Shocks... Cerakote Vs. Powdercoat

EmpirE231

EmpirE231

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What holds up better in the sand world? Have some KING shock bodies that can use a freshen up, and trying to debate between the two? Looking to just do a solid black, either satin or semi-gloss.

any other pros/cons to using either one?
 
Dzrtrat1111 said:
I actually painted mine with black Steel-It paint and they are holding up very well. Super easy to touch up if needed also. View attachment 139332
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Hmm... what did you do to prep the surface? and did you dissemble the shocks to do it?

how does it hold up to the sandblasting from following someone?
 
I cerakote the bodies and powder the springs.
Springs hold up fine.
After 2 seasons, the cerakote is getting pretty thin in spots.
But I follow close. :)
 
poweder would work on bypasses, but the threads on a coilover wont like the powder.
 
I did steel it on my last car as well. Full sand and then acetone to clean them. They held pretty well after 3 seasons. But did need some touch ups
 
EmpirE231 said:
Hmm... what did you do to prep the surface? and did you dissemble the shocks to do it?

how does it hold up to the sandblasting from following someone?
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I scuffed them up, cleaned them with acetone and did 2-3 coats. I did not take them apart. I don’t follow any high horsepower cars, so not much sand gets thrown at me and to top it off, my front shocks are pretty protected by the hood and “fender”.
 
For the original 2.5's, I tore the shocks down, sand blasted them, cleaned them, cooked them, then Cerakoted them in matte black. The process is lengthy but worth it. The Cerakote only lasts a few seasons before youll get lightened thin spots.

For Springs I would powder them.
 
Most powder coated shocks on cars I prep leak. The baking process warps the bodies and they leak soon after a fresh rebuild. I used Steel-It on my shocks and several clients cars. Cleaned them with mineral spirits and did several coats. 4 seasons and they need to be redone. I didn't put the KING stickers back on the shocks.

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L.R.S. said:
Most powder coated shocks on cars I prep leak. The baking process warps the bodies and they leak soon after a fresh rebuild. I used Steel-It on my shocks and several clients cars. Cleaned them with mineral spirits and did several coats. 4 seasons and they need to be redone. I didn't put the KING stickers back on the shocks.

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Steel-it seems to be the ticket, also considering you don't have to take apart a perfectly good shock. Does it hold up pretty well on the threaded bodies? or should those be cerakoted?

definitely plan for powder on the springs
 
I was originally going to steel-it mine but since they had to come apart I might as well have them cerakoted. I looked into doing it myself but what swayed me was they had to be sandblasted. I was not about to trust any sandblaster to do my shock parts.
Most of the shock comes apart pretty easy but the cap and the rod ends not so much....lol. King will do it for you but I found someone that had the shock body clamps to do it for me. I hit up Ryan at Rockstar coatings and had him do the cerakote for me. I think he did a great job, his prices are very reasonable and I would not hesitate to use him again. You have 3 options... You can take the shocks apart yourself. You can take the shock to him and he will have them disassembled and re assembled (pretty Pricey) or he said he can tape the shock off and do them assembled. He uses the non bake on cerakote which has a higher temp resistance then the bake on cerakote ( I know, that doesn't make sense...lol). It is also solvent proof.
 

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EmpirE231 said:
Steel-it seems to be the ticket, also considering you don't have to take apart a perfectly good shock. Does it hold up pretty well on the threaded bodies? or should those be cerakoted?

definitely plan for powder on the springs
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I don't have any recent pictures but the threaded bodies look fine. I did like 6 coats knowing I'd need to thread the shocks back together and didn't see and Steel It get messed up.

Edit to add- The pic showing the threaded body with Steel It missing- I screwed them together and saw that, then used a wedge to open up the spring nut more before screwing back together. Problem solved.
 
EmpirE231 said:
Hmm... what did you do to prep the surface? and did you dissemble the shocks to do it?

how does it hold up to the sandblasting from following someone?
Click to expand...
Best prep is to sand the shock down to bare metal and clean with acetone. The disassembled shock is a lot easier to spray and the finish will be better. Assembled or disassembled, just depends on how picky you are with the finished product.
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Sandkist said:
Best prep is to sand the shock down to bare metal and clean with acetone. The disassembled shock is a lot easier to spray and the finish will be better. Assembled or disassembled, just depends on how picky you are with the finished product.
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I am very picky lol. Those look great! Were those done with steel it or cerakote?
 
When I tore my shocks down I used a MAP gas torch to burn off any residual acetone or oils after the sand blasting. As stated above, I used the non bake 5 day cure Cerakote. It sucks because it takes 5 days but its well worth it.

From what I see, the Steel-It does look comparable and seems like it would be a much simpler process to coat.

Edit - Also, I was told that you did not need to blast parts that were anodized aluminum, just clean, burn off acetone and oils, then spray... Thats a hard no. I had Cerakote flake off on the couple of parts I did not sand blast and had to redo them. I use a very fine 100 grit aluminum oxide. It doesnt work for much else but great for prepping for Cerakote.
 
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