Wheel paint

[drakepeterdrake]

I have a 2005 LGT Wagon, stock wheels, with some curb rash. Is there a kit that has putty and the correct color paint that you would recommend? Thanks.

P

[Merc6]

I have a 2005 LGT Wagon, stock wheels, with some curb rash. Is there a kit that has putty and the correct color paint that you would recommend? Thanks.

P

 

How handy are you at this vs having a shop refinish/repair vs a new set of wheels? You got a pic of how bad they are?

 

Here is what I plan on doing since I don't feel like investing in the other 2 options with this car/build.

 

[drakepeterdrake]

Hi, here's a picture of the worst one. I, of course, blame my wife...

I'm reasonable handy, but could also look into getting the wheels done. I have found that they are somewhat flimsy wheels and do not hold up well to our terrible roads in NJ. I must have replace 3-4 of them by now.

[Holla]

Are you running oem sized tires? 215/45 isn't a whole lot of sidewall for bad roads and doesn't provide much buffer from curbing.

 

These wheels are pretty cheap on the used market. I'd try and look for a cleaner set and go with a slightly bigger tire.

[drakepeterdrake]

I looked at that video. Looks like a lot of work, with very nice results. I see the wheels need to be off the car with tires removed, which takes this to a whole other level. I've done some painting on the car with rattle cans, specifically the front air dam, and know about color sanding etc., but was hoping to do a 90% job leaving the wheels on the car, knowing that they are gonna get mangled again.

[drakepeterdrake]

I am using stock size tires. The car has always had the ride of a buckboard on our roads and I am constantly reminded that I should have bought an Outback. This has lessened now that my wife drives a Volvo. Where do you find used wheels? Ebay? If you put on bigger tires, won't that affect the handling and the speedometer? Thanks for your reply.

P

[Holla]

I'd look on the forum here or on Craigslist. You can put up a wtb post in the classifieds, we have quite a few members on the east coast. I see full sets going for 200-300 pretty frequently. These wheels aren't very desirable in the Subaru crowd.

 

At minimum I'd run a 225/45/17.

 

Remember, the Outback is very similar and uses a 225/55/17 tire. I doubt you can run that tall of a tire on a lgt but 225/50/17 might be an option, especially at stock height. Yes, your speedometer will be off, but you can calculate how off it is. It probably won't be enough to bother you. The type of tire will have more effect on handling.

 

Check out this fitment guide.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/faq-offsets-sizes-rims-and-tires-gt-xenonk-version-closed-4426.html

[Holla]

Also, a lot of people switch from outback to lgt suspension. I don't see any reason why you couldn't swap to outback suspension pretty easily.

[drakepeterdrake]

I looked on Ebay, and reconditioned wheels seem to be $125-150 each. I've heard bad things about some of the people who sell reconditioned wheels. Are there any suppliers you can recommend? The wheels are still available at Subaru for about $350 each, which would make me start to look at aftermarket forged wheels at that price. This is my daily driver; I'm just very anal about keeping it nice.

[Holla]

I'd really recommend finding a set from a forum member. There are lot of oe wheels floating around. People often don't bother posting them up because they're not worth much. You could also try a junk yard. There's also some 5x100 WRX rims that will fit this car. Just make sure they fit before you buy them

[drakepeterdrake]

I'd really recommend finding a set from a forum member. There are lot of oe wheels floating around. People often don't bother posting them up because they're not worth much. You could also try a junk yard. There's also some 5x100 WRX rims that will fit this car. Just make sure they fit before you buy them

 

Thanks very much for the info. I looked at the classifieds, and will keep an eye out for stock ones. I saw some nice aftermarket ones as well, but don't know if I'm ready to go down that rabbit hole - I try to keep the car totally stock. The 225 tire idea is intriguing, though. I have Continental Extreme Contact tires on the car now, which wear much better and cost a lot less than the original tires, which were, I think, Bridgestones (Firestones?) But they don't feel quite the same.

 

P

[drakepeterdrake]

PS: your car looks like mine. Here's a recent photo. The Volvo in the background has since gone to Volvo heaven, after meeting a guardrail at 45mph with no injuries. Replaced with a newer one.

