Cheap wheel treatment.

[motogeezer]

My recently purchased cargo van has the full plastic hubcaps. Although in great condition, I'm looking to spruce up the wheels a bit. The van had brand new tires on it, so I'm not looking for new wheels just yet. I'd like to do the trim ring and small (dog dish) kind of treatment. Was there a small chrome cap
available to fit these (14") wheels? Maybe from a low line Ranger or Aerostar?
How would they attach, since there don't seem to be any nubby thingys on the wheels to hold a conventional dog dish. I've been looking at Rangers and vans
locally, but haven't seen any small center caps. Suggestions? Thanks

 

[BrooklynBay]

I think that you're looking for police vehicle hub caps.

 

[rv4fun]

We used to call them "Baby Moons". They were all chrome, like small domes that just fit over the hub.

 

[motogeezer]

I'm thinking the issue is that the stock 14" wheels don't have a provision for snapping on a traditional type hub cap. There are not "bumps" to grip the cap.
I've seen some Rangers with a small center cap, but they may be bolted on
from the back of the wheel. I have a Jeep Comanche with that type of center cap. Gotta pull the wheel, and undo a couple of speed nuts from the back to remove the center. I'll just have to keep my eyes open for a Ranger with that
type of center cap, and take a good look at it.

 

[Bobmbx]

You'll need to find a set of old steel wheels in order to that, or search for new wheels that fit your needs.

 

[Fordsgalore4]

thats what im doing to my van i just bought, i repainted the rims black and got a set of plastic center caps that screw on like the the rangers and the 91 and older Aerostars came with but you they have to be bolted on since there nothing to screw into iv been looking for a set of Crome beauty rims but there hard to come by that this time ill take a few pics of what i did in the morning

 

[motogeezer]

That would be great, thank you.

 

[Fordsgalore4]

this what I did there the stock rims that came on the van with to plastic in my word ugly last pic is my old caps . I went to junk yard and got the factory center caps off a ranger the older aero also had them steel or alum rims does not matter. I could not find the chrome beauty ring for it and my center caps I bought are chrome but were in poor shape so I painted them also to make the say on you are going to have to find some small bolts and just bolt them on to the rim they lugs are still reachable with the cap on

 

[rv4fun]

I don'know, I think I like a little color on the wheels-tires. I'd still be running white-walls if I could find them at a reasonable price. Some chrome would brighten things up - it's a shame those beauty rings didn't show-up. Not having any money for that project, I'll stick with the stock hubcaps and hope something better comes along. I'm not a big fan of the stock aluminum wheels though they're sometimes available. I think there's got to be something better out there without buying new spoked "mag" wheels.

 

[BrooklynBay]

My 1995 van has the same hub caps as the last photo.

 

[FROADER]

I don't know if they will work on the older wheels, but what about these explorer caps?

 

[Fordsgalore4]

I don'know, I think I like a little color on the wheels-tires. I'd still be running white-walls if I could find them at a reasonable price. Some chrome would brighten things up - it's a shame those beauty rings didn't show-up. Not having any money for that project, I'll stick with the stock hubcaps and hope something better comes along. I'm not a big fan of the stock aluminum wheels though they're sometimes available. I think there's got to be something better out there without buying new spoked "mag" wheels.

ya i wish it had more color but i could not find nice clean centers all the chrome was pealing off i want a set of alum ranger rims but in 14s but for now this will do i just dislike the stock hub caps

 

[Fordsgalore4]

I don't know if they will work on the older wheels, but what about these explorer caps?

i have not tried that yet i no you need the lugs to make that work

 

[BrooklynBay]

Did you think about powder coating the wheels? You could make them any color that you like.

 

[Adam_tinkerer]

I painted the rims aluminum on mine, always hated those plastic bowling ball caps!

That's one on the front there. I later got some 15" Explorer rims, seen on the back. Never got the front two on, since the front tires only last about 10K miles.

 

[Fordsgalore4]

I painted the rims aluminum on mine, always hated those plastic bowling ball caps!

That's one on the front there. I later got some 15" Explorer rims, seen on the back. Never got the front two on, since the front tires only last about 10K miles.

oh I like the ranger rims what size tire do you run for the 15s

 

[Adam_tinkerer]

oh I like the ranger rims what size tire do you run for the 15s

I found some websites with tire size calculators, and the stock size is 215/70/14. The 15" equivalent is 215/65/15. I bought a pair of Falkens from Discount Tire for them. Couldn't find any of the stock center caps in the salvage yard, but I easily found four of the knurled ones used on the Explorer alloy rims. They look pretty good on my rims. If I can ever scrape together funds for another Aero, I'll get the whole set on.

 

[Fordsgalore4]

I found some websites with tire size calculators, and the stock size is 215/70/14. The 15" equivalent is 215/65/15. I bought a pair of Falkens from Discount Tire for them. Couldn't find any of the stock center caps in the salvage yard, but I easily found four of the knurled ones used on the Explorer alloy rims. They look pretty good on my rims. If I can ever scrape together funds for another Aero, I'll get the whole set on.

It looks good im going to find a nice cheap set of ranger explorer rims out here and do that im having a hard time finding ATs for the 215/70R14s I drive a lot of snow and rain covered roads and need the ATs the only tire I can find it the 14s is highway ones and that's not going to work for me

 

[rv4fun]

Firestone still has their "Winter Force" tires in that size. They have a pretty aggressive tread design but no mileage warranty. They're reasonably priced as tires go today.

It is indeed getting hard to find the 215/70R14 size tires for the Aerostar. I've used the Douglas X-TracII (made in Mexico by Goodyear) from Wal-Mart several times and probably will again in a few days for my everyday driver. I could special order the Firestone Firehawk 500s but they aren't stocked in St Louis. Firestone also handles "Primewell" tires made in China but I'll avoid them as long as possible.

 

[BrooklynBay]

What's the treadwear rating on these tires? Low treadwear rated tires tend to crack or dry rot prematurely since the rubber is a low grade that's cheap. I've been having a hard time trying to find this size tire for years.