Roger, 7 coats is interesting.....all three of our powder coaters say that two coats is the max for a quality job.....one coat color and one clear. Seven coats would get really thick.

My rock crawler frame is powder coated and it flexes a bunch with zero issues in 7 years except for locations where it laid on its side on rocks or I hit rocks underneath. My only complaint about powder coat is that, if I want to weld an extra bracket on the frame, it is difficult to reapply the coating OR a pain to match it with spray paint.