Nickel, Zinc, or Cad Plating?

[philofab]

I'm thinking about having some bumpers, radius arms, ect. plated.

What are the pluses and negatives of nickel, zinc, and cad?

Anyone done this before? Got pictures?

 

[DSRacing]

I know of a few people who have had their suspension components nickel-plated. The only downside I can think of is the cost. It's a lot cheaper just to powder coat the parts.

 

[philofab]

I know of a few people who have had their suspension components nickel-plated. The only downside I can think of is the cost. It's a lot cheaper just to powder coat the parts.

I really don't like powdercoating. I thought Zinc plating is cost effective?

 

[partybarge_pilot]

Zinc is OK, not that durable. Same with cad. Electroless nickle is the shiznit. Also, you can do a heavy bead blast before plating to give it a mat finish if you don't want the piece to be shiny.

 

[Random Thoughts Racing]

Zinc is OK, not that durable. Same with cad. Electroless nickle is the shiznit...

You may also want to consider that if you ever need to weld on suspension components in the future the plating will interfere to varying degrees. I cant speak to Zink or Cad but nickel will foul up a weld if not properly ground off.

 

[Dezertpilot]

Check this out seems interesting...
http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/electroless.htm

 

[philofab]

It's for a daily driver so I'm not too worried about ease of repair.

Powdercoat is the worst thing I've ever had to remove to weld on something. It's also tends to hide cracks.

 

[Mark Newhan]

Electroless nickel is very good. Nickel plating is way to expensive @ 10 cents per square inch. One trailing arms is about 2700 square inches x .10=$270 per arm. I just had a bunch of small parts E/N plated for the overhaul on my prerunner. I did a light sand blast and they look bitchen!

 

[dezerts10]

contact embee performance in santa ana they do it all. not to bad price wise either

 

[philofab]

Electroless nickel is very good. Nickel plating is way to expensive @ 10 cents per square inch. One trailing arms is about 2700 square inches x .10=$270 per arm. I just had a bunch of small parts E/N plated for the overhaul on my prerunner. I did a light sand blast and they look bitchen!

Would you be able to post some pics of the items? I'd appreciate it. Did you use a do it yourself kit or have a shop do it?

 

[philofab]

contact embee performance in santa ana they do it all. not to bad price wise either

I will if I can't locate someone local (Vegas) to do it.

 

[Dezertpilot]

Whats the difference between straight Nickel and Electroless Nickel?

 

[Mark Newhan]

Would you be able to post some pics of the items? I'd appreciate it. Did you use a do it yourself kit or have a shop do it?

I'll have to take some. I had a shop in El Cajon do it.

Electroless nickel is a process that is chemically based. Nickel plating uses electric current to attract the nickel to the part.

 

[NicksTrix]

i do a lot of parts in EN. the results are great. i'll send in a trucks worth of hardware , small parts to suspension parts. better the prep the better the results. smoother the finish, the brighter the part. i usually send everything in after a round through after being glass bead blasted.
you can also do a high phos. EN to get more durability in harsh enviroment parts.

shops that do cad are more difficult to find. it has a nice look as well.

 

[Dezertpilot]

Quick question for you guys, I was on Emsbee's website and it said something like $150 minimum for EN. Do they go by weight, size, piece, etc? I was using Embee's price as an example.

 

[Mark Newhan]

Quick question for you guys, I was on Emsbee's website and it said something like $150 minimum for EN. Do they go by weight, size, piece, etc? I was using Embee's price as an example.

Size matters.

 

[NicksTrix]

pricing is usually based on the amount of material it will take to plate the part. bigger parts, bigger price.
then you factor in min lot fees. you can't just show up with a handfull of parts and hope to get out cheap.
sounds like embees min fee is 150.

have your parts prepped -RTG when you drop off. the less they have to do to them, the cheaper it will cost. time is money.

 

[NicksTrix]

Size matters.

"that's what she said"

 

[philofab]

Do any of these plating processes cause hydrogen embrittlement?

 

[DSRacing]

Electro-plating can cause hydrogen embrittlement in high strength steels.