and powder coated depending on your area

I know a few people who have used https://www.mytyres.co.uk/Steel-Rims.html

 

[Stivino]

Alloy wheel powder coating in this area starts at £48/wheel.

[keeptoyotarolling]

Thanks furtula and flash22 - appreciate you taking the time to post. I have only just joined the forum.

 

@furtula - I have few tools (and little skill!) but just want to do it properly - also not break the bank, so won’t be from the dealer.. 😀

@flash22 - thanks for the numbers and link, very useful.

will keep you updated..

 

 

[furtula]

Truth is, steel rims will always be like that, i bought 2 pairs that looked like new, 2nd season in, rust is already showing on the outside.

I would not waste money on it and try to do it myself, clean with wire wheel, remove paint with paint stripper, use something to remove the rust, if any, and treat it against coming back.

After that should be just primer + paint.

You can get them blaster, but if there are any imprefections caused by rust, blasting wont do anything, neither will powder coating it, you could be just better off buying a used pair in a good condition.

I even tried applying some oil/grease to mine when i got them, as they were pretty nice, to try to make them a bit more rust resistant, but still they only survived until end of 2nd season.

[Silver Yaris]

I was looking for a set of steel wheels to put my winters on to as I didn't want to have to pay to swap the tyres in December & then again in March every year on to my OEM alloys. 

I kept my eyes peeled on Facebook market place, eBay, etc and managed to pick up 4 OEM Mk2 Yaris alloys for £100 that were almost perfect condition. 

Don't bother with steels as you can get 2nd hand alloys for cheaper which also look better than steels & won't rust like steel. 

[Stivino]

This company is near me, they did my callipers and my daughter’s alloys.  I know someone who works there, I can ask him what they do with steel wheels. I think they charge £25 for steel rims.

https://www.pentlandpowdercoating.co.uk/product-services/alloy-wheel-refurbishment/

[Stevie J]

Beware of swapping steelies for alloys, as your insurance company would likely need to be informed, as any deviation from the original spec for the model, such as swapping steelies for alloys would be classed as a modification, and some insurers will refuse to insure you if they find out your car has been modified. I wanted to put alloys on my own 2006 Yaris, as it also has rusty steelies showing through the wheel trims, but decided against it as I could have been made to pay higher insurance premiums. Refurbing the original steelies would be the better way to go, unless of course your insurer does not mind you modifying your car, but its wise to ask them before doing any wheel swapping.

[stantheman1]

If the car has had regular visits to the local car wash centre then I'm not surprised that they've started to rust, they use very potent cleaners on the wheels in order to blast away the brake dust with pressurised water, they don't use a sponge of mitt on the wheels that's reserved for the bodywork and glass only. So imagine them squirting the wheel cleaner onto the plastic trims and which some will find its way onto the wheels via the gaps in the trims and if not rinsed off after a short time will stain or damage the surface.

I would (and have in the past) repaint the wheels using this stuff:(Very high gloss indeed)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MOTIP-HIGH-GLOSS-BLACK-SPRAY-PAINT-500ml/223482138192?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I used this paint on these steelies 

[keeptoyotarolling]

Now then - some wheel envy going on here! They look fab. Thanks for the link.

Thanks to everyone for all the comments, photos and ideas - I have checked with the insurer and sadly the alloy wheel option is a no-go, since that was looking good as an easy fix!

There are no short cuts, so will do the job properly..

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi.

If you did have any issues with insurance for a change of wheels then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

[Notoyboy]

In considering powder coating, you'll need to factor in the cost of having the tyres removed, and then refitted afterwards.

[Hal Mercier]

On 11/4/2019 at 8:52 PM, keeptoyotarolling said:

Now then - some wheel envy going on here! They look fab. Thanks for the link.

Thanks to everyone for all the comments, photos and ideas - I have checked with the insurer and sadly the alloy wheel option is a no-go, since that was looking good as an easy fix!

There are no short cuts, so will do the job properly..

Change your insurer, or threaten to go somewhere more sensible.

Ask them how fitting factory alloy wheels which were offered as an original option can justifiably be a problem. There's far too much brainless petty bureaucracy in some insurance offices, and I know from experience that a lot of the people in these offices don't even bother to familiarise themselves with the detail of the policies. This is OFTEN the case.

Ask them to show you the text in the LEAD POLICY (often written by the legal dept of the Norwich Union) defining 'modifications' as I am sure it means wild-***** stuff like fitting a turbo on a normally aspirated car. NOT a factory option. A Norwich Union drafted lead policy will then be marketed by many other names such as Woolwich, Royal Insurance and others, and the frontline grunts know sweet FA about what they are selling you.

