Hubcaps or no hubcaps

General Discussion
1

What are your opinions when it comes to stock cars that have hubcaps? Do they look better with them or do the nude black plates look better? Personally they look dull and cheap which they are, but others think otherwise

2

This is an easy question . You choose the look you like and phooey on what anyone else thinks .

10 Likes
3

It depends on the car and the hubcaps. What cars do you have in mind? Personal preference is a big factor too.

4

It was really just a general consensus but if Iā€™m choosing a car class maybe any luxury/sports cars. I should rephrase the question as what vehicle type would not look good with hubcaps?

5

Those vehicles are going to have alloy wheels .

5 Likes
6

My only thought one car many years ago 1 missing hubcap, and the bolts and nuts rusted so bad they could not be removed without busting a stud, while the others were fine. If this is not pertaining to your question please ignore.

3 Likes
7

Thereā€™s many wheel/hubcap styles, and hubcap vs no-hubcap aesthetics depends on the wheel style. Suggest to post a photo of the wheel you are interested in.

1 Like
8

Is this one of those double entendre situations ?

10

However, I still watch Highway Patrol, partially for the cars. Saw Dan Matthews loose a wheel cover making a hard right turn in his ā€˜58 Dodge. I did notice the Dodge had full wheel covers whereas the GM and FoMoCo vehicles had dog dish covers. My ā€˜62 Plymouth went through numerous front wheel covers, I guess Mopars had flexible steel rims.

11

PVT PUBLIC - good description of Toyota Nation .

12

So much for first impressions, indeed. Neither of you know each other, even virtually. If you think itā€™s inane, you donā€™t have to answer.

6 Likes
13

All police vehicles here have small hubcaps or none at all. Regular wheel covers have a habit of flying off during police work.

Most drivers on my street leave the wheel covers off when they switch to their winter tires mounted on different wheels.

The chrome plated studs keep the wheel bolts from rusting.

For my wifeā€™s Mazda we have a special set of winter wheel covers she finds very attractive. She does not like the look of ā€œbareā€ wheels!

14

Except Dan Matthews 1958 Dodge Highway Patrol Cruiser- - full wheel covers.

15

Yeah, I flagged this. Your response was a completely inappropriate aggression towards the OP. He asked a question about hubcaps; maybe it was to feel out the general friendliness of the group towards new visitors. Boy did you make a bad impression.

The website is called Car TALK, not Car ā€œProblems with my vehicle that are interesting/relevant to PvtPublicā€

3 Likes
16

I removed the wheel covers from my Civic in order to improve ventilation and reduce the odds of having warped rotors.

If you look at other cars throughout history, youā€™ll find models where people did similar things, like drill holes in steel rims.

I tend to favor removal of hubcaps/wheel covers; form follows function.

If I owned a police cruiser, Iā€™d leave the dog dish caps on there though, to protect the bearings.

17

I went bare with my Morris and VW but am inclined to favor the full caps now. Unless of course they are the plastic ones. Neighbor lady had plastic with big chunks broken off. Finally just took them off. Looks much better without them. They would offer a little protection for the studs.

18

Thatā€™s because most full size wheel covers have the small hole for the valve stem.

When the full size wheel cover goes flying off, it can cut the valve stem and start leaking air.

19

If the car came with hubcaps, I keep it. Now I have a dilemma. Got a used Prius for my daughter. Took the hubcaps off to re-torque the wheels and noticed they original rims have a ton of brake dust embedded in them. It has been extremely difficult to take it off. Wheel spray with brush a few times. Still have dust in some spots. Now the problem is every time I wash the car, I take the hubcaps off and notice there is more build up. The thing is designed to trap dirt there. Some of them have black rims which looks decent, this one has silver rims, white car, does not look all that great without the hubcaps.

All in all, when my problem is the above mentioned, life is good!

1 Like