Bike rack, powder coating

canaryben

New Member
Hi, I have this bike rack and am looking to get it powder coated. Does anyone have experience of taking apart/getting all the plastic off? ..and then back on again. will i need any special tools for the job?

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Your call, but powder coating aluminium, especially “aged” aluminium, never ends well. It’ll look great for a year or two, then start peeling off.
 
Powder coating is also fairly thick. So good luck getting the wheel cups back on.

Probably better off just spray painting, but if you want to properly strip it down you will need to drill rivets, then need a river tool to reassemble.

It’s been on my ‘to do’ list for a while now.
 
Powder coating is also fairly thick. So good luck getting the wheel cups back on.

Probably better off just spray painting, but if you want to properly strip it down you will need to drill rivets, then need a river tool to reassemble.

It’s been on my ‘to do’ list for a while now.
Thanks, I have been looking into this as an option... this guy has done a pretty good job with his and will save me having to drill out any rivets.
 
I had my rhino roof bars sprayed gloss black (3nr). Depending on what look you are after you may decide not to take apart. I wasn't fussed so had my entire bars and brackets including bolts sprayed in one. Very very pleased with how they turned out. I think the cost was circa £200 but meant I didn't need to worry about proper etch primer and then getting even coats on...
 
I would look to get it chemically blacked you would need to strip it down but the finish would be much better.
 
Good timing for your post, I am picking the same model of bike rack up from the powdercoaters tonight and hopefully rebuilding it over the weekend… will let you know how it goes and how easy it is!
 
Good timing for your post, I am picking the same model of bike rack up from the powdercoaters tonight and hopefully rebuilding it over the weekend… will let you know how it goes and how easy it is!
Can you post some pictures?
 
I’ve done my rails black powder coated only Partial as it was the Thule version with bike rack sections already black .. I wrapped the silver colored tubes that were not already black as I did not want to disassemble completely … this has been fine .. 3 years now …

I painted the rails at first even with etched primer but it peeled off ..I think because I did not key the aluminum prior to etch spraying but have since had them sand blasted back to metal and now powder coated black … will only tell with time how good the pc is …
 
So its finally all back together!

If you do attempt it you will need 6.4mm black rivets x16 - i got them from ebay, everything else just unbolts.

When reassembling I heated up the wheel chocks and end caps with a heat gun before fitting to make sure they didn’t chip any edges of the powder coat off.

Lastly I fitted helicopter tape where the arms attach and where the frame clips in for the up and down positions to protect the powder coat.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.. will post better ones once I remove my spoiler and get the rack on the van (hopefully this week).

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