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[quote=bfrabel;56536149]I doubt it. In fact I would argue that hubcaps could make rust/corrosion worse since moisture might get trapped behind the hubcaps and the hubcaps could prevent stuff from drying out as easily.
Not to mention. As a kid a prank was to pop off the hub caps and put a few rocks in there.
Mine are constantly falling off, for whatever reason. I used to keep two sets on hand (matching two on each side), but ran out. Then I zip-tied them in place, but I forgot to do that last rotation, and now I'm down one again. Is there any practical reason why you HAVE to have hubcaps? Would the wheel and/or lug nuts rust and corrode when exposed to the elements without them?
Hubcaps
Lack of power locks
Lack of power windows
No tilt wheel (I never understood why tilt wheel was listed under "features" until I drove a truck w/o one)
Keyless entry
We're almost in the year 2020 and we still have to check for vehicles not having the above?
If I were looking at a car and I had to pay extra for hubcaps, I wouldn't.
If they gave me a discount to delete hubcaps, I'd take it.
If I lost a hubcap (I have) I wouldn't buy one to replace it.
In other words, I basically don't care about hubcaps.
Some hubcaps are there mainly for looks, other hubcaps protect parts in that area.
If your hubcaps are mainly for looks, I would feel fine ditching them.
The hubcaps I have on the front of my van protect the grease-covers on my wheel-bearings, so I feel they are important. On the rear, I have no hubcaps and there is not much that can be damaged without them.
My only concern is the lug nuts corroding or rusting in place and becoming difficult to remove (although it's a 12-year-old car, so I doubt there are that many rotations/tire changes in its future). Someone mentioned substituting the original metal for chrome???
My only concern is the lug nuts corroding or rusting in place and becoming difficult to remove (although it's a 12-year-old car, so I doubt there are that many rotations/tire changes in its future). Someone mentioned substituting the original metal for chrome???
The presence or absence of wheel covers won't make any difference to corrosion of the parts. They aren't sealed.
The best thing you can do about lug nut corrosion is to take them off and slather the stud threads with anti-seize, also the center pilot of the wheel onto the hub. If you change out to snow tires every winter, repeat this at each change. Otherwise repeat it whenever you have a wheel off for any reason.
Hubcaps
Lack of power locks
Lack of power windows
No tilt wheel (I never understood why tilt wheel was listed under "features" until I drove a truck w/o one)
Keyless entry
We're almost in the year 2020 and we still have to check for vehicles not having the above?
The only feature my Jeep has is automatic transmission. I like the lack of features, especially no keyless entry since I can just put a Jew key on my regular key chain and no bulkiness or other issues.
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