I asked something similar to this a while but not quite the same. I took my HREs off for the winter "pothole" season and to replace two of the valvestems with new ones. I'm having the tires removed off the rim on Saturday for the valvestems. I'm pondering the idea of pulling the tires off all four and taking the centers out while the tires off so that I can really polish the lips hard and have the centers refinished. I don't have any intention on taking the two halves apart, but I'm not really sure how solid the two outer halves are once the centers are out. The rims aren't in really bad shape so if there's a big risk of fucking something up, I'll just wait until I get back out there and have a professional do it.

 

let all of the air out of the tire, then the seal between the two halves shouldn't split. if you're worried about it, you can put the bolts back in once the center is out.

 

Tires are coming completely off the wheel. That's why I'm thinking of doing this.

 

ive done mine twice..... nothing to worry about. Pull them apart, clean them and then put them back together, very easy bro.

 

Thanks bro, I just want to make sure I'm not gonna fuck something up before I go taking apart wheels that cost more than some cars I've owned.

Here's a question... Repaint the centers, or powdercoat them?

 

I'd worry about the powdercoat coming off when you put the bolts back in and tighten them down. Cobra4b has issues with his, IIRC.

 

Really? I figured PCing them would be a little more durable, but painting would have a better finish. Either way, I'm sure it's going to get damaged where the bolts are.

 

Powdercoating is thicker and not as hard as catalyzed paint; I've had all sorts of interesting problems with fasteners and powdercoated parts over the years on cars and other stuff. Usually a washer under the rotating fastener (in this case a nut) will keep the PC from getting scarred (the nut rotates on the washer instead of the PC), but that's not something I'd try with multi-piece wheel bolts unless you have the proper washers to match.. Some wheels have the nuts on the front, some have the nuts on the back, and if they're on the back you're not going to see any fastener damage unless you rotate the bolt while you're tightening it.

The other problem with PC is that it's plastic and compresses over time, so a small fastener is going to sink into it and possible loosen the fastener.. This isn't a problem unless the PC is pretty thick though.

 

Ok... Paint it is. Just thought I'd check with the powdercoat thing. I'm not even 100% sure on doing this just yet. I need to make sure the bolts aren't one time use bolts. If they are, I'd need to find some exact replacements. HRE is sort of a stickler for not selling structural parts of the wheels.

 

Make sure you get them trued and re aligned,almost never does anyone do it the right way. my best friend just sold his freshly powdercoated 19 inch staggered racing hart c2 3pc wheels,no chipping on the powder coating there. and those are 4k wheels,back in the day anyway. he let them go for 2400 with fresh rubber. black powdercoated middle,re-polished lips,cost of 900+bolts from raing hart at 2.13 a piece. do it right!!!