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Old 06-12-2012, 02:28 PM   #270 (permalink)
brickinthewind
Rapidly Evolving Driver
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 35

Brick House - '04 Scion xB
90 day: 36.44 mpg (US)
Thanks: 3
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Ordered the stainless racing discs from Rocky Mountain Wheel; one fell off

Hey all,
Wanted an easy way to put smooth wheel discs/racing discs on, so I ordered these:

Full Moon Racing Discs for the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Scion XB | 15 inch | RMW-RD1-15-1110528

figuring eventually they would pay for themselves in mpg saved. Got up to 55mpg last summer on a tank after putting them on. After I ordered, a poster opined that they fall off. Well, I just lost one. The car was full of stuff and I cornered a little too fast (hypermiling of course) and I lost one. Where, I don't know, but I know why it happened. Heavy car, flexible steel wheel, inflexible hubcap.

Called Rocky Mountain Wheel back and they don't sell singles but asked me to call back next week as they sometimes have returns they can sell onesies and twosies of. I asked if there were any tricks to keeping them on more securely - they did have a good recommendation. Tweaking some of the tabs outward at, say, 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock so they hold more tightly there. Also, some guys run a bead of silicone on the inside but that has to be cleaned out every time you fill with air since there is no valve hole - caps need to be removed to reinflate. And he mentioned the racing guys just rivet them on.

Looks like I'm going to wait until they have 1 wheel cover in stock. Until then, going back to the OEM hubcaps. I'll tweak all the tabs next time I put the discs back on and see how that goes. If you do this mod, tweak the tabs out first!
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