Hello Cherokeeforum, this is my first ever post

I have taken a lot of great advice from you all over the past year of owning my first xj. And now I am really uncertain if I should or shouldn't paint my wheels, and any suggestions or tips would be appreciated. I am definitely on a budget like always, first son being born any day now due Sunday

But anyways, really interested in what you guys think. I've just recently added those pinstripes(red/white)/foglights(11$ clearance walmart, 2x55w)/emblem/repainted bumper plastic/repainted roofrack, removed side moldings, removed sport decal.

Thank you

Edit: Wanted to mention that I have seen hundreds of cherokee photos and have yet to see one with these rims. they are nothing special, but i just cant find them anywhere on the internet to try and figure out what exactly they are. If anyone has a clue, thanks

 

they are factory sport wheels. there are three types of those wheels. the one without indentations like i have( the dent opposite of the valve stem) they were made from 92-93, the ones that you have with the indentations they were made 93-96. and ones that have rivets around the edge they were made from 88-95. most jeeps that old arent stock anymore and have since had their wheels swapped for ones with a more accommodating backspacing hence why you dont see them around the boards that often. I know mine will be leaving real soon.
all of the stock jeep wheel info you could want can be found here.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/j...opedia-320730/

And a pic of my wheels, not great but the best one of the wheels I have




Just clean them up and spray them. get a wire wheel for your drill and take all of the loose flaky clear coat off scuff up the rest a lil bit with sand paper or whatever. clean them up real good with a degreaser. then pull off the wheel weight(remember where it was) and stick playing cards in the bead a lil bit all the way around to keep the paint off of the tires and spray away. Iv painted almost every set of wheels iv ever had this way.

 

Thanks for the link dude. I saw a google image once of playing cards around the wheel for a DIY paint job. And by "spray away" I am assuming you vote for gloss black?

 

I say clean them up and save them, and buy some aftermarket wheels. Who knows how much XJ parts will go in the future

 

maybe i could clean up the indentations really well and then tape them off, keep them polished silver alloy, and pain the rest gloss black... wonder how that'd look

 

yep, if you want to just clean them up and keep them silver it will be more work because you will have to clear coat the Aluminum to protect it or it will just oxidize. so you will want to pull the tires and have the wheels bead blasted and then spray them with clear to protect them and make them look even. nice thing about spraying black is if you ever want to restore them down the road all you have to do is bead blast them...the same thing you would be doing anyway

 

now that i think of it, my old man has a bead blaster i (he) could use for my wheels if i ever wanted to revert the paint job.

I might try it this weekend if i get some time, ill post pics for comparison to make an easier decision and vote.

 

ya man would be nice if i didnt have other more important things to save for right now or i would buy a lot of things for this thing.

 

/ninja bump

Anyone know of a good place to get some cheap kc lights? looking to mount some on top of the roofrack.

id like to get a brushguard/light setup but thats way too expensive at the moment

 

I'd probably paint the wheels a warm silver.

That way, when you scratch them up off road, it won't be quite so obvious as if you painted them black.

 

For the lights try Amazon.com or Walmart.com and look for 100watt lights. They will be your best bet for cheap and produce a large amount of light. They can be found for as low as $10 per light.

 

That's not a "Make up your own damn mind" option on the pole.

 

Whoa nice.. thats affordable.

reason i mentioned 'kc' brand was because i saw some really cool american flag kc covers and i got this red,white,blue thing goin on with my xj sort of at the moment.

i will look at walmart.com right meow

 

The kc lights are a standard 6 inch round housing on their regular design so if you picked up the covers you could use em on the cheap brand. Honestly there's not much difference in the kc vs off brand. Its a round metal housing, a bulb and wireing. You can also look online and get a replacement bulb for the cheap ones and upgrade to a 130watt bulb which is what some top of the line kc's come with.

 

Thanks again dude, that's exactly what I will do. Mostly for show but will come in use during bow season.