Wheel darkening

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Jul 10, 2021
Messages
17
My plan for my 2020 Leaf is to get rid of all of the shiny silver pieces. I'm almost done with all of the trim pieces and badges, which will leave the last big item- the wheels. I don't love the overall design, but my only real objection is to the shiny silver finish on the flat part. Has anyone changed their wheels? I'm thinking about trying this product-
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/dupli-color/dupli-color-11-ounce-smoke-spray-paint/dpl0/cwrc815
Is that a bad idea?

I have this wheel-
https://midwestwheelandtire.com/product/nissan-leaf-2018-2019-2020-2021-2022-403005sh3e-62781mg-62781-alloy-wheel-rim
 
I've had good results with Plasti-dip. Inexpensive and if you decide you don't like the result you can just peel it off. Check the youtube channel "dipyourcar" for examples.
 
Nubo said:
I've had good results with Plasti-dip. Inexpensive and if you decide you don't like the result you can just peel it off. Check the youtube channel "dipyourcar" for examples.

Thank you. That stuff is nice and cheap.
 
Great minds think alike - I've had an ongoing project the past year to de-chrome my Leaf.

Interior and exterior is now fully de-chromed with the exception of door handles, which I think work ok with the custom wheels. Wheels are MAK Fever 5R's that I had the tires and TPMS sensors transferred onto. Wheel shop tried to upsell me by saying the TMPS sensors broke during transfer, but turns out only the valves did and those are easily replaceable.

AGDHVra.jpg


I've mostly been wrapping mine, plasti-dip is OK but I find the result a tad too matte for my liking. I suppose for the wheels plasti-dip is the best option though. Although I would probably still recommend just replacing the wheels, at least I got these wheels used for $250 and I can't notice any difference in range.

Interior really benefits from matte wrap though - the gloss plastic parts look dirty all the time otherwise: https://i.imgur.com/Qzm5h8e.jpg

Do post pics of yours!!
 
CeladonCityNPC said:
Great minds think alike - I've had an ongoing project the past year to de-chrome my Leaf.

Interior and exterior is now fully de-chromed with the exception of door handles, which I think work ok with the custom wheels. Wheels are MAK Fever 5R's that I had the tires and TPMS sensors transferred onto. Wheel shop tried to upsell me by saying the TMPS sensors broke during transfer, but turns out only the valves did and those are easily replaceable.

AGDHVra.jpg


I've mostly been wrapping mine, plasti-dip is OK but I find the result a tad too matte for my liking. I suppose for the wheels plasti-dip is the best option though. Although I would probably still recommend just replacing the wheels, at least I got these wheels used for $250 and I can't notice any difference in range.

Interior really benefits from matte wrap though - the gloss plastic parts look dirty all the time otherwise: https://i.imgur.com/Qzm5h8e.jpg

Do post pics of yours!!

Wow,

Nice Leaf. Congrats.
 
CeladonCityNPC said:
Great minds think alike - I've had an ongoing project the past year to de-chrome my Leaf.

Interior and exterior is now fully de-chromed with the exception of door handles, which I think work ok with the custom wheels. Wheels are MAK Fever 5R's that I had the tires and TPMS sensors transferred onto. Wheel shop tried to upsell me by saying the TMPS sensors broke during transfer, but turns out only the valves did and those are easily replaceable.

I've mostly been wrapping mine, plasti-dip is OK but I find the result a tad too matte for my liking. I suppose for the wheels plasti-dip is the best option though. Although I would probably still recommend just replacing the wheels, at least I got these wheels used for $250 and I can't notice any difference in range.

Interior really benefits from matte wrap though - the gloss plastic parts look dirty all the time otherwise: https://i.imgur.com/Qzm5h8e.jpg

Do post pics of yours!!

Holy crap, I'm so jealous you found those wheels that cheap.

I got these door handle covers and spray painted them to look exactly like your interior pieces-

https://www.carid.com/ses-trims/black-door-handle-covers-mpn-dh6307blk.html?singleid=2677473730
 
OsirisOfThisSh said:
Holy crap, I'm so jealous you found those wheels that cheap.

