Painting rims with bed liner

I wanted to paint my rims and I head bed liner is almost un-scratchable. I've heard of people doing it with plasti-dip but I painted my grill with that at it doesn't seem like it would hold up on rims. Would bed liner be better?

Bed liner is a little more permanent but is the way to go if that is what you want. Here is a pic of the ones on an old golf I had. It looked pretty good in person. Plasti-dip looks ok when it is fresh but does not hold up.

That answers my question. What brand should I get?

Do a good job of applying a thin coat of bedliner otherwise you might find you have a problem reseating the bead (if you are removing the tire from the rim) or balancing the tires.....

What about balancing? How are the weights gonna stay on?

Not a fan.

*Un-sprung weight will increase.
*Bedliner is not as durable as one would think.

Prep has to be to the "Spotless" level. And that means every crook and cranny needs to be degreased, prepsolved, and sanded lightly before treatment.

May I ask why you want to do this?

I've re-done a couple of sets of wheels... and like WB9YZU, I wonder why you want to use bedliner? Also agree that - whatever finish you want - it's got to be 90% preparation, 10% execution. That means stripping the old coatings off right down to the bare metal, and after cleaning and sanding, use etch primer before any painting. You should remove all the weights anyway, and it's easier to re-do wheels if you take the tyres off.

Sudden thought: I assume we are talking about OEM steel wheels, not alloys of any kind?

The secret to having a durable finish is several layers of paint. Etch primer, primer, several colour coats (fine-sanding inbetween each) and finally a polyurethane clear coat (lacquer) for additional protection. If you want to avoid brake dust attacking the surface, then apply a resin polish while it's fresh and clean.

One option is to use Hammerite or similar special paint for metal - but bear in mind it needs special primer and doesn't work well with other paints.

Whatever coating you use, the clip-on lead balance weights tend to start corrosion. The only way to reduce this risk is to use stick-on ones (ideally on the inner side of the wheel).

It's a long a tedious job to do it right..... but if you do a lot of wheeling and off-road, why bother? Nothing will stop rocks scarring the wheels.