Inside wheel covers ?
 

Has anyone done wheelcovers "inside" the wheel ? Covers could rotate with the wheel, like with normal covers or the covers could be mounted with brake saddle. In some cases a big brake disk is some kind of "inside wheelcover". Any ideas ? It is quite obvious that inside covers would effect less than outside ones but how much less? Is there some disadvantage ? Control arms need some space so you can't never do full cover or can it be done at all ?

tollo -

I've had people ask me this, but my assumption is that all the pre-existing suspension requirements would make this an activity with limited prospects for gain.

CarloSW2

I think that once you have blocked off air flow through the wheel, that adding an inside cover would not help much, and might even hurt?

Assuming your brakes don't overheat, and your suspension doesn't interfere with it, I think it would help just a little.

Hmmm... smells like frying brakes with a side of cherry-hot rotors
 

I definately second MadisonMPG on the overheating brakes idea. Blocking the outside of the wheel already reduces the cooling effects that air currents have on your brakes. I'm not saying that the outside in and of itself is bad for brakes, but it would stand to reason that repeated long stops in city traffic may heat them more than normal and cause them to wear out sooner especially if you or one of your fellow ecomodders drive something heavier than a geo or happen to be towing without the aid of trailer brakes.

Overall, there are real proven gains to be had over stock or aftermarket rims or wheels that create an aerodynamically dirty surface by using flat or "pizza pan" wheel covers, but you should always take into consideration all of the options. That, and on most of the vehicles that I've been under - wth the exception of rear drum brakes, there is a neglegable amount of space that could be safely blocked. Maybe that's not such a bad idea for rear drum brakes then? Not trying to contradict myself in the same post, but if it's at all feasable, that's where I would start.

Happy Ecomodding

Probably the better one would be to make an underside pan first. The benefits besides making the bottom of the vehicle more aerodynamic would also include to keepin the rain, snow, & salt away therefore making our vehicles last longer.

Dave

It would help a bit but the work required makes it a "low on the list" kind of mod.

The gains would depend on the vehicle. A low profile tire/rim combo leaves a big gap there for airflow to catch on but a tall tire leaves less gap.

this i've seen something like that online, but it was marketed as a break dust guard... wich in fact makes a nasty sight of nice alloys very soon... break overheating would depend on your type of driving and emviroment i think.
i see little advantage to inside block vs outside, exept to show off the alloys

Exactly what I was thinking.

"I'd do it, after I did a whole crap load of other mods."

So the consensus is this is one to maybe overlook?

Dave