Missing right rear wheel center hub cap

[sifan]

My car looks just like the one in the photos same color and same year and model (No, it is not my car):

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/1082670276.html

I just notice the right rear center hub cap is missing (the black plastic cover in the center of a wheel) . I can see a metal cap (tube shape) sticking out of the hub. Do I need to buy a replacement center hub cap to keep the hub clean? Or it is just for look? If it were just for look, then I would leave it the way it is. Thanks.

 

[The_Jeff]

The one other nice thing hubcaps do is slow down rust forming on the exposed threads of your lug studs.

If you have "capped" lugnuts this shouldn't be an issue.

The hub will be fine. (unless you're talking about a grease cap which you shouldn't be on your sealed bearings.)

 

[sifan]

It looks like a grease cap to me. Since I don't know the past history of my car, could the previous owner had the original sealed bearing replaced with one that needed a grease cap (hence, the missing plastic center hub cap)? I haven't remove the plastic center hub cap on the other side of rear axle to what is underneath it.

 

[The_Jeff]

No. IDK how they constructed your tercel but if it takes sealed bearings the aftermarket ones will also be sealed.

Just throwing that out there if Toyota was conservative in design. (They had carbureted corollas in the late 80s and distributor + coil ignition well into the 90s-- late for the industry/ proven designs.) Unsealed bearings used to be popular on the front wheels of RWD cars.

I am fairly certain they made stripped down tercels, perhaps not for the US market but somewhere, that had to survive without hubcaps. So I wouldn't worry.

 

[bepperb]

It does nothing, you can leave them off. Or buy one on ebay/junkyard... etc.

This based on my wonderful experience replacing the rear bearings on my '91 corolla.

 

[sifan]

On eBay it costs about $16 including shipping. In this case I just leave it the way it is. Thanks.