Hubcaps on winter steelies [Archive]

mazdamama

11-18-2005, 11:26 AM

I just got a set of 16 inch Michelin PA2 on steel rims for my 2005 winning blue Mazda3 Sport and I kinda like the contrast of the black rims with the blue car. I was wondering if there is a good reason (besides looks) to buy hubcaps for the winter. For those who drove with uncovered steelies last winter, did you get alot of salt, rust, wheel nut damage? If you bought hubcaps, do the cheap ones at Crappy Tire fit?

ds2chan

11-18-2005, 12:50 PM

Originally posted by mazdamama

I just got a set of 16 inch Michelin PA2 on steel rims for my 2005 winning blue Mazda3 Sport and I kinda like the contrast of the black rims with the blue car. I was wondering if there is a good reason (besides looks) to buy hubcaps for the winter. For those who drove with uncovered steelies last winter, did you get alot of salt, rust, wheel nut damage? If you bought hubcaps, do the cheap ones at Crappy Tire fit?

you got a nice looking car there.. :D

I\'m curious about the answer to ur question also.. I\'m wondering if the hubcaps will do any protection or if they\'re just used as eye candy.. but I\'m not looking to spend $40 on this kind of stuff.. just wondering..

I\'m sure the ones at Canadian Tire will fit no problem..

mEtH

11-18-2005, 01:01 PM

Steelies tend to have alot of holes and I\'ve seen most that have alot of big holes. I am sure that they would help keep the salt out of the wheel wells but no matter what its not really going to eliminate it. It may lower the amount but your damned if you do and your damned if you dont.

I am sure it would probably help the most with rust on the rotor hub but it is still not going to be 100%

SALT IS EVERWHERE!!! duh duh duuuuhhh... Stupid Salt

FLIPDADY

11-18-2005, 01:05 PM

Some people like the \"police cruiser look\" and some like the wheel covers. I opted for the Mazda6 16\"($29.43 a piece) covers b/c I was sick of looking at the black steelies and it has the Mazda logo on it. As far as protection goes it will prevent your steelies from getting scuffed from road debris.

I\'ll post some pics of the covers as soon as I slap on the snows.

The Canadian Tire one\'s are universal fit so you shouldn\'t have any problems.

nifty6

11-20-2005, 09:32 PM

Go with the hub caps. Try and get ones with no holes in them. If style or manufacture is not important, and, really for winter driving who cares, try a recycler they might have some 16\" caps cheap. The caps will keep the salt off and your inner rims dry, so little or no rust will form on your wheel nuts.

FLIPDADY

11-21-2005, 12:34 PM

Winter mode Kumho KW19\'s on Mazda6 covers.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/AJBOY_99/IMG_0305.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/AJBOY_99/IMG_0306.jpg

wtom

11-21-2005, 12:59 PM

Hub caps are for looks only. Otherwise they\'d be 100% hole-less and have a rubber strip around the edge, plus they\'d come with some kind of device to cover the inside of the wheels as well. Like the body of the car, spray your steelies/rotors/calipers occasionally to rinse off salt and debris build-up during winter.

Jeff-TheBiz

11-22-2005, 10:01 AM

Coming from Sault Ste Marie (where they make snow...) I have always been under the impression that caps are a bad idea, snow get in the holes and then after the car sits for a while the snow melts a little and turns to slush slides between the caps and the steelie and freezes.. then next morning you got a nasty wobble until the whole thing melts off..

When I put my snows on I spray a little bit of \'Pam\' or \'WD40\' on the steelie to keep snow from sticking.. it has work on every steelie I\'ve had..

Trust me, I know snow.

This pic was taken late Nov last year in the soo..

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Jafarthebiz/zoom/WinterSoo.jpg

azn_outlaw

11-22-2005, 12:50 PM

Any other styles of

hubcaps from the Mazda lineup?

Zaku_4

11-22-2005, 02:45 PM

hmm

i always thought they were meant to prevent snow, or more snow, from comign into the steel rim. though steel rims have very small holes, snow can get in and screw balance and regular ride? hubcaps close the holes even more while ventilating the disc area by still having areas where air can get in? thats the reason i thought we had holes int he steel rims anyways.

but meh thats my guess

torpedo20

11-22-2005, 05:49 PM

Thanks, guys!
I just put the set of winters on and was wondering if I need to add hubcaps but no more!
You answered my question :D

Sounds like the hubcaps is a waste ;)

billyfo

11-22-2005, 07:29 PM

if you like to make some holiday $, how about some advertisment cap that put on taxi:D

Mach

11-22-2005, 08:13 PM

holy crap !

i just bought some hubcaps from canadian tire bc the mazda place i went to (avante) said that they don\'t have any 16\" wheel covers

WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE SWEET MAZDA COVERS ?!

oh .. and stupid question .. but how do i put them on ? i think i need a mallet or something ?

