Acrylic or Lexan wheel covers

[Floordford]

Has anyone tried to use hard clear plastic as wheel covers?
I thought of this option for my Mustang because I have 17" 5 spoke wheels that wont accept a hubcap. And a Mustang would probably look a little odd with shiney moon disks. Clear covers would let you still see the rim and give the benefits of a cover. I had also thought about trying to heat it up to get a convex shape. Might work, might not.

[Joenavy85]

It would definitely be more asthetically pleasing to have. Not sure what the best way would be to attach them. You could glue them in place with some gorilla glue, though that would make removal difficult.

[Floordford]

I was thinking of removing my center cap, because its costly to replace, and from the back side make a round threaded fixture that I can run a small bolt to. I think that might be the best so it wont throw the balance off.

[kir_kenix]

Originally Posted by Floordford

I was thinking of removing my center cap, because its costly to replace, and from the back side make a round threaded fixture that I can run a small bolt to. I think that might be the best so it wont throw the balance off.

This is exactly what I did on my steelie wheels to attatch pizza pans. I made a little spacer on the rim side so the pans had something to torque down against. I had to cut the pizza pans on the edge to fit around my wheel wts and this has kept them from moving once torqued down. I also used purple locktite to keep the bolts from loosening up over time.

I had this set up on my ride for about 5k miles before having to take them off to get tires rotated and I havn't put them back on yet. This time I'm going to find some stainless hardwear so the bolt sticking out doesn't rust as bad.

I really thought that they would end up in the ditch at some point from the center bolt loosening up over time, but this became a non issue for me. I think the same process would work great with lexan, and look better to boot! Probably will have to take them off from time to time to clean all the break dust off the back side however.

Good luck man.

[Phantom]

If you use lexan or acrylic I would wax it to keep the dust down. I have thought about how it mount covers if I want to keep the look of the wheels. I think that it could work if the rim was removed and a round cover was attached to the inside of the rim then remounted.

[mnmarcus]

acrylic will stay clear, is cheaper but more brittle than lexan (polycarbonate).

[Vekke]

Acryl wont work because its brakes at impacts. Material needs to be polycarbonate or was it polyester PETG, PET that works also. Here is what I can manufacture if you don`t want to start making your own:

Less drag = Less fuel | Aluminium wheel hubcaps | Eco Tuning --> Tuneko Ltd

Kit would include 4 round PC discs (tinted or clear) and 20 pcs of ziptie plugs and zipties. I can also heat them to little bit convex if you need them like that, so it can be done. Those ERA wheels are 10mm "convex".

Price varies little bit on wheelcover size but it will be between 150-200€ shipped to states. ( just Shipping will cost about 50$)

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by Vekke

Acryl wont work because its brakes at impacts. Material needs to be polycarbonate or was it polyester PETG, PET that works also. Here is what I can manufacture if you don`t want to start making your own:

Less drag = Less fuel | Aluminium wheel hubcaps | Eco Tuning --> Tuneko Ltd

Kit would include 4 round PC discs (tinted or clear) and 20 pcs of ziptie plugs and zipties. I can also heat them to little bit convex if you need them like that, so it can be done. Those ERA wheels are 10mm "convex".

Price varies little bit on wheelcover size but it will be between 150-200€ shipped to states. ( just Shipping will cost about 50$)

Those look good, and thinner/lighter than what people can make themselves

[Vekke]

You can make your own with jigsaw but the circle is very difficult to get "round" and looking nice. Material is 3mm thick tinted polykarbonate. Is it 1/8"?

[Joenavy85]

yeah about 1/8"