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Originally Posted by Lorry
I've read that one of the biggest causes of failure is where the powdercoater heats the rims up to well over 700-800 degrees to bake the existing coat/paint off. Also incorrect sandblasting can cause minute valleys/peaks in the metal that weakens the structure. I think the actual powdercoating process itself is unlikely to cause catastrophic failure, providing the preparation is done correctly.
That being said, one of my mates at work is studying metallurgy, and he said the powdercoating process will begin to alter the metallurgy of the rim, but its so minor that it will take a very long time (20 years maybe) to see any effects, if at all.
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Having said that I'll explain what the powder coating process looks like. Normally a bare metal is placed into a number of solutions (acidic and basic) in order to prepare the metal for powdercoating. This is done so the powder 'sticks' to the metal. Remember this is done on a bare metal.
If there is already some sort of paint on the metal, to save time (instead of paint stripping the metal first and then going thru the solutions) we used to heat it up in the oven and while really hot, put new powder on it and place it back in the oven. While the metal is really hot the powder 'sticks' to it fairly well (not as well as if it was to go thru the solutions).
So if the process is done correctly...paint stripped, metal prepared...then i guess from the above anwser there shouldn't be a problem.