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Author Topic: PVD wheels?  (Read 9274 times)

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Offline Kitzy

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PVD wheels?
« on: July 28, 2013, 02:47:07 PM »
So in my exhausting search for wheels I've come across the ATX AX191 Shackle.  I'm very limited due to what I want.  Anyhow, ATX seems to use Bright PVD as opposed to chrome.  Anyone have any knowledge of this?  https://detroitwheelandtire.com/pvd/  That link gives an idea of what it is but I'm looking at real world experience and not what manufacturers say it is supposed to be.  If I go this route, any ideas on care and maintenance?  Treat it as chrome?  As powder coat? 
If you always do what you\'ve always done, you\'ll always get what you\'ve always got.

Offline Kitzy

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2014, 10:34:27 PM »
So no takers on this when I posted it.  Anyone have any advice yet.  The wheels I ended up going with are PVD.  Basically the final coating is powder coating.  I usually use soap and water and sometimes an APC.  Any chemicals I should avoid? I'm thinking anything like Megs Wheel Brightener is a no-no.
If you always do what you\'ve always done, you\'ll always get what you\'ve always got.

Offline Too Stroked

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2014, 07:55:35 AM »
Mike,

Well, that web site doesn't say crap about what PVD is, how it's done or how to take care of it. So I'll take a crack at it.

PVD stands for Physical Vapor Deposition. We used a variant of that process for years at Kodak to deposit the little square you centered your subject(s) with through the view finder on a camera. It involved arranging the parts in masks and racks that went into a vacuum chamber. These racks would rotate during the process. One then drew down a vacuum and vaporized metal which was then deposited on the substrates. (That's a gloriously over-simplified description BTW.) So it's not exactly like powder coating which is done without the need for vacuum. And Powder Coating requires an oven bake to melt / flow / fuse the powder into a hard coating.

So how should you take care of a wheel with this type of coating? (And I'm guessing here.) Just as you said, don't use anything aggressive on it. Never apply any chemical to a hot wheel. I'm also going to guess that the coating doesn't have a ton of corrosion resistance in and by itself - so stay away from salt. I'd also surmise that one would use a wax / sealer as opposed to a metal polish on them, but I could be wrong.

Hope that helps.

Offline Kitzy

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2014, 08:37:06 AM »
Everything I've read has called it a powder coating.  Here is another company.  http://americanpvdcoatings.com/pvd-chrome/  my understand is that it holds up far superior to chrome in the elements.  Time will tell on that.  They have spent the better part of the month lathered in road salt since I put them on in February.  They seem to clean up fairly nice just from the magic wand at the car wash.  I haven't used any type of mitt on them yet to properly wash them.  I probably wont use brushes.  Maybe I'm just paranoid.  I'm just concerned about the stubborn build up that is inevitable that sometimes requires a more aggressive approach to clean.
If you always do what you\'ve always done, you\'ll always get what you\'ve always got.

Offline Kitzy

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2014, 09:53:52 AM »
OK a few things.  I emailed the manufacturer.  They were completely useless.  I asked about the manufacturing process and recommended care and maintenance (already knew their answer on this one.). They said its similar to powder coating and that it is "the high class quality version of chrome."  Haha OK.  They said use nothing abrasive.  Basically soap and water only.  That said, these things clean up surprisingly well with very little effort.  The self serve car wash does a great job with just the high pressure soap and rinse.  Though it leaves them spotty.  I finally got a chance to wash the truck, clay and optiseal it.  The wheels cleaned up nothing short of amazing.  They definitely need to be dried because they spot easily but with just soap (Optimum Car Wash in this case) and water and a wash mitt all of the brake dust and crap came right off.  The down side is they seem to mar pretty easily.  So I need to be careful but I also think a light polish will fix them up quick too.



Tapatalkin...

If you always do what you\'ve always done, you\'ll always get what you\'ve always got.

Offline Too Stroked

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #5 on: April 20, 2014, 11:46:07 AM »
Looks good Mike! Pictures of the whole truck?  :bitch:

Offline Blown F-150

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #6 on: April 20, 2014, 06:25:37 PM »
What, just one pic???
2014 F-150 FX4 Blue Flame
2021 Explorer ST Atlas Blue

Offline Kitzy

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #7 on: April 20, 2014, 07:11:36 PM »
I can't always see all of the emoticons on tapatalk.  So I'm not sure what toms is supposed to be.  All i wee is the code so I do believe he just called me a female dog. ???  Haha.

One pic because all I was referring to here was the wheels.  I guess I should ha e kept my mouth shut on everything else.  Haha. In all honesty, I took other pictures but I didn't like them.  The sun went  behind some buildings and all i had was shade and a small area I could barely photograph the truck.  I did try to take another couple today while I was at my girlfriends family's house but the truck had been driven a little bit and got a little dirty.









Tapatalkin...
If you always do what you\'ve always done, you\'ll always get what you\'ve always got.

Offline Kitzy

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #8 on: April 20, 2014, 07:18:13 PM »
Tapatalk really degrades the quality of pictures.  Disappointing. 

I did find some stuff out.  I used PBs Bold and Bright tire spray.  Just letting it dry it was very shiny.  I attempted to wipe them down hours later and they looked good.  Very very deep black.  Still not as matte as I usually like but it grew on me.  I actually just wiped them down again because it slung a little.  I had to touch up the fenders. 

After wiping the tires down the first time with a foam block, I was walking around the truck and noticed the rear bumper pad looked awful.  It was spotted from over spray of I think spray and wipe.  Everything was put away except for that block so I just wiped it down with the block that had bold and bright soaked in.  It was just damp but cleaned the bumper pad up beautiful and if was the best it ever looked.  I did the tonneau this morning with it.

Tapatalkin...
« Last Edit: April 20, 2014, 07:52:55 PM by Kitzy »
If you always do what you\'ve always done, you\'ll always get what you\'ve always got.

Offline Too Stroked

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #9 on: April 20, 2014, 07:47:39 PM »
The truck looks really nice Mike. The wheels & tires really wake it up. Thanks for posting pics!

Offline Blown F-150

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PVD wheels?
« Reply #10 on: April 20, 2014, 08:37:30 PM »
Sweet, I can see the pics logged into Tapatalk. The truck looks really nice Mike!
2014 F-150 FX4 Blue Flame
2021 Explorer ST Atlas Blue

Offline Kitzy

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #11 on: April 22, 2014, 07:06:28 PM »
Thanks guys.  Holy crap do my tires spray water all over the place and down the side of my truck when it rains. 

Tapatalkin...

If you always do what you\'ve always done, you\'ll always get what you\'ve always got.

Offline hwm3

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #12 on: April 22, 2014, 07:18:48 PM »
Thanks guys.  Holy crap do my tires spray water all over the place and down the side of my truck when it rains. 

Tapatalkin...

You think yours are bad?

Offline Kitzy

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #13 on: April 22, 2014, 07:25:04 PM »
I know they are.  My girlfriend was following me somewhere today and when we got there the first thing we both said to each other was about how bad my tires spray. 

I'm guessing yours do as well?

Tapatalkin...

If you always do what you\'ve always done, you\'ll always get what you\'ve always got.

Offline hwm3

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Re: PVD wheels?
« Reply #14 on: April 22, 2014, 07:48:42 PM »
I know they are.  My girlfriend was following me somewhere today and when we got there the first thing we both said to each other was about how bad my tires spray. 

I'm guessing yours do as well?

Tapatalkin...

Yep. Any water on the roads covers both sides of the truck. I'm not sure I'm keeping these wheels. They stick out far enough to spray the sides of the truck pretty badly, but not far enough to look right with a fender flare.

 


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