Remember, it gives them a feeling of importance to say "No!"

The idea of this clause  is obviously to avoid people fitting dangerous modifications, as you'd expect, perfectly reasonable too....you might ask them for the text on this as applied to factory option alloy wheels, as I'm sure Toyota's lawyers will be fascinated.

Are they really suggesting major manufacturers are offering their customers dangerous OE options? Seriously?

I can't see why this would be even considered a modification as it's within factory spec. You are, you should point out, merely retroactively exercising your right to select a contemporary factory option .

Good luck, it is like dealing with idiots...

[FROSTYBALLS]

Think it is more to do with a variation from the standard spec and costs, rather than preventing dangerous mods.

Normally if a car's spec includes steel wheels, if a future insurance repair is needed, the insurer will put the vehicle back to the original spec - ie. if a wheel or wheels need replacing, it would be steel wheels. Doesn't matter whether alloys are an OE option, or available on other specs.

There was an instance on these forums a while ago when winter tyres were becoming popular in the UK, where an insurer refused cover for winter tyres on different sized wheels because it was a change from the standard spec.

[flash22]

If they are factory wheels they will still insure you. Just say you don't want them covered but want to declare them

Not had an issue with my underwriter and cars with this done, I even had my 16" Irmscher alloys covered FOC as they can be ordered via a main dealer as an option

[Sally190]

I have just bought a Yaris space-saver wheel , for my iQ.

Now I want four nuts. I assume that the Yaris wheel-stud threads are similar to iQ.

Where could I buy them ? Presumably the Toyota dealer would sell a set ?  I don’t want a locking nut, necessarily.

[bathtub tom]

If you're prepared to use a Yaris space-saver, then why not use your existing nuts?

 

[stantheman1]

On 11/27/2019 at 10:38 PM, bathtub tom said:

If you're prepared to use a Yaris space-saver, then why not use your existing nuts?

 

That's an interesting point, ordinarily I would have said you need tapered wheel nuts for the steelies as alloy's use the 'flat' type but he's wanting to be able to use a Yaris space saver wheel so in theory he'll be able to use the existing nuts as Toyota don't supply anything special for the cars that have alloys as standard with space saver wheels, unless of course the space saver wheel is of a different design for cars fitted with alloys as standard!

[Sally190]

2 hours ago, stantheman1 said:

That's an interesting point, ordinarily I would have said you need tapered wheel nuts for the steelies as alloy's use the 'flat' type but he's wanting to be able to use a Yaris space saver wheel so in theory he'll be able to use the existing nuts as Toyota don't supply anything special for the cars that have alloys as standard with space saver wheels, unless of course the space saver wheel is of a different design for cars fitted with alloys as standard!

Thank you for that information.

As yet, I have been unable to undo one of the nuts holding on the alloy wheels, by using the spanner in the toolkit ; but am hoping to ask a much stronger, younger, larger  friend , tomorrow, to try. If that fails , I shall pop over to my local Toyota dealer - or better still a tyre seller.

I need to be able to see the thread to buy a set of four tapered nuts. Perhaps the main dealer will sell me an expensive set, perhaps not.

Yes,  the steel wheel that I have bought has tapered holes, like all steel wheels that I have known in the past.

So where do I put my spare wheel, in an iQ ?

I  removed the tiny rear luggage box at the back and the large expanded polystyrene tray, containing jack , etc, below.

Then wrap a dust sheet around the wheel and tyre to stop it moving about ;ensure the pressure is at 60 psi, and slide it down right at the back. take jack, and other tools out of the polystyrene and wrap in bubble-wrap,. They tuck nicely either side of the wheel.

Store the rear luggage box and black polystyrene tray , in my garage. The spare wheel hardly protrudes above the luggage-space floor when the rear seats folded. I put an extra pound , in the rear tyres, and went out to check the handling -all was OK.

A few simulated emergency stops ensured that the CG of the wheel was very low to ensure that I would not have the wheel flying forward. I will probably rope  or strap the wheel to the two steel rear seat anchor brackets at the back, as an added precaution.

So now I satisfy my breakdown cover, by having a space-saver wheel and shouldn’t need to pay the main dealer a large sum , for tyre gunge and inflator,  every three years  ( if I keep the care that long )..

When weather is a little warmer I shall see if I can remove the rear seats ; because I only use the car as a two-seater.