So I am trashing the rotten (rusting apart) fancy wheels from my Ranger and putting used steel wheels on. I can't think of any reason for wheel covers, or even hub covers othere than to protect the grease cap on the front wheels from being dislodged by a piece of road debris, and that does not seem likely. So I may just run these with the bolts showing. I really don't care. It's a 2001 Ranger and I am not looking for anything stylish. Will the lug studs be more likely to rust without caps? If so, I can hit them with a light coat of paint.
Wheel covers/center caps--really needed?
- Thread starter TallPaul
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Be careful and don't get a ticket for indecent driving!
Driving with your nuts showing.
Driving with your nuts showing.
I hate wheel covers, but I do like center caps. IMO, they are not really needed.
I want the basic look, would even paint the whole truck flat black but the current paint is still in decent shape.
Kestas
Staff member
The grease cap sealing surface, called the "anchor" surface, can be an entry point for water into the grease cavity. This is true especially if the grease cap anchor surface is dented. Water levels of 1-2% can seriously compromise the grease lube efficacy. Anything you can do to keep water from entering past the anchor surface will help increase the life of the bearing.
I have the center caps and they will fit on, but may look a bit goofy on steel wheels, as well as they may stand off from the surface a bit. Photo shows them with the $1 clearance spray bomb treatment, but slabs are sloughing off and throwing the wheels out of balance since then.
I may just wrap the seam on those grease caps with some black electrical tape. We'll see how it looks with and without the caps. My son said to paint the caps flat black, but painting chrome does not seem like a good idea to me.
You can get 4 wheel covers at Walmart or KMart for $25.
Plastic, but some styles look pretty good.
Plastic, but some styles look pretty good.
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
I have the center caps and they will fit on, but may look a bit goofy on steel wheels,
This is how the basic 15x6 steel wheel looks with the centercap...
Not too bad considering that wheel was under the truck for 10 years.
I have the center caps and they will fit on, but may look a bit goofy on steel wheels,
This is how the basic 15x6 steel wheel looks with the centercap...
Not too bad considering that wheel was under the truck for 10 years.
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^^ love it. Looks like cop car rims.
Nice looking wheels 01rangerxl. I wish I had a set up like that but the tire shop pulled my wheels and found that the rust was not that bad. They are very sound, so we cleaned them up a bit, pulled the weights and re-balanced them. As I had painted over the weights I found the old weights were sometimes smaller and up to 4 inches away from the new ones. Took it on a long drive, everything from city traffic to 55 thru 80 on the freeway and no shaking. Nice tire shop. He could have sold me used wheels he had an abundance of and with labor pocketed $170. Instead I got out of there for $30. This is the tire shop. Check them out if you are in southwest Detroit. I went to their Springwells Street location right across from my church, which made it quite convenient.
That's actually just the spare which was on when one tire got a gash in it. I have the chrome 7 spoke wheels, but I think the spare does look good. I had a 2001 Ranger with those wheels in gray, but replaced them with a set of American Racing Baja wheels.
I like that look. Really utilitarian. Well, I can always paint mine black.
You don't need wheel covers. They are only there to make the wheels look nicer. If you take the wheel covers off a vehicle, it makes it look cheep.
+1
Originally Posted By: exranger06
^^ love it. Looks like cop car rims.
Originally Posted By: exranger06
^^ love it. Looks like cop car rims.
Saw an SUV today that did not have the wheel cover and the grease cap was also missing. Driver oblivious no doubt.
Several years ago I ran two different older rear wheel drive vehicles without hubcaps (or without wheel covers/center caps). I liked the cool look of no hubcap at the time. A couple of years after that I pulled the wheel bearings for other brake related repair jobs. The grease that was originally green, I then found it to be brown and terrible looking. It looked like some water and road salt had mixed with the grease. The bearings no longer had a shiny surface, unlike other used bearings I have seen with clean used grease. I am convinced that water and road salt made its way past the grease cap. Since then on these vehicles I put on hub caps and have not had any contaminated grease problems.
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
Nice looking wheels 01rangerxl. I wish I had a set up like that but the tire shop pulled my wheels and found that the rust was not that bad. They are very sound, so we cleaned them up a bit, pulled the weights and re-balanced them. As I had painted over the weights I found the old weights were sometimes smaller and up to 4 inches away from the new ones. Took it on a long drive, everything from city traffic to 55 thru 80 on the freeway and no shaking. Nice tire shop. He could have sold me used wheels he had an abundance of and with labor pocketed $170. Instead I got out of there for $30. This is the tire shop. Check them out if you are in southwest Detroit. I went to their Springwells Street location right across from my church, which made it quite convenient.
I swear that location is not far for dearborn. If it is, I think they fixed a flat for me....
Nice looking wheels 01rangerxl. I wish I had a set up like that but the tire shop pulled my wheels and found that the rust was not that bad. They are very sound, so we cleaned them up a bit, pulled the weights and re-balanced them. As I had painted over the weights I found the old weights were sometimes smaller and up to 4 inches away from the new ones. Took it on a long drive, everything from city traffic to 55 thru 80 on the freeway and no shaking. Nice tire shop. He could have sold me used wheels he had an abundance of and with labor pocketed $170. Instead I got out of there for $30. This is the tire shop. Check them out if you are in southwest Detroit. I went to their Springwells Street location right across from my church, which made it quite convenient.
I swear that location is not far for dearborn. If it is, I think they fixed a flat for me....
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
... This is the tire shop. Check them out if you are in southwest Detroit. I went to their Springwells Street location right across from my church, which made it quite convenient.
I swear that location is not far for dearborn. If it is, I think they fixed a flat for me....
Dearborn city limit is about 1 mile west of this tire shop, as the crow flies.
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
... This is the tire shop. Check them out if you are in southwest Detroit. I went to their Springwells Street location right across from my church, which made it quite convenient.
I swear that location is not far for dearborn. If it is, I think they fixed a flat for me....
Dearborn city limit is about 1 mile west of this tire shop, as the crow flies.
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