Clear Wheel covers 02 Q45
 

I was at Home Depot looking at the lexan clear plastic. I think it is too thick/heavy for wheel covers....(but hey, whay do I know:o)

so I wandered over to the potted plant area.. Found somw 21" plastic saucer. you put it under a potted plant so the wate doesnt run off.
They were reg $4.68. they are now on clearance for $1.00. I bought 6. :D

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v.../mpgq45149.jpg

Very thin material but clear!:thumbup:
I cut with sissors and used velcro white circles $1.00

Nice....can't see it!!!:cool:

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v.../mpgq45150.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...pgq45148-1.jpg

your can see the ridges that run uot from the center:

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v.../mpgq45151.jpg

Until they get dirty on the inside... But at $1 per wheel, who cares?
Very nice looking mcrews:thumbup:
I wonder how much of an effect those ridges will have? They are definately better aerodynamicaly than the normal spokes, and they add stiffness.

I'm interested to see if they stay attached to the wheel. Is the yellow I see in the pics part of your belly pan sneaking up into your wheel well?

yes, guitarguy, that's the underpan. I have detailed out the under pan by closing up the the flat areas that attach at the wheel wells.

piwoslaw, EXACTLY my thought!

nice mod

keep us posted

When a little airflow gets under them, they will fly right off those little Velcro circles. I think you should add zip ties

CLEAR zipties, or at least as close as you can get to clear

and you actually can clean them just reach around with the hose and spray from the inside of the rim. actually doesn't look half bad on there

mcrews -

Ha ha, I have those *exact* ones lying around for the same purpose, but I wasn't clever enough to figure out your attachment solution. I like the idea of getting 21" and trimming down to size. I always look for "close to spec" sizes, which might make things harder for me.

When I tested it on my wheel, it "warped" because of the slight bow to my wheel. It looks like you are "flattish" from center to edge. Did you notice warping or is it flat like I surmise?

There are 10 "spokes" in the plastic, but you have 8 spokes. This implies to me that a wheel with 5 or 10 spokes would have even better "installation symmetry".

Great Job! I am looking forward to your updates.

CarloSW2

Yeah it maybe an exercize in futility. I REALLY didn't want to stick those dots on the alloy wheel...........aaarrrrggggggghhhhhh. (i do know I can get the adhesive off if I need too)

I have actually bought several 'walmart poster frames' again.......to test that material.

carloSW2, I know....I really could not resist.
They are SOOOO flimsy that a zip tie will actually crimp the plastic.
I thought about putting something at the very center of the hubcap....like a presciption bottle (cut it 1 inch) to push the center of the plastic out. At least gaining the 'slight curve' that we are trying to maximize.

as you can see, the edge of the alloy wheel offers absolutely no mounting point.

winkosmosis -

Maybe yes, maybe no. Luxbg used velcro on his wheel covers, and didn't have any issues :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...cro-10320.html
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_C_gcVWMGnRk/Sr...0/DSC03183.JPG

But the above are flush, so maybe there is less of an airflow issue. For $1 a wheel, at least mcrews can afford to lose one in the name of science, :D . I think it's a worthy test, because zipties make it harder to get at the valve stem without cutting a hole.

CarloSW2

FYI:
these are on clearance at Home Depot. so If you want some....go get em!
here is their SKU (stock) # 878-651 listed as: 21" PLASTIC SAUCER. reg price $4.68 clearance at $1.11

oh yeah....and the manufacture is Woodstream Corp. 1-800-800-1819 in Lititz PA
website: Organic Gardening & Organic Pest Control Solutions | Safer® brand

Houston.......





...........we have a problem.........





At aproximately 1:23pm Pacific Standard Time......on Fair Oaks Blvd... at 32 mph.........




........WE HAD LIFT OFF!!!!!!!!



lol

never got 5 feet off the ground and was run over!

Haha i was wondeing how long they'd stay on sounds like that clear ziptie may have been a good idea lol

Centrifugal force is pretty significant. Add aerodynamic force, and who knows what else...

A nice cheap, worthwhile experiment though. Thanks for sharing.

Why not use 10/24 pan head screws to hold them on.Drill and tap holes into the wheel spokes(#25 drill).Just a thought....

Phil

Are there cheap steelies you could put on and then fix those smooth plastic (Halfords stylee) covers on instead ? My car has a full sized spare, so if I can get 3 more wheels the right size then I may try this.

http://cyberfox.sohosted.com/burgman/wheelcover.jpg
The way I mounted my clear wheel covers ( Philscar way) with 5 small M4 screws and till now I had no reason to report to Houston.
And the aluminium plate clamps ofcourse the clear plastic.

