Low budget aero hubcaps (magnet attachment)

[ebacherville]

really if you want cheap and easy and dont care what they look like, some cheap hub caps covered as stated above in duct tape would be very simple and cheap..or use expanding foam and fill any holes, the sand down the excess in exsisting hub caps and then coat them with fiberglass resin to harden the surface..

Sorry, I found more used for this expanding foam than I know what to do worth.. it's super light, shapes well, and strong too.. and cheap as hell one little can has a huge amount of "space" of finished foam in it.. i was even debating doing some of my under body in it... would make for a super quiet ride..

[MetroMPG]

Bumping a thread from the distant past...

jim-frank - looks like you haven't signed into the forum since late last year, but I'm interested to know if the magnetic fastening approach for your wheel covers stood the test of time.

Hopefully you get an e-mail alret if you're subscribed to this thread.

[jim-frank]

The gripping force of magnets drops off too fast with separation distance. Every time I passed a semi, the blast of wind would suck my hubcaps off. Perhaps if I were to glue magnets to both wheel and hubcap, they would resist being pulled apart.

I've not been on in a while, since I gave the old Nissan to my grandson. My newer one is automatic transmission, and is much harder to hypermile successfully than the five speed tranny was...

A note to ebacherville on expanding foam- I did exactly that to repair a trumpet case. Fill holes with foam. (Actually I made my own heavy duty foam by stirring water into Gorilla Glue- it foams up nicely and ends up stronger and denser than canned foams) Just used Bondo to surface fill the expanding foam, and it gives a really easy to paint surface.

[MetroMPG]

Thanks for the update, even if it didn't work out.

I'm going to give it a try. I've already made up a coro disc with 8 magnets around the outside edge -- closer to the edge is better -- less potential leverage.

Also, the disc sits flush inside the rim's bead/lip so it's not easy for a blast of wind to pry them off (though can't predict the effect of a simple sudden pressure difference)

[deejaaa]

magnets are the strongest when pulled axially, but linearly the strength falls. any vibration will cause separation, and flying discs.

[poomanchu]

Originally Posted by jim-frank

Perhaps if I were to glue magnets to both wheel and hubcap

LOL. I'm sure this wheel would balance nicely.

[MetroMPG]

Well, my magnetically attached wheel covers went on their first trial by fire (ice) today, and returned, still on the vehicle! Snow storm, many pot holes, 100 km/h max. (62 mph).

Maybe it's only a fluke. But I'll post a new thread soon.