CHROMING PROCESS

Chrome plating of an aluminum wheel is an intricate and time-involved procedure. Below are some of the major steps required to chrome plate a wheel. Additional proprietary operations contribute to the wheel’s final form.

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STEPS TO CHROME

Steps in Chroming Process

1. WHEEL PICKUP Local pickup is available in many regions on the West Coast.

2. RECEIVING – Large Orders Wheels are unloaded, sorted and prepped for processing.

3. RECEIVING – Individual Orders Individually shipped orders are received daily through ground delivery services.

4. UNPACKING Individually boxed wheels are unpacked by hand.

5. INSPECTION Wheels are inspected, and checked against included paperwork and photos are taken.

6. TRACKING Each wheel is engraved with a unique tracking number.

7. TRACKING – Detail Detail of tracking numbers.

8. PAINT STRIP All paint and primers are removed at low temperature so wheels dont warp.

9. PAINT STRIP All solutions are rinsed, collected and recycled.

10. BEFORE / AFTER STRIP Showing before and after of the paint stripping process.

11. SEMI-AUTOMATIC This procedure brings the lip and outer edge area to a high luster.

12. DETAIL POLISING W/ HAND TOOLS This work is necessary to process the detail relief areas of the wheel (windows).

13. FINAL POLISHING This final procedure polishes the larger facial areas of the wheel.

14. JITTERBUFF The flat part of the wheel is worked to eliminate waves in the material.

15. SOAP BATH & RINSE The wheel is put through a special operation to remove all polishing compounds.

16. CHEMICAL ETCHING The wheel is put through various chemical baths to etch the surfaces.

17. COPPER PLATE Copper plating helps fill imperfections in the porous, aluminum casing. Not all platers utilize this important step.

18. COPPER PLATED WHEELS After the completion of this procedure, copper wheels must again be polished before the next plating step can occur.

california chrome wheel process — 19. COPPER BUFFING Upon completion of the copper plating, the surface of the wheel needs to be brightened to a high-luster finish.

20. COPPER BUFFING (DETAIL) Once again, the relief areas (window) needs to be brightened to a high-luster finish.

21. COPPER BATH After the wheel is copper buffed, all of the polishing compound must be washed away to ensure proper adhesion of the following metals.

22. INSPECTION Copper plated wheels are inspected prior to receiving following nickel and chrome layers.

23. SEMI-BRIGHT NICKEL Semi-bright nickel provides the base layer for excellent corrosion resistance in multi layer nickel systems and function as a “barrier” to prevent base material corrosion.

chrome plating process diagram1 — 24. BRIGHT NICKEL Bright nickel is the metal that is primarily responsible for the bright shiny reflective qualities of a chrome wheel.

25. MICROPOUROUS NICKEL Micropourous nickel (particle nickel) provides improved CASS-resistance due to a high amount of incorporated micro particles in the final nickel layer.

26. AUXILIARY ANODE This device is placed on the wheel and helps to ensure complete and even coverage.

27. AUXILIARY ANODE ATTACHED This device is placed on the wheel and helps to ensure complete and even coverage.

chrome plating process diagram2 — 28. CHROME PLATING SOLUTION Alloy wheel shown after being dipped in chrome solution.

29. FINAL RINSE Any remaining solutions are removed.

30. INSPECTION & CLEANING As each wheel is cleaned and inspected, it is identified by the customer number that will determine its packaging.

31. COMPLETED PART Here is the completed part. It has been paint-stripped, polished, copper-plated, copper-buffed, nickel plated, and chrome plated.

32. TRACKING Completed wheels are tracked once again to ensure proper delivery.

33. INDIVIDUALLY BOXED SHIPPING 19 inch and larger are boxed with our proprietary foam molding process for shipping via UPS, OnTrac, or palletized shipment.

34. INDIVIDUALLY BOXED SHIPPING 18 inch and smaller are boxed with protective rings for shipping via UPS, OnTrac, or palletized shipment.

35. PALETIZED SHIPPING Large volume orders are loaded onto pallets and shrink wrapped.

36. WHEEL DELIVERY Individual orders, including mummy wrapped tire & wheel packages can be shipped via UPS.

chrome plating process diagram — 37. WHEEL MOUNTING Wheels with tires are professionally mounted and road force balanced.

38. INSTALLATION Installation directly to vehicle by our trained technicians is available to local customers.