Question about powder coating my spindles

[Wheel House Motorsports]

Can anyone cofirm the material the factory spindles are made of? I am curious.

I know Ice age Doesnt recomend coating there rails but they are a 7000 series AL and thin so the heat soaks them quick and easy and will reduce strength, BUT, I would put some good money down the spindles are nothing fancy.

 

[jakey-boy]

Done the spindles on my last 4 sleds with no problems. Last year the color I had done was very finicky and literally took 3 tries of 3 coats each before it came out right. Spindles were baked and soaked in chemical stripper twice to start from scratch on them. They help up perfectly fine to hard riding. I wouldn't worry about a spindle at all. That's just my experience though I am no metals expert.

 

[polarisboyc]

Looks like a might be sticking with the powder coating now haha. I thought it would be ok but it makes me feel a little better getting some second opinions on it! Thanks!

 

[ottawaair]

I dropped my rails off at the powder coater yesterday.

Should I tell him to forget it ???

I don't want to break them

 

[jakey-boy]

Rails are a little iffy. I had a set done last year and they bent more easily than I felt they should but I can't prove it was the powdercoat. However the company I used wasn't the brightest I think they got it way too hot. Go with a good company that knows they have to be careful and you are golden.

 

[wjl]

Just paint the spindles.
I just scrubbed the with a metal brush and dish soap, sanded them with 400 wet sand paper and scrubbed again and primed them. Now waiting for my 36" arms so I can clearance grid the spindles. Prime sand and paint white and clear.

 

[danduvall]

FYI.... whenever you prep aluminum for a surface treatment, Anodize,paint, powder coat, . Or prep for welding. As a final step You should use stainless steel abrasives, or glass bead, walnut shells if you're using a blaster!

Regular steel wire wheels/brushes, abrasive discs, sandpapers, blasting media etc contain iron that impregnates the alum and can have ill effects on your finish!

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[4Z]

FYI.... whenever you prep aluminum for a surface treatment, Anodize,paint, powder coat, . Or prep for welding. As a final step You should use stainless steel abrasives, or glass bead, walnut shells if you're using a blaster!

Regular steel wire wheels/brushes, abrasive discs, sandpapers, blasting media etc contain iron that impregnates the alum and can have ill effects on your finish!

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HOw about scotch-brite pads?

 

[LoudHandle]

HOw about scotch-brite pads?

Scotch-Bright is fine as it is non-metallic thus no rust stains from the steel getting into to pores in the aluminum. A good washing afterwards is needed because the Scotch-Bright contains abrasives. Which is one of the leading contributors to repeat engine failure. Shops trying to save a minute on gasket removal using Scotch-Bright pads to scrub the gasket surface. No only does it remove the gasket but removes metal and leaves behind the abrasive. So now you engine is freshly rebuilt, full of abrasive, and out of tolerance. How well do you think it will run now?

Detour done, everything has it place but one needs to understand all the effects of everything to make a good decesion.

 

[Dirty Steve]

If powder coating weakens the rails, what process are the factories using on the sleds that come out of the box with coated rails. I coated rails spindles and tie rods on my trail jammer and pound it through moguls for miles with no ill effects.

I have my skid out and ready to tear down for coating. Would like to make a wisevchoice.

 

[danduvall]

http://www.saf.com/how-to-specify/how-to-decide-between-anodizing-painting-and-powder-coating/

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[danduvall]

If powder coating weakens the rails, what process are the factories using on the sleds that come out of the box with coated rails. I coated rails spindles and tie rods on my trail jammer and pound it through moguls for miles with no ill effects.

I have my skid out and ready to tear down for coating. Would like to make a wisevchoice.

Powder coating aluminum can be done safely, if done properly! Its more of a matter of using a good coating company. ( I'm sure OEM's use low temp powders, and shortest bake times possible) That you trust to follow your directions. You can ask for a fast low Temp bake, but More often than not, you'll drop off parts at a powder coater... and they'll just throw them on thier line to roast with everything else. A lot of high volume coaters will use higher temps (450+) just to increase their productivity.

The annealing temp of 7000 series aluminum (skid rails) is 775°

Annealing- http://www.technologystudent.com/pdf2/annealing.pdf

At 4-500° the crystalline structure of aluminum is altering to a more uniform, softer state, and your well on your way to having it totally annealed.

For me anodizing was a no brainer, its cheap, effective, no risk, easilly remove able, high wear resistance, and type 2 ano only adds .002" of build up. So threads are safe and hyfax still slide on easily!

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[danduvall]

Scotch-Bright is fine as it is non-metallic thus no rust stains from the steel getting into to pores in the aluminum. A good washing afterwards is needed because the Scotch-Bright contains abrasives. Which is one of the leading contributors to repeat engine failure. Shops trying to save a minute on gasket removal using Scotch-Bright pads to scrub the gasket surface. No only does it remove the gasket but removes metal and leaves behind the abrasive. So now you engine is freshly rebuilt, full of abrasive, and out of tolerance. How well do you think it will run now?

Detour done, everything has it place but one needs to understand all the effects of everything to make a good decesion.

Ha ! I wasn't entirely sure what scotchbrite pads were made of!!

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[LoudHandle]

Ha ! I wasn't entirely sure what scotchbrite pads were made of!!

Just For Your Information;

Scotch Brite Ingredients;
Aluminum Oxide Mineral, Filler, Titanium Dioxide, Quartz Silica, Cured Resin, Nylon Fiber.

Three fairly aggressive abrasives.

 

[RoffRider]

O god another powder coating aluminum battle. Everybody knows it is not good to powder coat aluminum but didnt polaris just powder coat there rails on the 14s or is just paint not sure. Either way i havent heard of anybody breaking there spindle after powder coating.

yup...and im pretty sure the spindle is pretty robust and have never ever heard of a spindle breaking with out another major suspension component being severely damaged aswell

also does anyone know where polaris got there powder coating for the rails done at? i gotta 14 with red rails

 

[RoffRider]

I dropped my rails off at the powder coater yesterday.

Should I tell him to forget it ???

I don't want to break them

maybe...i wouldnt get 163 rails coated, or if i weight over 220 pounds

 

[polarisboyc]

I ended up taking all my stuff to the powder coater (rails, spindles, running boards, seat post and riser). I originally took it to an anodizer and he said he wouldn't be able to do my boards and that I should just get everything powder coated so its all the same color. He's a guy that's been working with aluminum with 50 years and he said there is no reason why any of the stuff wouldn't be fine being powder coated. So I took his word and everything should be done this week!

 

[danduvall]

I ended up taking all my stuff to the powder coater (rails, spindles, running boards, seat post and riser). I originally took it to an anodizer and he said he wouldn't be able to do my boards and that I should just get everything powder coated so its all the same color. He's a guy that's been working with aluminum with 50 years and he said there is no reason why any of the stuff wouldn't be fine being powder coated. So I took his word and everything should be done this week!

Yeah its hard to find anodizers with big color tanks that are willing to do small jobs. Most shops that aren't strictly industrial, only have large tanks for black, clear and natural anodize.

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[polarisboyc]

He said he couldn't do my rails because he wouldn't be able to wash all the acid out of them where the post that bolts to the side of the tunnel is glued to the board. He said eventually it would eat away the metal overtime so he was really honest too which was good!

 

[danduvall]

Just got these back from the anodizer.

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