Well, my steel wheel project is complete. Axle dust caps, caliper paint and lug nuts cost around $37. I wanted to keep it under $50 and get rid of the rattle trap wheel covers. Mission complete.

 

Nice, clean, businesslike, and it looks really good!

 

Thanks man. I decided to go all black to match the racks. It turned out better than I thought it would.

 

pstar-looks good! which dust cap did you use? I have tried a couple and both popped out. One I had tried to glue in (too much heat to last), and the other was a press fit (but not a good fit). I don't know which caps they were; they were just some I had lying around from a 45-year collection of odds & ends. Another related question...has anyone tried trailer hub covers? Namely the QuickTrim (friction fit) 5 on 4.5 bolt circle. With the lugs being threaded on our 4.33 bolt circle 18-hole steelies, the extra 0.17 inch needed to hold them on should be there. I can't seem to locate one locally, and our travel trailer has a different type, so if anyone with a set on their RV could do a looksee, let me know what kind of fit and whether it's close enough to modify to work.

 

Got them at O'Reilly Auto parts. Dorman part # 13977. Says it fits 2-3/32" ID wheel hubs. The are a mm or two too small. I used a heavy duty wire cutter and made a cut in the bottom lip that inserts in the hub. A hack saw would probably work too. I then made another similar cut 2 cm away. I bent the newly formed tang outwards a tiny bit. I then made two more similar tangs equally spaced around the dust cap. I sized the cap on the hub to make sure it would press on centered and nice and snug. Covered it with a cloth and tapped it on with a hammer. 200+ miles and no problems.

 

pstar-I tried your hub covers. I got the Dorman part, and put them on. Added the chrome lug nuts I bought 2 years ago. It looked Ok, but just wasn't what I wanted. I think the "star" wheels are what was lacking. My "hole" wheels just looked (to me) like something on any other brand's car (w/o wheelcovers). The "star" is different enough to make the look work. I ended up painting my (spare set) wheelcovers white to match the Panel.

 

That should look good.

I agree, the star wheels make it work. It's harder to make the circle wheels look like you didn't just lose a hubcap.

 

I think the black stars look good.

Nice work!