Today having any vehicle is an essential asset. It makes our mobility very easy to fulfill our daily activities. Your vehicle whatever it may be needs to look great, and shiny, with spotless trim and a clean interior because now in the modern age it has become a general concept that your vehicle is the reflection of your personality.
People usually take the wheel, rim, and tire in one meaning but this is not their proper identification.
What is Rim?
Rim is actually the outer body of a wheel that holds the tire. It bears a lot of pressure on it. After much use, it changes into a dull fade and worn look. So whatever vehicles you have whether it would be car vehicles or truck vehicles demand proper maintenance throughout their whole life span. This proper care obviously increases your vehicle value.
The most frequent question that people ask is How much does it cost to paint rims?
So its answer depends on many factors but getting a general idea we may say its cost is between $150 to $175 per rim to give a complete paint.
Affecting Factors on the cost of Rims paints.
As above mentioned there are many factors that depend on the final cost of alloy wheel painting these are.
1- What is the area of the rim to paint?
If you are going to retouch the wheel that will be less expensive than whole wheel painting.
2- It is obvious the cost of painting will depend on the number of wheels. One wheel costs less than two.
3- The cost of painting the rims depends on the current condition of rims. How much it is used, damaged, scratched, and dirty. Its cost will be more when there is no alternative except replacement.
The cost of alloy wheel painting will be different on color and finishing touches.
If you are going to replace your rim it will be more expensive. As a substitute, you can give a nicer and new look to your old rims in two ways at an affordable cost.
The one to give paint to your rims is by professionals with $100_200 per wheel and the other one is Diy/home-based rim painting with $50_100.
The cost in both cases depends on Rim size, paint quality, paint techniques, etc
What is the cost of painting Rims? DIY Route
Well, you can paint your rim yourself if you have the tools, skill, and knowledge about this process. It is a cheaper option for each and everything than hiring a professional. In this case, you will not pay the cost of Labor and you will also save the extra cost of a premium service.
This project is time-consuming based and you give 3 to 4 hours of your time to give good paint on your rims. If you are going to paint your rims entirely by yourself then your whole spending would be $30 to $100. And the price also depends on your amount of paint, quality, the surface of the area, etc.
What is the cost of painting Rims? The professional service route.
This is for those people who don’t spend their energy and time to save money and sometimes can’t do a good paint job by themselves because they are not skilled so they adopt this route and hire professional services. Professionals provide three levels of service. Each level exceeds the cost of painting Rims.
One level is basic service in which Labor takes care of the visible area.
The second level of service is standard service which deals with removing any rust before painting the rims. Its cost relies on quality work.
The third one is showroom Quality Service. It works with the bodywork of rims as dents, rust and at last the application of quality paint in numerous coats.
This is the double amount of DIY Route and you have to spend up to $ 100 to $200.
This includes the cost of paint and Labor costs too but professionals paint a set of rims within a couple of hours.
How to reduce the cost?
Your cost for painting the rims is calculated by the cost of paint and Labor. If you have knowledge of both costs then you can get clues about where to reduce or decrease the money.
Cost for paints
There are many types of paints for rims. Black or glossy black is in trend nowadays but your selection of paint affects so much on cost you are going to pay on your rims. Let’s discuss different paints with different costs one by one.
Plasti Dip Paint
Plasti dip is an air-dry and durable coating paint that protects your rims from damage. It can apply smoothly and remove easily. That’s why it has become the most popular form of paint by vehicle owners for automotive body and rim coating when it comes to painting Rims.
The cost of Plasti Dip for rims varies according to the wheel’s diameter and the number of coatings applied. besides its cost depends on the brand and quality of paint. When you paint your rims yourself then you need 4 cans of 22oz bottles of paint for 4 wheel coating projects and the retail cost of each can would be $20 to $25. Your average cost for plastic Dip Paint is around $80 to $100. The durability of Plasti Dip Paint on rims can last more than 2 years but on wheels, it can last only 1 year because of the high friction of the road.
Special spray paint for Rims
If you aren’t going to give Plasti dip paint to your rims then you have a few special spray paint options which are specially designed for rim painting needs.
One renowned paint of theirs is VHT Gloss black wheel paint. That gives black color to your wheel that glimmers.
