Smooth Wheel Cover Discussion Thread

[Vekke]

New version, this should be best for aero if designed properly:
CapAds not rotating wheel cover - No non not rotating advertising media hubcap
I wonder if those bearings are as bad as in normal cheap spinners?

[BamZipPow]

Going with that design...it would give you a gap between the adapter and the cover. You could just "steal" an idea from them and use a couple of long/extended lug nuts per wheel and attach yer aero cover with a couple of bolts that thread into the extended lug nuts.

[alohaspirit]

good post Vekke



i think the method i will try will be to tap 2 screws into a plastic cover

to go back to stock, you remove and then attach regular hubcaps
(small holes shouldnt even be noticed)

[Vekke]

Originally Posted by BamZipPow

Going with that design...it would give you a gap between the adapter and the cover. You could just "steal" an idea from them and use a couple of long/extended lug nuts per wheel and attach yer aero cover with a couple of bolts that thread into the extended lug nuts.

Those long lugnuts have been on my mind for few months, but the problem is that people will need different lengths of lugnuts. Other solution would be adaptors between lugnuts and hubcap. So you would built the spacing you need with spacers. If all this would work the last problem is that I dont think that would be stiff enough for top speed driving. Attachement is quite centre and most of the weigth is on the outer edge. So in tight turns there will be lots of stresses that try to rip the capsel in half. Fatigue may brake it sooner or later.

Estimation for own lugnut tool was about 1000€ so not that expensive...

Also what I have learned from stanless steel hubcaps that the attachement bolts rost easily. That can be solved. I am not at the moment going with those long lug nuts .

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by Vekke

Those long lugnuts have been on my mind for few months, but the problem is that people will need different lengths of lugnuts. Other solution would be adaptors between lugnuts and hubcap. So you would built the spacing you need with spacers. If all this would work the last problem is that I dont think that would be stiff enough for top speed driving. Attachement is quite centre and most of the weigth is on the outer edge. So in tight turns there will be lots of stresses that try to rip the capsel in half. Fatigue may brake it sooner or later.

Estimation for own lugnut tool was about 1000€ so not that expensive...

Also what I have learned from stanless steel hubcaps that the attachement bolts rost easily. That can be solved. I am not at the moment going with those long lug nuts .

My thought was that the lug nut would just have to be long enough to allow a bolt to thread into securely after it seats the rim. Using a spacer (like what I did fer my belly pan and couplers) will determine the "spacing" from the wheel to the cover. I used schedule 40 PVC pipe fer my belly pan and it's held up just fine. You can just use standard zinc coated hex bolts to keep the cover on.

[Vekke]

Yes best solution is that those lug nuts are with correct length, but for commercial use that length varies a lot with different rims... For one off solution there is no problems and that is one of the best way to secure hubcap if rim are under 16". Those fatigue problems start to occur on the bigger rims which are over 17". Only estimations on the size but problem chances get bigger when rims are bigger.

[BamZipPow]

With 4-6 12mm bolts holding the cover on...I don't think that would be a problem since they are closer to the center.

[cfg83]

Vekke -

Originally Posted by Vekke

Those long lugnuts have been on my mind for few months, but the problem is that people will need different lengths of lugnuts. Other solution would be adaptors between lugnuts and hubcap. So you would built the spacing you need with spacers. If all this would work the last problem is that I dont think that would be stiff enough for top speed driving. Attachement is quite centre and most of the weigth is on the outer edge. So in tight turns there will be lots of stresses that try to rip the capsel in half. Fatigue may brake it sooner or later.

...

This is an idea I came up with for my car :



I never made the adapter. This would be a "4-lug/100mm" solution. The good part is that the Dzus makes for super-easy unmounting of the wheel cover for checking and adding air.

The bad part is that it is 4-lug centric, so the wheel cover *has* to match the adapter. You would rather have multiple adapters and only one wheel cover.

A different system would have a single center mount. In that situation I would replace the Dzus in the adapter with a single screw-on solution designed to mount through the center of the wheel cover. That would also require that the screw's thread be reversed based on whether it's mounted on the left or right side. The idea is that you need the screw-on solution to be "tightening" when the wheel is rolling forward.

Another way to solve this is to have 3 Dzus forming a triangle in the center of the adapter and multiple hole patterns for different wheels. That way one adapter could solve "X" number of wheels and the wheel cover would always be 3-holes for 3 Dzus fasteners.

In the above I am not solving the connection to the lug nuts. My idea is designed to work with my own connection solution I outline here :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...isk-11838.html

(The connection solution has been simplified from 9 pieces per lug nut down to 3)

CarloSW2

[NachtRitter]

Carlos -

I like your idea very much... I bought parts to do the very same thing on the Maus, but never got any further than that. Was thinking along the same lines... provide a way to quickly remove the wheel cover, as well as using an attachment method that is much smoother than bolt heads on the side that counts.

[Craig]

I have a set of steel Saturn wheels that I've been looking at and measuring for my Saturn TDI project. In my case, I think I could drill/tap the center hub ridge (the raised center of the wheel just outside of the mounting lugs) and bolt a 16" aluminum disc directly to the wheel. The disc wouldn't quite seat on the wheel rim (looks to be about 1/8") or clear any wheel weights, so I'd have to run stick-on wheel weights to fit under the disc. On the front wheels, I'd also have to cut a bit off the end of the axle stub to clear the disc.