Thanks, if you have any success, let me know. Since I posted this question quite awhile ago I have settled on some wings I like so I will share that here. If I want pure dry rubbed wings I follow the Americas Test Kitchen recipe or I simply rub with weber kickin chicken seasoning and let the dry rub sit overnight.
This is my favorite method though:
1. Start with fresh wings, brine them for 30 minutes in a solution of 1 qt water, 4 tbsp kosher salt, 3 tbsp sugar. That's good for 12 wings. Scale as needed. If you repeat the recipe and want them saltier or find them dry you can increase the brine time or add two more tbsp of salt to brine. Careful though, you can end up with salty wings.
2. Remove the wings from the brine. I don't rinse my chicken at any point in this prep keeping with Usda guidelines.
3. Optionally, you can dry rub them here but you need to use a rub that does not include salt (because of the brine) nor sugar (because it burns). This is totally optional, but I've had success with either a basic bbq rub w/o sugar and salt and a basic chili seasoning.
4. Grill the wings direct over medium heat, turning every 3 minutes or so. Do this for a total of 20 to 25 minutes. The brine will keep them moist. You could indirect grill instead, but I think this does a better job rendering the skin. Oil your grates real well before putting the chicken on, and don't force the flip if the skin is stuck.
5. Take a combination of buffalo tobasco and butter OR a commercial bbq wing sauce and baste the wings on the grill. Do it on one side, let it grill for a few minutes, then the other side.
6. At this point, I continue grilling them for about 5 minutes (should be about 25 to 30 minutes total at this point). Baste a bit as needed. That will dry the wings back out some and crisp them up letting the sauce bake in. Be careful not to burn here.
7. I then remove the wings and either serve them as is, or toss with a very small amount of additional wing sauce. I optionally also dust them again at this point if I want more rub flavor. You could even toss them with a small amount of white vinegar before dusting if you want more tang.
These wings end up thoroughly flavored with nice color form the rub and fully flavored skin to nibble on from the basting. They are also mostly dry and crispy if you don't resauce after taking off the grill. Biggest risk is over salting. You definitely can't use a salty bring, and a salty rub and a salty sauce. You also need to be very careful using enhanced wings because they start off salty.
Ok, last note, if you want to smoke these, I follow the same basic procedure, but I smoke them for 90 mins to 2 hours, then transfer them to grill to render the skin, then sauce them, then grill the sauce on.