powder coating rails

[RMK-King]

I have heard from some that the heat needed to bake the powder coat on rails is enough to make them lose their temper strength and result in them bending easier. Any truth to this?
Also do you powder coat the section of rail were the hyfax slide on? I was thinking the extra powder coat there would make the hyfax more difficult to put on.

 

[F-Bomb]

I've coated at least thirty sets of rails for myself and buddies. NOT A SINGLE STRUCTURAL FAILURE. Now how good the product sticks can be another story. Try and get your coater to tape off the base so you don't flake the coating installing your slides...do a good job here because an edge or bad spot in the powder is what can cause flaking. Also your prep is absolutely critical. If it's not perfectly clean and properly prepped the powder will not stick and start to flake. Who ever does the work has to be very very detailed or it will turn out poorly.

So far the best results have been a really good sand blasting job...then a chemical prep...then the coating...(I have both anodized and powder coated rails..they are almost identical in performance (durability and snow shedding ability) and look about the same. Powder is just a lot cheaper to do in our area because nobody has a large enough tank to do a complete rail in one dip.

 

[RMK-King]

Try and get your coater to tape off the base so you don't flake the coating installing your slides...

So you just tape the very bottom of the rail or on the sides where the slides run as well?

 

[richracer1]

They will have to tape it per your request. They use a special high temp tape. They taped mine just on the bottom, but I did use a a foam sanding block on the sides due to the powder coat line, a minor thing. The hifax covers were I sanded and slid on very easily.

 

[mountainhorse]

It is more about the temp-control and bake-time than "powder coat" in general.

400 degrees, typical pow coat temp, believe it or not is the temp at which the 7129 alloy is heat treated at... you can "over age" the heat treat and make them more easy to bend.

BUT... if you have a top notch coater that can use a 350 bake temp without a long time in the oven... and use good quality powders... you will be just fine.

The commercial volume shop that is putting your high-tech-alloy snowmobile rails in the oven with the fence posts from the highway commission, or steel machine parts could cause you trouble.

This is, I believe, the reason that some people have no problems and others have big problems with the pow coat and structural strength.

The process that F-bomb is detailing is a good way to have good work done.... as he said... prep is everything. I've seen his rails... top notch work!!

Good Idea to clean them yourself before taking them in... takes that out of the equation and may save you some $$.

 

[tchriste]

I had structural failure of my rails first ride after powder coating. Bought a set of Iceage and had them anodized..... no issues.

 

[redbull660]

It is more about the temp-control and bake-time than "powder coat" in general.

400 degrees, typical pow coat temp, believe it or not is the temp at which the 7129 alloy is heat treated at... you can "over age" the heat treat and make them more easy to bend.

BUT... if you have a top notch coater that can use a 350 bake temp without a long time in the oven... and use good quality powders... you will be just fine.

The commercial volume shop that is putting your high-tech-alloy snowmobile rails in the oven with the fence posts from the highway commission, or steel machine parts could cause you trouble.

This is, I believe, the reason that some people have no problems and others have big problems with the pow coat and structural strength.

The process that F-bomb is detailing is a good way to have good work done.... as he said... prep is everything. I've seen his rails... top notch work!!

Good Idea to clean them yourself before taking them in... takes that out of the equation and may save you some $$.

You are exactly correct, most production shops wont put just single pair of rails in by themselves. It costs to much money and they dont want to take the time to do it. The end result is you have an over cooked set of rails that will probably fail. As far as getting the powder off of the bottom of the rails I coat them and then use a foam brush to brush the powder off before baking.