Quick tips for painting hubs

Blitzkrieger

Feel free to add any on your own........

Before anyone says : "That's a lot of effort for a minor cosmetic improvement", there's a good reason for painting brake discs. I can't tell you the amount of times I've come to take a wheel off a car and found that it was rusted on. In fact, apart from my current car it's happened with every wheel I've tried to remove. The solution is to get a lump hammer and lamp the tyre (not the wheel) for all you're worth. Sometimes even that didn't work and we had to resort to hitting the wheel itself around the back where nobody would see. Imagine yourself stuck at the side of the road with a flat tyre on a freezing cold morning at 4am. Would you have a lump hammer handy or would you put your back out trying to get the fecker off?


THE BEST WAY :

This is the way I've decided to do mine. Basically you wait until you need new discs and pads (you always get new pads when you get new discs) and paint them before you put them on. Ask your mechanic to let you know when this is going to happen because you need a least a day to paint them. Don't bother painting new pads unless you've got the discs done first.

You will need :

A plastic bag
An elastic band
A one inch or half inch paint brush
Enamel paint in the colour of your choice

Otherwise know as radiator paint and found in any DIY shop. You could use those fancy high temperature paints you get in car accessory shops but enamel paint was what was recommended to me.

Make sure the discs are clean when you take them out of the box - they may need a quick wipe with a clean dry cloth. Apply a thin coat of paint to the entire center of the disc and the edge too. You only need to do the hub in order to prevent the wheel rusting on, the rest is cosmetic. Don't worry too much if you get a little bit of paint on the braking surface but try to avoid it.

It's hard to describe the shape of the brake pads, but you have to try and avoid painting the face or braking surface. I'd just but a lick around the edges of the braking surface because the back of my pads don't seem to rust. I have seen this happen though and there's no reason not to paint the back, so feel free if you want to.

While you're waiting for the first coat to dry (read the instructions on the paint for how long) place the brush inside the plastic bag, wrap the bag around the brush so it's airtight and seal it with the elastic band. This will keep the paint from drying until you need to use it again so you won't have to wash the brush.

Two coats should be plenty to last the life of the disc. Once you're done throw the brush away - it's not worth the effort of cleaning it.


THE EASY WAY :

If like me you're discs are going to last ages and you really have to paint them this is the way to do it.

You will need :

A plastic bag
An elastic band
A one inch or half inch paint brush
Enamel paint in the colour of your choice
A pair of spanners (usually around 16) *
Pliers
A wheel brace
A good jack
Four axle stands
Safety goggles
A power drill with grinder attachment

It's a bitch to try to clean the discs/pads while they're on the car so this method involves taking them off. If you've never removed brake discs before this method is not for you. I have done it before but the fear of losing some vital piece or worse during the process has convinced me to use the method above.

If you have taken off brake discs before I'm going to assume you know how to jack the car, place the axle stands and have guessed that the drill with grinder attachment is for cleaning the rust off. The instructions for painting above are probably nothing new either.


THE HARD WAY :

This is the method for the masochist. If you've got feck all tools and/or knowledge of cars, this is the way to do it. This is the way I had planned to do mine and abandoned after 90 minutes when I saw the scale of the job before me.

You will need :

A plastic bag
An elastic band
A one inch or half inch paint brush
Enamel paint in the colour of your choice
A wheel brace
A good jack
Four axle stands
Wire brush

This method is going to take a long time so it's best if you have a garage you can lock the car in for a day or two. A friend of mine did his one wheel at a time and reckoned it took about two and a half hours of labor each, but the car was on the jack outdoors for a full day each time.

Loosen the nuts a turn on all four wheels (or all the wheels you're going to be working on)before starting. Reach under the car and find a solid point to jack the car on. The floor of my car sounds paper thin and you don't want the jack punching through it. Once it's jacked up, reach under and find a second solid point for the axle stand. If they're the type with pins that lock them in position make sure they're secure. Once the wheel is off place it under the car (face up). At least if the car does come off the stands it won't fall all the way to the ground. It goes without saying that Patrick's Hill is not a good spot to jack the car up.

This is the fun bit : take the wire brush and scrub like a mother lover. This takes ages! Once all the rust is off give it a quick wipe with white spirit and dry it off. Follow the painting instructions above and Robert's your mother's brother.



*Not Anto and Seanie

JohnCleary

there's a good reason for painting brake discs.

I Hope you meant calipers, not discs? :eek:

Ratchet

you better edit this post as some happy dude will paint the brake discs.

as per not being able to take off the wheel of the car, this also happens to alloy wheels and has little to do with rust.

BrianD3

The solution is to get a lump hammer and lamp the tyre (not the wheel) for all you're worth. Sometimes even that didn't work and we had to resort to hitting the wheel itself around the back where nobody would see. Imagine yourself stuck at the side of the road with a flat tyre on a freezing cold morning at 4am. Would you have a lump hammer handy or would you put your back out trying to get the fecker off?

