I have a important decesion to make. Should I or should I not get my suspension chromed on my new car?

I was at AG Sandcars today, getting some stuff welded on the manx, a LT car was there for something, I looked at its front arms and rear arms, they looked like total crap, all the chrome was sandblasted off, and the chrome was flaking off with patches of rust underneath. So I asked Dustin how long it takes before that happens, he said just a few trips, I thought to myself, Is my car gonna look like that by the end of the first season? that sucks, so should I just get everything powdercoated? or was it just a bad chrome job? any ideas how to protect the chrome if I do chrome everything? Please help me, I am leaving town on Monday to put my deposit down on Tuesday so I would like as much info as possible by then, Thanks everybody, Ian

a good chrome job should last a long time

The rear wears more than the front

the front looks better chrome

ian with the $ your spedin you might wanna just gold plate and maybe lv will get ya some lou material for your seats and maybe Paublo will get you some dingo balls to hang from the headliner too! dude all that will need to be replaced after aboat a month of trailin behind me the sand blast affect is not good on chrome!OH ya i will supply you with a set of chrome balls to hang under the motor! better get a winsheild and wipers !

Who did the chrome that flaked?

My car is nine years old, and the chrome is still perfect. I've been told it's in the prep.

A thin coat of chrome is gone in a season.

Talk to a few chrome shops and do a bit of homework.

Never be afraid to buy the best.

From what I have seen chrome on the rear arms doesnt hold up very well. Most of the cars I see have the front arms chrome and the rear some sort of light grey, thats what they end up looking like anyway , Thats what I did on my car .

I agree with everyone.....chrome the front and powder the back. I did that on my car and the front still looks new. I have only made about 8 trips on the car though.

Use 3m clear film on all trailing edges and your chrome will still shine.

Ian Are you buying a AG car?

I have heard about that stuff, where can You can I get some ?

I is very difficult to find a good chrome shop in CA. It has been my experience that any car that is driven hard, and follows close while duning, will in a very short time have substantial dulling. If it is a triple plate process, then it should hold up better.

It is all in the prep and process

nobuggybob, no I am not buying an AG car, Dustin was doing a bit of welding on my Manx for me, he was a friend of a friend when I met him a couple years ago, and now whenever I need some stuff done I go straight to him, he is a really cool guy, and would not take my stuff to anyone else in SD. even though its a pain to get there from my new house I stay loyal to him.

hey your up a little early hugh the plastic film looks like your answer to dulling and scratches when you find i would like tom purchase also

I was considering taking the car to Modern Image to get the clear vinyl done on the side rails, so I will probably just have him do the leading edges on the suspension too, I will give him a call probably today or so

he actually does a bug shield/rock guard thing for high dollar sports cars and stuff, lays on a clear vinyl onto the car itself to help prevent chips from rocks and stuff, I have had a few graphics kits done from him, and he is good at what he does.

http://www.modernimagemoto.com/

if interested talk to Enrico, tell him Ian with the ZX9 sent ya.

Common ideas on chroming suspension is that it could cause "Hydrogen Embrittlement." I'm not really sure how bad this is. But, it causes the surface metal to become harder and could lead to cracking, or so I've been told by sprint car bullders.

Off road guys that absoutely have to have that chrome look, are told to do nickel only. Looks the same and it's a pre-plated metal prior to chrome.

Any other ideas on this?

CArl

Dulling and flaking are totally different things. It will Dull if you tailgate like I do. Flaking is a bad chrome job.

the car that I saw just looked bad, very dull chrome, looked like brushed aluminum and the chrome was flaking off with rust underneath, probably just a bad chrome job, such a shame, it was on a really nice car.

I've had the dulling/sandblasting happen on my quad a-arms. I am having them re-chromed and will put a layer of clear guard on them. Then when the clear guard gets ruined I can simply replace it. Lot's cheaper than re-chroming.

http://www.clear-guard.com/

All chrome and NO GO

im powder coating all arms and clear sheilding. the only chrome will be on the motor!

Chrome it you'll go faster.

I know I am not the fastest driver or will have the fastest car or can jump the highest or ..........., but at least if I have chrome I will look good

I too plan to use the clear film over my chrome and upper tubes. Has anyone looked closely at any of Grant's personal cars? Their duning style is close, and fast, so the front a arms chrome is completely sandblasted off on the leading edges. I guess it's just one of the things you have to live with to have the gingerbread..

Well after talking to Justin yesterday he assured me that the chrome wont fade and look like crap, but I will need to rechrome the trailing arms every 3 years or so, guess that isnt too bad, but I am having the clearshield done so we will see. I cant wait for the car, the next 4 months are going to be like the day before Xmas, but it will be worth it in the end.

I had my rear arms nickel plated when i built them about 10 yrs ago and the front sides were starting to show some dulling but the plating was still there. They were 4130 no problems with cracking but it was not a long travel car so not as much abuse. I did all the prep work on the steel prior to taking them to a local aircraft plating house.
Good luck.