Krylon Wheel paint is another good color that can be sprayed on metal, wood, and plastic. It gives a smooth and shiny look and restores the wheel’s appearance. it also works against brake dust.
Dupli Color wheel paint spray is used for dressing up worn-out wheels with its advanced formula.
These are all cheaper than Plasti dip paints. You can need 4 to 5 cans to paint your 4 rims. The cost of each can is about $15 and to get the total cost you can multiply 1 can cost with 4 rims. It would be around $60 to $70.
Quality wise they all come after Plasti dip paint but rim paints don’t demand high durability since they don’t come in contact with the surface of the road.
Cost of Truck Bed Liner
There is another stronger form of paint with a textured finish. It is actually a scratch-proof black coat. You can use it if you are not satisfied with the other two options. As it tells from its name it is used in truck vehicles and it saves the bed of trucks from any impact and damage. it is more affordable than Plasti dip. It is one 32-ounce can is less than Plasti dip counterparts. Its price is almost $30 per can . 2 cans are sufficient for your 4 wheels and your total cost would be $60 around. These two cans will paint 35 square feet. Its color fades after a year due to weather and heavy use.
If you want to give a darker or black color spray to your truck then you can use its aromatic version.
For color variety and metallic finishes, you can take its aliphatic version. But the cost of Truck bed-liner is less than the Plasti dip.
Powder coating
Powder coating is used to clean metal surfaces and helps to improve your wheel’s apparent look at low cost instead of purchasing a new wheel.
Powder coating is one of the most popular proven paint applications because powder-coated wheels give better coverage than liquid paints and it saves your money in the long run.
In This process, a dry powder coating is given on the surface of rims That is applied electrostatically and after that, it is curved with heat.
If you are going to paint your rims by yourself then their price will go around about $150 to $250 because you don’t have the equipment and have to buy them .it would be a better and safe option for you to hire a professional. As per gallon, its cost will be$20 but with it, you need to add a paint gun and its cost would be more than $100.
Labor Cost
Painting your rims For the DIY method will cost you valuable time. The time depends on your experience and the condition of the alloy wheel how extensive the damage is? You consumed your 4 hours completing paintwork on a set of rims.
Whereas the professional does the same job in a couple of hours. You can hire a professional hourly at an Auto shop to consider the cost of labor would be as much as the cost of paint or more. But in different cities and countries, the hourly rate goes up and down. You have to pay a premium price in a highly urbanized city whereas in a lower it goes down.
Total sqft Area in Rims
When you are going to buy paint by adopting either DIY Route or the Professional route, the knowledge about your rims sqft will come down your cost. Let me clear it more if you have a 16-inch tire to paint, and its sqft Area is 1.4 to Cover on it. Then you multiply it by the total number of tires to paint. In this way, you got your total area with square feet.
Which way is best to paint rims with less cost?
There are various ways with which you can reduce/ come down the cost of painting your wheel’s rims
No 1: The first tip is to do it yourself means adopting the DIY method if you can do this work job. For its guidance, you can use numerous sources available on internet videos.
No 2: Next tip to save money is you can buy all the needed supplies easily even though you are taking professional service. With the use of these supplies, You can give sparkling look to your rim in no Time.
No 3: Determine the number of coats needed to apply. Once the paint is done, see its color and get an idea of whether the wheels need another coat or not.
No 4: Go for affordable and cheap Paint such as truck bed liner or plastic Dip paint. They are more durable and have long-lasting results.
Again if you want to give the same color paint. so in this case, don’t take Off the previous color paint entirely. In this way, you will use less amount of paint cost.
What is the difference in quality wise between the two Route paint?
well, In DIY Route, you spend less cost and get less durability of paint with a less satisfactory finish. But people still adopt DIY Route despite these flaws.
On the other hand, the professionals give good quality paint with long-lasting durability and a perfect finish. This is because Of advanced techniques and optimum condition of paint which is impossible to give in your home garage.
Conclusion
In the end, we may say that rims are integral parts of wheels and serve more than other parts. So keeping it in maintenance is not now arduous task if you are a rims enthusiast.
DIY Route is going to help you, in the long run, to paint your rims with an affordable cost comparatively Professional route.