I've never had to resort to this to get a wheel off - I find a good hard kick to the tyre with the heel of my shoe will usually suffice

And I agree with the other posters - you should edit you post to stress that the braking surface of the disc must *never* be painted.

BrianD3

AMurphy

A good swift kick to the tyre ususly works. If not, loosen (I did not say remove) the nuts and drive about for a while.... that definitely works.

However, painting is not really necessary.
Once the hub or disk is loose and removed, clean off the rust with wire brush and/or emery cloth. blow oand/r wash off the excess and dry.
Then smear a film of anti-sieze grease on the mating and previously rusted surfaces. Reassemble.
I have been doing this for close on 20 years with no side effects. Course it is important to do it asap and not wait for time to pass and rust to gather. Which is difficult if you purchase the car used.

You can get special high temp paint for brake drums and rotors and in high vis colors if you wish.

MojoMaker

Blitzkrieger you clown...painting brake discs....wtf???

AMurphy

MojoMaker wrote:

Blitzkrieger you clown...painting brake discs....wtf???

What's wrong with painting durms and disks, (the non-braking surfaces, that is?)

Blitzkrieger

Blitzkrieger wrote:

Don't worry too much if you get a little bit of paint on the braking surface but try to avoid it.

Which part did ye interpet as "Slap loads of slick paint all over your brakes"?


There's nothing wrong with greasing the contact surfaces too, but the combination of practicality and astetics of painting them (the easy way ) seems like the best solution to me. As to a quick kick with the heel of your shoe - I've seen alloys on a Punto that took a dozen good thumps with a sledge on the tyre and still needed a lump hammer to the wheel itself to get off.

edmund_f

thought the guide was pretty clear..

any pleb that would paint a braking surface probably is only allowed out with mits on and i doubt would be actually be able to read, let alone operate a computer thus exposing them to this mildly confusing instruction~?

I do believe (no offence Blitzkrigeger) but any advice found on the 'net should be taken with a pinch of salt.

either way i thought overall it was helpful, and while have changed one or two brake pads (& discs, drums etc) have never had the wheel stick to anything, suppose that is what you get from driving damn Hondas. Thought the peice of advice regarding drving with loose bolts was a very cool solution. (and the only one who actually added rather than corrected)

Seth Brundle

I remember seeing a thread in a VW forum where some dick painted his discs red - the entire disc!!!

DirtyDog

kbannon wrote:

I remember seeing a thread in a VW forum where some dick painted his discs red - the entire disc!!!

I remember that, didnt he have pictures of what he did too? was v funny - muppet

edmund_f

cool, there is always one. But then (in my opinion) this is also a person who decided the primary consideration for buying a car is how it performs in an accident.. 'nuff said..

Ratchet

Blitzkrieger wrote:

Which part did ye interpet as "Slap loads of slick paint all over your brakes"?


........

Blitzkrieger wrote:

"That's a lot of effort for a minor cosmetic improvement", there's a good reason for painting brake discs.

........

what you expect if you start your guide with above statement. just sounds weird

stratos

Just thought I'd throw this in. Alloy wheels tend to stick to steel hubs because of an electrochemical reaction, set up when 2 differing metal types come in contact, add moisture and you have a good reaction going. (It actually works like a battery). There is a special grease you can get to stop this battery action happening. However I find normal general car grease works quite well.

AMurphy

Blitzkrieger wrote:

......
- I've seen alloys on a Punto that took a dozen good thumps with a sledge on the tyre and still needed a lump hammer to the wheel itself to get off.

I'll believe you, however, that's where I let the car do the work crack open the wheel nuts and drive a few times round the block.
I'm less in favor of smashing alloys with a lump hammer, destroying the steering, etc.

AMurphy

stratos wrote:

..... There is a special grease you can get to stop this battery action happening. However I find normal general car grease works quite well.

You are correct, and even faster if you use soap when washing the car and wheels. Collected dirt and poop off the road does not help either.

However, you are correct again re the grease. Anti-ozidation grease used for electrical connectors will do the trick. Given the weather you have, you should have all your electrical connectors that may get exposed to the weather well coated in the stuff. Front and rear lamp connectors, anything connected into the radiator and the trailer tow wires, connections and contacts.
"Tune up" Dielectric grease as applies to plug connectors would probably work it's an excellent insulator.
However, regular grease is better than none.

I just happen to use anti-sieze compound as I use for the calliper bolts and slides, hub nuts, between the bearing hub and the back of the brake disk and what the hell .. may as well put some on the front side and tyre hub also.
Probably be better to use Dielectric grease between dissimilar metals, as antisieze is conductive as they usually contain Copper, Silver, Al or such.

see; http://www.tractorpartsinc.com/permatex_anti__seize_lubricant_4023_prd1.htm