FLIPDADY

11-23-2005, 08:51 AM

Originally posted by Mach

holy crap !

i just bought some hubcaps from canadian tire bc the mazda place i went to (avante) said that they don\'t have any 16\" wheel covers

WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE SWEET MAZDA COVERS ?!

oh .. and stupid question .. but how do i put them on ? i think i need a mallet or something ?
Come by the dealership (MOT) I have a few different 16\" Mazda covers in stock.

yuro

11-23-2005, 04:50 PM

personally i dont\' like the way hubcups look... i went without them...
i did the tire switch on sunday... i guess just on time for the snow.. :)

http://home.cogeco.ca/~ykuzmin/winter/1.jpg
http://home.cogeco.ca/~ykuzmin/winter/2.jpg
http://home.cogeco.ca/~ykuzmin/winter/3.jpg

Mica3SGT

11-23-2005, 09:08 PM

Originally posted by FLIPSPEED

Winter mode Kumho KW19\'s on Mazda6 covers.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/AJBOY_99/IMG_0305.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/AJBOY_99/IMG_0306.jpg

I\'m feelin the Mazda 6 covers - good job Flipspeed!:)

ds2chan

11-24-2005, 10:28 AM

Originally posted by yuro

personally i dont\' like the way hubcups look... i went without them...
i did the tire switch on sunday... i guess just on time for the snow.. :)

http://home.cogeco.ca/~ykuzmin/winter/2.jpg

is it me or do you not have a stand holding up the back of the car!! looks like magic.. :O

ds2chan

11-24-2005, 10:30 AM

Originally posted by FLIPSPEED

Winter mode Kumho KW19\'s on Mazda6 covers.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/AJBOY_99/IMG_0306.jpg

looking good flipspeed..

cyber

11-25-2005, 04:16 PM

Personally, I think hubcaps are ugly. However, after saying that when I put snows on my old protege I had hubcaps for the first winter the snows were on. One of them cracked so I removed all of them and never used them again. They are not needed because salt is going to get everywhere and no hubcap can prevent that. All you need to do is wash your car occasionally to prevent the salt from eating away at your cars body and the steelies.

The only purpose of hubcaps are for cosmetic purposes (if you like the look of them) ;)

KenYork

11-25-2005, 06:18 PM

i find cap are quite useless and tend to fall off more in the winter with snow freezing and melting, not to mention freezing and cracking as well.

SpeedyG

12-13-2005, 06:53 PM

Hey Flipspeed do you still have the Mazda 6 hubcaps in stock as I was planing to pay you a visit next week and get them?;)

gigileung

12-13-2005, 07:51 PM

It doesn\'t matter if you have hubcaps or not, because most of the winter crap enters from the exposed inner side of the wheel anyways. The best solution is the wash the rims and brake assembly more often, although it is more difficult with black steelies, because of the lack of holes for water to enter.

Mica3SGT

12-14-2005, 01:09 AM

My kids bought these for the \"spy car\" - I guess they hated the road warrior look....
http://img477.imageshack.us/img477/8907/chromecaps2yt.th.jpg (http://img477.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chromecaps2yt.jpg)
:)

FLIPDADY

12-14-2005, 08:43 AM

Originally posted by SpeedyG

Hey Flipspeed do you still have the Mazda 6 hubcaps in stock as I was planing to pay you a visit next week and get them?;)
I have 2 sets coming in this Friday.

FLIPDADY

12-14-2005, 08:45 AM

Originally posted by KenYork

i find cap are quite useless and tend to fall off more in the winter with snow freezing and melting, not to mention freezing and cracking as well.
Only the cheap crappy tires ones crack. Never had any problems with the Mazda6 ones. Some caps won\'t fit properly b/c of the steel rims or the tire valve was underneath the cap when it was installed.

majic

12-14-2005, 09:21 AM

Originally posted by Mica3SGT

My kids bought these for the \"spy car\" - I guess they hated the road warrior look....
http://img477.imageshack.us/img477/8907/chromecaps2yt.th.jpg (http://img477.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chromecaps2yt.jpg)
:)

lol.. BLING BLING!!! :D