[apexi]

I've wanted to repair the curb rash on my wheels for some time now, but the idea of stripping the old paint off has never been appealing to me. Whether chemically or by sanding, I just didn't want to deal with that.

 

So I found some kits online. They have body filler, and then some paint. The problem is, people said the paint is like a one size fits all product, and it doesn't really match the oem paint that well. So that would bother me a lot, if the paint didn't really match.

 

So then I looked into alternative methods, like lightly sanding the surface of the wheel and then just repainting. I'm reading that people recommend body filler on the curb rash.

 

So I'm considering doing what he does in the video to my wheels when I take them off, and put my snow rims/tires on.

 

It's more work than using a kit, but I think the results will be much better, and more uniform. Is it the best method? Probably not. Longevity? Not sure about that one.

 

At the end of the day, I think no matter what, my wheels will look 100 times better than they did before. My car has 220k, and I might sell it next year though, so I'm not sure if I want to go through with this process. If I do, I'll post before and after pictures. My biggest fear would be the paint chipping off, but hopefully it'll adhere nicely with the sanding.

 

Video I watched tonight. I'd probably do almost this same exact process, except I'd use a little bit of body filler on the curb rash.

 

And I just realized that, it wouldn't be bad to practice on my 8 year old wheels even if I do get rid of the car next year... I really can't see it coming out that bad, and if it does, I'll just redo it.

 

It's late and I basically just typed whatever came into my head.. so hopefully this isn't too redundant and makes sense.

[Merc6]

I have all 4 wheels to fix at this point and it's lots of layers of paint. I don't have much rash since I did get wider tires. Primer/filler could fix 99% of ,y issues but I just suck at paint/dip. Dip seems like the economical route since I have like 8 cans already but the look isn't desirable. I also have enough vinyl but don't feel up to the task.

 

My goal(lazy) was do 1 wheel a day minimum still on tire since no road rash. When I did all 4 I would end up rushing to complete the task and shat happens.

[Holla]

PS: your car looks like mine. Here's a recent photo. The Volvo in the background has since gone to Volvo heaven, after meeting a guardrail at 45mph with no injuries. Replaced with a newer one.

 

 

Good looking wagon! How long have you had it? I know you want to keep it totally stock but did you at least swap out the up pipe and check the banjo bolts?

[Max Capacity]

OP, do a google search for wheel repair shops around you. For the $125 or so buck's it will be worth it.

 

I have one about 2 miles from work. Easy to drop the wheel and tire off, pick it up a few day's later looking like new.

[drakepeterdrake]

Good looking wagon! How long have you had it? I know you want to keep it totally stock but did you at least swap out the up pipe and check the banjo bolts?

 

We bought it new. I'll ask our mechanic about the banjo bolts when it's in for its next service. I researched the cat-less up pipe threads, and wrote to Subaru USA. There has never been a documented instance with them of cat failure in the up pipe, so I'm leaving it alone for now.

 

I read that the stock wheels are not popular, but I'm afraid of getting a boy-racer look on the car by going aftermarket.

[Max Capacity]

I happen to like the OEM wheels better then any aftermarket wheels I've seen on these cars. Yea some wheels look nice but I just love the 5 spoke OEM's.

 

I have two sets, summers and winters.

[drakepeterdrake]

I'll look for OEM ones.

[JmP6889928]

Do this to your wheels. I've always wanted to try this. Search:

 

Hydrographics

 

 

[Merc6]

I happen to like the OEM wheels better then any aftermarket wheels I've seen on these cars. Yea some wheels look nice but I just love the 5 spoke OEM's.

 

I have two sets, summers and winters.

 

 

 

Oem GT or Shrek B?

 

Do this to your wheels. I've always wanted to try this. Search:

 

Hydrographics

 

 

 

 

 

That was another route I’m not too trusting of a shop remounting the wheels and not jacking it up.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Max Capacity]

Oem GT or Shrek B?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Yes, I have two sets of OEM wheels for both cars, with summers and winter tires.

 

Hint, the paint to refinish the Spec B wheels is super expensive.