Paint new powdered coated landing gear or not

[The Kid]

Would painting new landing gear that has been powder coated bare metal and is grey in color be a good idea to help prevent damage from rocks and brush etc. Or would it look like heck dn the road if it did get hit with rocks etc where maybe the powder coating wouldn't show it as much? I also think paint would look better but the grey is like Edo floats grey that seems to go with all colors. Just wanna do what would be best overall. Like my wife will say, "You're wearing that and in public"?

 

[supercrow]

I have painted two sets of SuperCub, 3 inch extended gear that were powder coated with that gray. They have both been 2 to 3 years, but mostly ski flying in the winter. They look good still. Not subjected to a lot of rough ground as they are floated in the summer. Mine are powder coated white and have held up very well.

 

[The Kid]

So are you saying you powdered coated them white and not painted them white ( on top of the original grey PC)?

 

[supercrow]

The ones that I painted were powder coated gray and purchased from Airframes Alaska.. I also bought mine from them, but I had them powder coated white before delivery.

 

[salex]

My experience with the powder coating on my 3" extended gear is mixed. It's durability seems good with respect to chips and dings, although my gravel bar ops are only a few times a year. But its performance as far as appearance is not so good. The powder coat folks were able to initially match their red very well with my new-at-the-time Tennesee Red Aerothane paint job - however, over ten years, the solar fading changes between the two are drastically different. The powder coat has faded to a nauseating "pink" of sorts, while the Areothane has just done its normal dulling with time while still retaining its same basic color. Probably the rich folks will roll their eyes and just tell me it is time to repaint anyway and quit whining. I will tell them that I am taking donations. :???:

 

[Steve Pierce]

Paint over it if you want a different color. You can always sand it or blast it later. My epoxy primed and painted black gear legs looks fine after 3 years and weekly gravel bar trips.

 

[hotrod180]

I'm curious why powder coating seems to be so popular with people,
as opposed to epoxy priming & painting as per Steve's post?
Prime & paint seems to usually hold up just as well,
doesn't need a specialty shop to do it,
plus is easier to remove or touch up as required.

 

[stewartb]

Most factory finished parts in most industries use powder coating. Some for environmental reasons, no solvents, more consistent finishes, and less labor. Call it what you want but powder coating IS a paint, it just uses a different method of application and curing. Given the choice I’ll use powder coating from Advanced Powder Coating every chance I get. Other coaters? Not so much, but now I have my own powder coating equipment in the hangar that may change.

My favorite example is my Cessna’s landing gear, which Advanced Powder Coating did when they were first starting up about 25 years ago. No primer and topcoat out of a spray gun would look as good today as my gear looks. Near 100% gravel ops. Great stuff for my applications.

 

[buckchop]

When i bought my 3” extended tail feathers from Atlee Dodge they told me to make sure u paint or powder coat their grey powder coat. They said that the grey was a powder coat primer and wasn't able to keep water away from the metal.

 

[stewartb]

FWIW, Atlee and Airframes use different powder coaters. It makes a difference.

 

[Steve Pierce]

I'm curious why powder coating seems to be so popular with people,
as opposed to epoxy priming & painting as per Steve's post?
Prime & paint seems to usually hold up just as well,
doesn't need a specialty shop to do it,
plus is easier to remove or touch up as required.

Because you can drop it off with a powder coated who is set up to do this type of work and come pick it up when it is done.

 

[stewartb]

Powder coating small parts is fun. I don’t need a blue oil filter wrench but it was a good test piece. I’m limited by my oven size but that can be remedied. No smell. Wife loves that!