Wicked Wheels - Mobile Wheel Refurbishment

[jaymanek]

Hi All,

There has been some discussion recently on mobile wheel refurbs so thought i would post a pic of some that i have had done this morning.
I am an agent for pristine, but for Mercland i use Wicked Wheels as they can do a full refurb on site within a few hours rather than having to have the car off road for a few days.

I would say the finish is about 90% as good as pristine wheels and certainly above average...

 

[High-Lo]

Looks like a decent job Jay. How much do they charge per wheel?

I like those Mekabs - I sold my W202 with those fitted. Looked good too although they would have benefitted from a refurb.

If they were the 17" ones I would have kept them as I think they suit W210's perfectly.

 

[gurpz]

As High Lo said thats a great job how much they charge though i may also be interested for another car ?

 

[jaymanek]

Well i pay trade prices but i think the private price is around £65 +vat per wheel for the full service including balancing etc...
If you can get the car to my site then you could get it done at what i pay which is a few quid less per wheel..

The results are good and the mobile service saves a lot of messing!

 

[chrisbala]

Is that the standard price for wheel refurbishment because I unfortunatley kerbed my left front wheel the other day and its annoying the hell out of me, its just the edge of the rim which is grazed - any comments?

 

[Wezzel]

Do they do the insides too?

I only paid £70 per wheel for my Pristine ones on an exchange basis (so the car wasn't off the road either).

 

[jaymanek]

Hi Chris,

You are too far from me but i have some chaps who specialise in interior repairs etc.. I have used them to remove kerb marks before and they do a good job... All they do is mask off the edge and repair it locally... i think they charged me around £30 per wheel.

There is a guy around London who does this, i have no experience of him but his number is 07706892176... i dont even have his name!

Wezzel - no they dont do the whole of the inside unless you ask, not sure how much he would add if anything..

The exchange program is good, but i have had problems with pristine in the past... on one occasion they turned round and said that one of the wheels i sent back was badly out of shape... I know it wasnt when it left me... i ended up bearing the cost of one wheel as the customer wasnt prepared to pay either... When i asked them to send the wheel back they wanted to charge another £25 for delivery!

 

[Chris Murray]

I've recently taken more of an interest in refurbishing technologies and went to see our refurbisher yesterday!! Asked him lots of questions, came away and wrote this:
Some used wheels that we buy could benefit from being refinished. We have tried most of the wheel refurbishing companies in the UK and have selected one that offers a standard of finish far above all the others. The attention to detail and incremental curing process binds all the layers of the surface coatings together to form a far tougher and durable finish than individual cooled coatings. Unlike some mass produced wheel finishes, coverage is over the entire wheel surface rather than just the exterior surfaces. Some wheels are originally finished with a "high sheem rim edge" where the outer edge is machined to bare metal and a clear lacquer applied. The finish on these wheels generally doesn\'t last very long and any small damage to the surface allows water to seep under the lacquer and create the "milky" effect. We always prefer to use a fully covered refinishing process that will stand the test of time
Stages of refinishing a wheel
1. Inspection. Kerbing damage, lacquer lifting, stone chips and balance weight marks spoil the look of a wheel
2. Stripping. The existing paint and lacquer finish is removed with either shot blasting or a hydrofluoric acid bath. If the wheel is cracked or deformed, it is discarded and we buy a new wheel to replace it.
3. Painting. Unlike standard paint finishes, the paint on a wheel must survive the rigours of tyre fitting, stonechips and road grime corrosion. It is for these reasons that a durable polyester powder coat paint is used and cured in a gas fired oven to give a tough finish that lasts. The powder is electrostatically applied to the wheel to give even and complete surface coverage. The powder reaches its glass point in an oven, but before it is fully cured, the silver cellulose or water based paint is applied. This is again part cured and the top clear lacquer applied. The wheel is then fully cured and the 3 layers fuse together in the oven.
5. The wheel is inspected at each stage to ensure a good even coverage to the finish and that there are no defects in the metal
6. The wheels are delivered back to us in sealed, cushioned packets ready to photograph and display for sale on our site, or for tyres to be fitted and despatched to our customer

 

[Chris Murray]

Powder gun apparatus and convection ovens are not yet portable or miniature enough to sqeeze into a Sprinter van, so all of these mobile wheel refurbishers are constrained by portable cold layer technology, which isn't really adequate for a wheel..
All these van type mobile services get most of their income from car dealers whose priority is to give a good appearance to the wheels in order to shift the cars from the forecourt.

 

[GrahamC230K]

And so the company with this superior work is???

 

[Wezzel]

Come on spill the beans.

Or is it a case of

"I know who the best refurbisher is - you don't. Nur, nurdy, nur nur!"

I might as well say I know an even better one and they've got a paint sprayer machine with a double-whippy-overhead-truscott-scrunge-valve but I'm not telling you who they are. So there!

 

[Chris Murray]

It's the Wicked Wheels franchise in Basingstoke. After a relocation from Guildford, they are getting up to speed with things so we have been waiting a few weeks for some of our wheels to be done...

As for the others, there are so many variables that affect the end result. The skill of the sprayer on that particular day, whether they strictly adhere to the temperatures required for certain processes, whether they powder onto hot or cold metal, whether they prepare the surface well enough etc..
When I give advice to people about choosing a refurbisher, I suggest somewhere local to them, and if they're not happy with the finish to tell them to do them again!!

I think the measure of success is not only the appearance of the final wheel but how well it resists corrosion and damage throughout its lifetime..

 

[pammy]

WW don't cover my area

 

[GrahamC230K]

WW don't cover my area

Don't be sad, I wouldn't use a one day or mobile service for a repair like that.

How about the Pristine wheel exchange service - will they do single wheels?

 

[pammy]

Don't be sad, I wouldn't use a one day or mobile service for a repair like that.

How about the Pristine wheel exchange service - will they do single wheels?

Not that I can tell from their site - but I'll give them a call and see. I am seriously looking at a replacement set

 

[C43AMG]

It's the Wicked Wheels franchise in Basingstoke. After a relocation from Guildford, they are getting up to speed with things so we have been waiting a few weeks for some of our wheels to be done...

As for the others, there are so many variables that affect the end result. The skill of the sprayer on that particular day, whether they strictly adhere to the temperatures required for certain processes, whether they powder onto hot or cold metal, whether they prepare the surface well enough etc..
When I give advice to people about choosing a refurbisher, I suggest somewhere local to them, and if they're not happy with the finish to tell them to do them again!!

I think the measure of success is not only the appearance of the final wheel but how well it resists corrosion and damage throughout its lifetime..

I have been using Keven at Wicked Wheels for years, ive just had a couple of my SClass wheels refurbished at the Guilford depot by his man James.

I have always been pleased with there work, although Statts didn't have a good experience with them, not good as i recommended Keven to him.

 

[Flash]

How about the Pristine wheel exchange service - will they do single wheels?

Exchange service only applies to a full set of four wheels AFAIK and they have to be identical like for like!

 

[pammy]

Exchange service only applies to a full set of four wheels AFAIK and they have to be identical like for like!

That's my understanding from the site.

 

[Rob77]

Exchange service only applies to a full set of four wheels AFAIK and they have to be identical like for like!

They won't do a set of 5?

 

[jaymanek]

yes they will do 5 why not?!