New wheel idea. (pics)

[7T2]

Why isn't there a general forum for wheels and tires? Oh well, Suspension is the next best thing I guess.

Some of you may have seen me talking about this idea in another thread, but here's pictures of the finished product.

My plan was to get a set of the ridiculously cheap Centerline Smoothie wheels, but give them a different treatment so they don't look like everyone elses. When I saw what the appropriate factory hubcaps looked like for a 57 GMC my mission was clear - get those hubcaps on those wheels!

Since I didn't know if I would like them once I got them on there I wasn't too excited about drilling holes into a new set of wheels, no matter how cheap they were, but the idea crossed my mind if I could somehow screw a mount to the hub or something I wouldn't take a chance on ruining the wheels. But how?

Lug nuts.

Yeah! Lug nuts are only $20 a set! I could ruin a whole set and not feel too bad! Maybe they could be drilled and tapped to accept a bolt or something?

During a totally unrelated conversation I stumbled upon the answer: threaded inserts. You use a tool to install these (that my stepdad just happened to have!), and they stay put with compression. They look real similar to the inserts in the top of an air bag. So I got the ones I thought would work and started drilling out the lug nuts to accept them. Made sure there was enough depth for the insert when the lug nut was installed on the stud, and everything checked out. The end result looks like this:



So with that solved, I needed to make a mount that would get screwed on with bolts and hold on the hubcap. I tried a few different designs, but the one I settled on I found by accident:



This was actually intended to be installed facing the other way, but for some reason I decided to put it into the hubcap upside-down and found out it fit perfectly! The aluminum ring actually bottoms out on the face of the hubcap and the clips are exactly where they need to be to hold it in place. Sometimes dumb luck does triumph over expertise!

Since I was now mounting my ring backwards I had to add spacers to space it out from the lug nuts (it was originally going to mount flush on them the other way around, but that was leaving a gap between the wheel and hubcap that wasn't going away). I ended up using some nylon spacers that I found at the hardware store. They are actually quite rigid after everything is tightened up:





The end result almost looks like it was made to be there:



After these photos were taken, I went back and painted the backs of the hubcaps red to match the logos on the front. The way these hubcaps are made they actually cut in about an inch in the back and taper down. Since they're not cheap ($40 a piece) I also wasn't thrilled about the prospect of cutting off the flange on the back so they would sit flush, so I just left it. The result is that the hubcap sits about a half inch above the surface of the wheel at the outer edge. By painting the back lip red, the red is reflected in the polished aluminum of the wheel and kind of makes it look like there is a red trim ring around the hubcap.











I'm really pleased with the end result. For not a ton of money I have something unique that you won't be seeing anywhere else anytime soon. It was kind of labor intensive, but at least I could unbolt everything and sell it if I get tired of it.