Serving Tray Racing Disk ... - Page 6 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

NachtRitter · 07-07-2010, 12:30 AM

Yep, I have the same conundrum... my VX has (relatively nice) alloy wheels (they came stock, made by Enkei)... I have no desire to drill into them, and I also don't have the cool center caps like Carlos has. Also considered the steel wheels, but the alloys are so much lighter (~9lbs vs ~14lbs for same size steel).

I think I've figured out a solution in my case, but still testing...

Christ · 07-07-2010, 12:38 AM

A fairly easy solution would be to replace your studs with longer ones, so you'd have some threads left over to bolt something to.

Another solution would be to use longer lug nuts, so there were some female threads you could stick a bolt into from outside the wheel cover.

There's also the option to clamp the wheel cover on, as opposed to bolting it. You could pretty easily make something from a carriage bolt and an extra piece of tin or coroplast with a wingnut on it. Granted, you'd have to check on it periodically, but not altogether expensive if it were to come loose.

Dr. Jerryrigger · 07-07-2010, 02:15 AM

depending on your rims you could use some type of U-bolts with spacers

Dr. Jerryrigger · 07-07-2010, 02:17 AM

Or (just thought of it now) JB weld some T nuts on.

cfg83 · 07-07-2010, 03:21 AM

Dr. Jerryrigger -

Yup, I've thought of those too. All good ideas.

CarloSW2

cfg83 · 07-13-2010, 01:17 AM

Hello -

Ok, the plumbing washer you see below has been a PITA because the glue I use to hold it in place doesn't adhere :

It has been replaced by a modified furniture foot :

1 - The furniture foot
2 - Cut off the bottom and drill a hole in the top-center
3 - The faux plastic lug nut (this one is unmodified, no hole drilled in center)
4 - The furniture foot pressed onto the lug nut

I also sanded off the bottom of the furniture foot, the "donut-shaped" raised part. This made it pretty much match the height of the plumbing washer.

CarloSW2

donee · 07-14-2010, 09:00 PM

Hi All,

This is a situation where redesign of the wheel is the easiest expedient. Toyota did this on the Prius wheels. They put a groove in the ID of the wheel. There is an expanding steel wire ring that the cap (called trim rings on a Prius) that pushes some a portion of the trim ring molding into the grooves. When I did my caps, all I had to do was cover the trim (polystyrene with steel wire ring) rings which just snap back into those grooves on the wheels. This simple, elegent design is very effective, and adds no cost to the wheel, just a different casting tool. Of course the trim-ring is extra money.

On an existing wheel, maybe a piece of plastic with a groove in it could be glued into the ID of the wheel, that something on the cap could snap into.

puddleglum · 11-07-2010, 11:29 PM

I've been wanting to install some wheel covers on my car for some time. Only problem has been the 16" mag wheels. Well, I picked up a set of used winter tires and wheels this year from an old Dodge Caravan. They were rusty and I needed to do something with them anyway so I finally had my chance. They came with bolt on center caps which made it pretty simple. I cleaned up and painted the rims to stop further rusting and polished the center caps. Then, I cut some coroplast donuts to fit the rims and a set of aluminum donuts to cover the rims, glued them together and painted them silver. The center caps hold them in place and they don't affect wheel removal. I may not see much improvement in mileage though, since I don't usually do much highway driving in the winter, but, it should help a little. Here are some pics.