So just like most people, my wheels had suffered from several winters, the salt, and the subsequent corrosion and then peeling of the clearcoat that most people get. I had just finished tidying up my calipers and rotors so this was next.

I had considered plasti dipping them but have seen too many examples where it was no longer holding up and I have never done it so didn’t want to end up in the same boat.

I started with a wire wheel on my drill to scrape off the peeling clear, then sanded the entire wheel down by hand with 3 grits of paper starting at 100 and ending with 220.

I air gun blew off the dust then wiped it all down with a microfibre cloth damp with acetone.

Then it sprayed 3 color coats of Dupli-Color Wheel paint in Gloss Black on the fronts and 2 coats on the backs, followed by 4 coats of Dupli-Color Wheel Gloss Clearcoat just on the fronts. I had 3 coats of clear but enough left in the can for a 4th coat so on it went. In total I used 2 cans of color and 1 can of clear.

Here’s pics of start to finish.





















Credit to Doctahjones for the inspiration to black out my wheels and the tip to release the emblems from the Center caps. Made for an easy paint job of the caps and cleaning of the emblems


I used Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze Fine Cut Cleaner to polish up the emblems. On the left is after soap and water and on the right is after polishing.


Tip: Since the paint was about 24 hours old at this point, I took a toilet paper roll cut it in half split it down the middle and slid it into each lug nut opening to protect the paint while I torqued down each nut. I also used my wire wheel to polish up the lug nuts to a shiny like new finish. Amazed how quick and well that worked.


Very pleased with how it turned out and changed the whole look of the Pathfinder!



It took a LOT of time, some 10 hours of prep work and in hindsight I should have sanded some spots some more as I can see what I missed through the paint. It’s minor but I see it up close, but not from standing so no biggie. I took care to get the edges of the wheel up close to the tire sanded painted and cleared to mitigate corrosion again. Further, I just got a dedicated 17” set of SE Pathfinder wheels so these will never see salt again!

If I was ever to do this again I would have to have some power tools to do most of the sanding. I sanded entirely by hand and by the second wheel it was a chore.

Great job!

Those wheels look great in dark colors especially with a lighter colored paint on the truck itself like you have!