Phil, WELCOME!

maybe I don't want to destroy $800 factory alloy wheels? :eek: ;)

Arragonis,

The weight of an 18" steel wheel would have unintended consequeses. Each pound is actually 4 lbs as a spinning mass inrelation to the brakes. A steelie would probably wiegh at least 7 - 10 lbs more.

No I'm gonna have to "McGyver " this project!!!!

sell the factorys and get flatter wheels/covers?

either that, or its zip tie/pizza pan time

http://priuschat.com/forums/attachme...rius-prius.jpg

Alohaspirit

that really is a very clean look!

janvos39 -

That's really cool! Did you publish that before?

With the solid mount plate, if you have a center cap, you don't need to make holes in the alloy. Mount the plate onto the center cap, and the clear cover onto the plate.

CarloSW2

EUREKA!!!!!!!:thumbup:

"I would like to thank the members of the ACADEMY - ECU, for their inspiration......."

I kept thinkin about the MB clear post and the rods coming out from the center.
in the past, my thought pattern had envolved heavy material spinning around.
this thread got me past that.....:thumbup:

1. If I could mount something very light on the cap?????!!!!!!!
2. and try yo have some kind of convex.

Here is the cap:

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_0557.jpg

here is the concept:
use the lightest possible material (plexiglass rod, thin extruded aluminuum...)
make an X pattern.

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_0558.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_0559.jpg


Have bolts coming UP thru the cap (the example has the bolts in the X just for display)

slightly arch the braces to "pull" the outer edges securely down on the edge if the alloy wheel.

one other thouhgt, run a very small rubber 'bead' or lip on the out edge of the clear plastic. (if I dont use the trays)


Thanks to all!!!!!

try to have finished by next weekend!!!!!

sometimes center caps are hard to take off

(i know mine was really tight, and i needed to carry a screwdriver just in case)

just be careful you can get everything off easily

mcrews -

I like your thinking. I have 4 "plasti-bolts" that hold my center-cap in place, so I can have my bolts come up through those, just like you are proposing.

I was thinking about a single center bolt, but I think a single bolt screw itself off unless I got "counter-sink" nuts and bolts for the other side of the car. You want the wheel to be "tightening" a single-bolt solution when you are driving in the forward direction. Know what I mean?

CarloSW2

I know......with the arms or spindles radiating out I can use small tape down screws toward the farthest pont, thus holding down the edges from the air scimming in.My biggest fear is upsetting the tire balance.
*************DUMMY MOCKUP*************
I taped the cross to the wheel:
http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_0560.jpg

It's curved away from the wheel:
http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_0561.jpg

a side shoot with the plastic in place:
http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_0563.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_0565.jpg

1-9-10

Ok, was at TAP PLASTICS looking for clear flat rods to make the arms out of and the counter guy....who was VERY interested........said "why don't you use 3M Marine Reclosable Attachment System? five times stronger!"

So I had the plastic from the picture frame cut proffesionally at TAP. and I bought
the 3M stuff.

I had to move the 'velcro' down the wheel so that when attached the clear shield is being 'pulled' flush to the outer edge of the rim.
http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...elcover001.jpg


http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...elcover007.jpg


you can see the reflection......
http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...elcover015.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...elcover011.jpg

From a 'show' point of view, this is not the look I want to achieve. But it is a good test point.
I am thinking about painting a 'ring' that would cover the tabs.
There is very thin material that is used for full car body ads. I have a sample that I picked up a while back

here is a pic of the sample. I could get it cut in a ring or any color really

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...wheelcover.jpg

Next is the rear well covers.........

Ya know, alot of people think steel wheels weigh alot more than aluminum alloy wheels, and for OE wheels, and even most aftermarket wheels, it's really not true. You can find light steels just as easily as light alloys, usually.

Even if the alloys are somewhat lighter than the steels, it's only going to be by a small amount... i.e. less than 4 lbs, usually.

Please update us on if they get scratched or how the brake dust acts on them.

Thanks!

Good news Houston!


It's stayed on this morning!

Yes, while I was driving at freeway speeds.

update: back in feb 2011 I took a trip to la. lost one at 66mph.
scratched the idea for the time being.

Seriously do what I did! It's easy and very effective.

Zip tie them onto every other spoke and drill a hole for the valve stem. If you use the long zipties you won't even have to reach behind the wheel. The big plus here is that both your wheels and the plates are divisible by 4, so you can take advantage of the built-in ridges and space them to the spokes.

They should look like this when done, but clear.

Simple always rules. Set it and forget it ;)

Zipties work and last. This is my latest show TuneCover hubcabs:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net..._2043366_n.jpg

I know this is super old, but did you see any benefit from these? I'm not expecting an exact number, as much as hoping for a yes or no. Seems like a fairly easy way to gain a bit.

they never stayed on :eek: long enough!!! lol

Drats. I guess I'll do since ABA testing before investing. Thank you for getting back to me on it! :)