Wheel questions and hello!

[fencing_fool]

Though I've been around for a bit, I've never officially introduced myself. I'm from Northern California and bought a new, beautiful 2003 almond back in January. Dearly love this car and this forum.

Got some questions... I'm a dummy with anything auto. Want to get some baby moons (smoothies?) but don't know what to look for. My brother-in-law bought some cheap ones (about $50 a piece) but says they are rusting after just a year. Do they all rust if not cared for properly, or must I spend big bucks? I'm on a budget. Any advise will be greatly appreciated!

[Comedy Cruiser]

Check out some of the sites that feature hubcaps if the moon disc look is what you are after. I find the hupcap (wheelcover) route to be the most affordable right now and you can change your mind and the PTs look without a lot of investment.

[fencing_fool]

I didn't know this was possible. I can put a different hubcap on the current wheel eh? I thought the cheapo plastic wheelcover was held down with the nuts. Like I said, I'm a dummy at this stuff!

Thanks Comedy Cruiser.

[The Silver One]

I put on a set of Chrome smoothies and smoothie caps made by Wheel Vintiques Inc., on my PT late in November, and before they went on they were waxed with "Wheel WAX". Now get this, I've only put 1800 miles on them since and they've never been in snow/sleet, seen a spec of salt or been in an automatic car wash and they've seen precious few drops of rain maybe less than 10 miles total. But I do wash them regularly. Well, the other day, I took the baby moons off, because I didn't want the wheels scratched by the technican removing the wheel centers so I could get them rebalanced and my God, my hubcaps were loaded with rust on the inside, the wheels themselves under the caps are all pitted with black and the mounting hubs are brown colored. I can't get the black specs - rust off even when polished with a chrome polish using a tooth brush. And to top it off, what I thought was a wheel out of balance, when that one was on the balancer, it looked like a sine wave. To me, they're pure junk and Wheel Vintiques web site warranty ain't worth the paper it's printed on, my suggestion is be darn sure you're getting somebody else's smoothie wheels. $473 shot to hell.

[Comedy Cruiser]

Gotta love inexpensive ABS plastic!

Try these sites for wheelcovers...

http://www.aaarims.com/
http://www.hubcapcity.com/
http://www.autozone.com

or just do a search on Google for "hubcaps" or "wheelcovers"...you're bound to find something you like!

[Comedy Cruiser]

Originally posted by fencing_fool
I didn't know this was possible. I can put a different hubcap on the current wheel eh? I thought the cheapo plastic wheelcover was held down with the nuts. Like I said, I'm a dummy at this stuff!

Thanks Comedy Cruiser.

Yes the standard 15" wheelcovers are plastic nuts that are literally bolted to the wheel nuts. Just get a socket wrench and take themoff as you would with "real" ones.

Most of the wheelcovers I have come across have the wire running around the inside of the wheelcover. This makes them fit much better than the plastic clips.

Good luck finding some!

[PTKodiak]

Not sure if this will help anyone....but I had a thought......

Sounds like the moisture is getting trapped under the cap??

Could you not get some of those "silicone" packages that absorb moisture and some how attach them to the back of the cap. That way they would absorb moisture, but not flop around while driving?? Just a thought. I have never delt with that type of wheel, so I'm just giving my Idea.

Dale

[fencing_fool]

Comedy Cruiser - thanks again.

Silver One... so very sorry to hear your sad story, but thank you for telling it. Stories like this is what stopped me from running out and buying moons without looking into it ( I came close) Thanks for the warning!

[StOnEwHiTePt]

hello and welcome to the forums

[taikuchin]

Originally posted by The Silver One
be darn sure you're getting somebody else's smoothie wheels.

Sorry you had the trouble...I have had wheel vintique chrome smoothies, 15x6, for about 18 months & well over 25k miles with no problems with wheels or baby moons. they still look like new. Different batch??