Black Diamond Steelies Painted Silver on 2025 Big Bend

[mixoso]

HI Gang,
I got a 2025 Big Bend in Desert Sand for a screaming deal last month and I am loving it, but what I really wanted were glorious old school steel wheels. Doing this on the cheap was a major requirement and I didn't want to get new tires at this point, but down the road I will.

Option #1- Get some take off 16" base wheels and live with the stock base 30" tires at least for a while.
Option #2-Get some 17" Black Diamond wheels and paint them silver.

I went back and forth. Both are pretty easily available on FB marketplace etc. I decided I would prefer to be on 17" wheels, so, inspired by @BudgetBronco and his great YouTube video on painting his base steelies white I embarked on this project. After some looking I got a fair deal on BD steel wheels from @Bigred86 here on the forum and set out to paint them and then get the stock wheels mounted on the painted BD rims, at least until I upgrade tires down the road when some more $$$ is in equation. I think they came out great! Glad to go over my process, including missteps, if anyone cares.

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[Smocaine]

Looks great. I've wanted to put steel wheels on my Badlands since before I got it, but was torn between 16" lacking tire availability and 17" only coming in black.
I'd be interested to hear more about your prep and paint process.

 

[mixoso]

Thanks @Smocaine ! To begin with I started with @BudgetBronco video where he painted base steelies White:

The basic process is:
1-Clean thoroughly
2-Rough them up with something abrasive
3-Clean again with prep spray
4-Several coats of primer
5-Several coats of Paint
6-Couple coats of clear coat
7-Light sanding if you want

I watched BB's video and a bunch of others and read many different forum threads and everyone had a slightly different approach but following that same basic plan. I used regular dish soap and water with a brush to clean off any grime then began sanding with sandpaper and it was kind of a pain plus the Black Diamond wheels seemed to have a pretty thick shiny coat of paint/clear coat so I ended up using a combo of wire brush drill bits, sanding sponges in 180 and 320 grit and sandpaper. Went through to the bare metal in places:

Note that there are obviously no tires on these wheels, but people mask off the tire and do it without taking the tire off.
Then I used Dupli-Color Prep Grease and Wax Remover...highly recommended...to wipe them down until the paper towel came back clean:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002969BQW?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Then fashioned these contraptions from some old cardboard boxes to help keep the spray at bay and put painters tape on the inside covering the holes to keep the insides of the wheels black. I guess you could do the whole wheel if you wanted. Also it would be great to do them outside, but where I live there is tons of pollen and gunky leaves getting blown around etc so indoors was better.

Then I did 3 or 4 coat of primer waiting about 10 minutes between coats.

All good, but then things went sideways for a bit. I used Dupli-Color Silver High Performance Acrylic Enamel Wheel Paint and Dupli-Color Wheel Coating Clearcoat, Matte.
At this point I think there may have been something wrong with the batch of paint I bought. I warmed them up a bit by placing them near a space heater and shook them like crazy and sprayed light coats about 10 minutes apart as recommended and both cans came out weird and kinda chunky, also the nozzle I didn't like. Sent mist everywhere. Both cans were like that. I thought maybe when it dried it would be better and so I did the clear coat but they looked awful. Bumpy and uneven with a thick layer of grit and uneven color. Thought maybe I could sand them but it didn't help.
Morale was low at this point but I decided to try again. I waited a week to let them cure and then went back to roughing them up... getting the weird layer of grit off them and sanding them to prep for primer... but this time I just used the sanding sponges and roughed them up a bit. It was pretty easy. I decided to stay in the Rustoleum family for round two.

3 light to medium coats of this Universal Bonding Primer about 15 minutes apart (two cans):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NXY2RR3?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

I waited an hour and a half or so then did 4 coats - 2 light coats then 2 medium coats of Rust-Oleum High Performance Wheel Spray Paint, Steel Color.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MWXVRZ8?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Waited a couple hours then did 2 ... maybe 3... coats of Rustoleum High Performance Wheel Clear Coat. Important to hold the can back a good bit and keep it moving while spraying. Everything went great. No issues. I waited about 10 days to allow them to fully cure. If you look close there are some areas that are a little more textured than others. I started to try to sand them a bit but realized they looked good as they were and I would probably just make it worse LOL.

Then I took them to a local tire shop and had them switched over. If anything in this realm appeals to you I would recommend you take a crack at it. The prep is a little tedious but not too bad. I also recommend buying paint from a place where you can return unused cans. I ended up buying more than I needed. Good luck if you decide to give it a go!

 

[Bigred86]

They came out great, glad to see the wheels go to a good use and make someone happy! enjoy!

 

[broncobase1]

Looks great. I've wanted to put steel wheels on my Badlands since before I got it, but was torn between 16" lacking tire availability and 17" only coming in black.
I'd be interested to hear more about your prep and paint process.

I don't know about 35", but there seems to be plenty of 16" options in the 32-33 range.

 

[Hey Buddy]

I love the look you went with here!!

I still have my (5) original 16" Silver Steelies with 285/75R16E BFG K02s mounted on them, as well as an unmounted set of (5) 265/75R16E BFG K02s & (5) 265/70R17E General Grabber ATx tires mounted on Black Diamond Take-offs I painted Silver..........Finally just went with another set of Black Diamond take-off black rims with Toyo RT Trail 255/80R17E. I know, I have a problem.......a Bronco problem!!!

 

[mixoso]

I swear as soon as I finished I stared looking at Everglades wheels ... a problem indeed lol.

 

[Toccoa]

Looks like your paint job came out great , but I just can't get behind the Toyota Corolla with stolen hubcaps look.

 

[Rspayde]

Looks like your paint job came out great , but I just can't get behind the Toyota Corolla with stolen hubcaps look.

My employee just bought a corolla and I joked we had the same wheels.

 

[Poppavein]

FYI, 2024+ BD Broncos don’t get those anymore.

 

[Bruno]

I got a 2025 Big Bend in Desert Sand
Option #1- Get some take off 16" base wheels and live with the stock base 30" tires at least for a

What color were they before?
My Base came with silver wheels - I powder coated them body color
Desert Sand colored wheels would look so so old school
BTW they do make a powder coat that color - my cost $140 each to powder coat

 

[Bigred86]

FYI, 2024+ BD Broncos don’t get those anymore.

Oddly enough you can get the steelies on the non SAS Freewheeling package.

 

[Beach_Bum]

Oddly enough you can get the steelies on the non SAS Freewheeling package.

But then you would be missing one of the best reasons for the FW package and that is the turbine wheels.

 

[mixoso]

What color were they before?
My Base came with silver wheels - I powder coated them body color
Desert Sand colored wheels would look so so old school
BTW they do make a powder coat that color - my cost $140 each to powder coat

They were black to begin with. Yeah... matching desert sand would be cool! Yours looks killer! Lotsa good options...

 

[Bruno]

They were black to begin with. Yeah... matching desert sand would be cool! Yours looks killer! Lotsa good options...

oh wow i didn't know there was black steelies...

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