I got these door handle covers and spray painted them to look exactly like your interior pieces-

https://www.carid.com/ses-trims/black-door-handle-covers-mpn-dh6307blk.html?singleid=2677473730

Dang, those handle covers are out of stock. And they would have been in the US as well. I can't seem to find any in Europe. Ebay had a set in China but as I found out they were not suitable for the Leaf (they were too short to fit), and the text behind them said "Sentra" in Chinese. Got my money back.

However I now see that the site carid.com you linked to says those are also for the Leaf AND Sentra so I'm confused now :D The ones you got were for a 2020 car and a 100% fit for the door handles? You wouldn't happen to have a picture of them by any chance?

Thanks so much!

EDIT: Now I'm real confused. Carid.com says those are compatible with Leaf 2013-2022 and Sentra 2013-2019.
Since there don't seem to be any other places selling Leaf door handle covers anywhere, if I search AliExpress for door handle covers suitable for Sentra 2013-2019, it comes up with these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32978383189.html
Now those don't look like they could fit a Leaf at all. The ones for Sentras 2020-2022 do (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003387948041.html) , but those are exactly the ones I got from an eBay seller earlier and they totally weren't a fit. Strange :?

EDIT2: OK I think I figured it out. The first seller that sold me the covers from ebay probably had the ones which were for a 2020+ Sentra. Those weren't compatible with the Leaf unlike he thought. So now I went with the ones from my first AliExpress link even though they don't look like they could fit. $20 is a gamble I'm willing to take. Since their color is chrome, I plan on either painting them or wrapping them with the same matte black vinyl before installation. Should make for a nice project.
 
Got the B17 Sentra door handles that I posted about above. Not a fit for my Leaf unfortunately. Only thing I can think of is that the US/JDM Leafs have different door handles than the EU model.
I've now ordered two different handle covers that are supposed to fit a Leaf (or a Sentra as the case may be) but both of them are like 1 cm too short to fit properly. Oh well! Have to keep looking.
 
CeladonCityNPC said:
However I now see that the site carid.com you linked to says those are also for the Leaf AND Sentra so I'm confused now :D The ones you got were for a 2020 car and a 100% fit for the door handles? You wouldn't happen to have a picture of them by any chance?

They fit perfectly on a US 2020 SV Plus. I would take a picture, but I just took them off. I wanted to try this plasti-dip competitor and I'm really happy with it-

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/custom-wrap/dupli-color-custom-wrap-11-ounce-carbon-black-spray-paint/dplj/cwrc794
 
Alright I figured the door handle cover situation out. CarID.com along with some other website based in the US are the only places where the full covers are sold. As of right now, there aren't any on eBay or AliExpress. CarID also will not ship to outside the US.

However, there are bunch of sellers selling a different kind of handle cover that is compatible with the Leaf.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224798186530
Carbon fiber Style Door Handle Cover Molding Trim Fit For Nissan Sentra 2013-2019

They only cover the middle part of the handle, but hey, it's better than nothing. I installed those on mine but not before wrapping them matte silver. Looks good!

Maybe this helps someone else in the future :D I don't know what's up with the different design, maybe some patent thing?
 
I put the Dupli-Color removable spray coating on everything shiny- the door handles, wheels, badges, and front trim piece. I love it and would definitely recommend.

My last problem is that my matte black wheels look stupid with shiny silver brake calipers behind them, and you can't use that spray on calipers. I'm debating between spray painting or brush painting them. Any suggestions?
 
OsirisOfThisSh said:
My last problem is that my matte black wheels look stupid with shiny silver brake calipers behind them, and you can't use that spray on calipers. I'm debating between spray painting or brush painting them. Any suggestions?

I did my orange calipers with a Foliatec caliper lacquer set. It's kind of expensive considering what it includes but the results are perfect. I was worried about road salt, especially this winter there's been tons of it on the road where I live, but it's held up perfectly. Well worth the price.

Oh yeah, please post pictures of your Leaf!
 
Back
Top