The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline rust convertor on wheels?

So I'm getting ready to clean and paint the wheels on my 53 one ton. These are the three piece rims, inner, outer, and locking ring. They are pretty ugly right now, even though four of them are mounted on the truck with good tires and holding air.

The question is, when I clean them up prior to painting, is it acceptable to use rust converter on them? I've seen comments that the rust converter weakens the steel, which I wouldn't want on the wheels. But they will need something, and there is no sandblaster in my area, so that's out.

Opinions? Suggestions? Experiences? Let me know!

Tim

Guess it’s really depends on what “finished look” your after ?

Find a blaster would be the best choice. You may have more trouble finding someone to service the multi piece wheels.

I don't think that's going to be an issue. There's a bunch of steel there, and any rust converter isn't going to go very deep into the steel (unless it's hydrochloric acid and you leave it on too long). Probably no more of a concern than sandblasting taking off a few thousandths of an inch.

Sandblasting is recommended. But first, find a company that services commercial truck tires. Have them dismount the tires and inspect them. If the internal rust is too bad you will be looking for replacements. Heavy rust damage is what makes these wheels dangerous.

The internal rust is minimal, just light surface stuff. The biggest problem is getting the tires and inner tubes. 700-17's are not available at my local tire store, even though they put them on a few years back. And I have mounted and dismounted these tires many times myself, pretty easy to do, although a lot of grunting to get the locking ring out and in. I generally pump them up to about 10 pounds of pressure, check that everything has seated correctly, Take them down to 0 pressure, then up to 20 pounds, check again, then down to 0 and up to 30 pounds. If everything looks good then I put them up to normal pressure, which is 55 pounds according to the specs book, although I run a little less than that on the front. And by the way I have a coule of chains wrapped around the tire and through the center hole while I'm doing all this.

Tim

Well, I got my new tire delivered today, and it's mounted on the wheel I painted. Looks good, and I had no problem. Put it up to 40 pounds, I'll check later to make sure it's still holding. Glad to have it done, and glad to have a spare tire. Makes me feel a bit more confident going for a drive.

Tim