3 buck alloy wheel center caps!

Hey great find! I wonder though if the metals might react to each other and cause pitting in the rim?

 

Can also consider painting them with chrome spray paint.

 

These are great ... only 0.92 ea at Lowes - even bought an extra for a back-up. My local dealer wanted $25 ea for TMC brand. I kind of like the no-name look. Thanks for the post, Bart:mod:

 

They are at LEAST clear-coated, so yeah... not metal-metal contact... unless you scratch through the paint. Still, adding a bit of grease to each tine would fix any issue there as well.

 

Great Idea !!!!

 

Thank you for the tip. I bought some and spray painted it chrome.

 

You could also buy some plain or light reflective tape, and cover the cap. The silver-white refective might look pretty good at night as well. If you do this be sure to buy only the 3M 680 Scotchlite refectives since the cheap stuff stretches too much. Also the 3M comes with a clear cover that you peel away after the tape is applied to the surface. That way the surface is undamaged by handling during your installation.

 

Nice find and great idea! I just picked up the Toyota centre-caps yesterday ($20 each tax in, but what the heck...)



regards
Dan

 

I was also thinking of using a carbon fiber sticker I have lying around. Iwill go buy another set and post pictures when I have it.

 

Thanks!

Took it yesterday on a drive, fun car boy.

Dan

 

Yes Dan that really is one of the nicer pics of the GIII that I've seen. Almost has an HDR feel without being over the top.

 

Thank you rstark18

Not HDR, however I can understand the reference as the shot does feel "HDR"ish. If interested here is the exif data

Taken with a Nikon D80 & 18-200vr (older version) @ 40mm f13 1/250 ISO 200 and PP in Capture NX. The sky was close to being blown and I actually threw a Black selection point on it and I think that contributed a lot to the look. That and a very large amount of High Pass Sharpening.

Cheers
Dan

 

Someone must have pushed up the cost of center caps for Gen III. I paid less than $50 for 4 from the dealership, if I remember correctly. Perhaps it's time to try the online store which sells Toyota parts on the cheap. Can't remember their name -- can anyone help?

 

No proof or anything, but I agree that Toyota must have conjured up the 15" hub caps to solve an air flow issue. That was what accounted for the widely-praised trim ring on the inside of the 15" circumference of the Gen II. Toyota had found turbulence there in the wind tunnel and than devised the trim rings to fix it. Must have been something similar on the Gen III, as the hubcaps do cost $ and Toyota seems to have tried to economize all over the car (though I'm not complaining ... i like the interior and the sharpened exterior look). I just wish they hadn't touched those hubcaps with the "ugly stick."

 

parts.com is one online store where a lot of PriusChatters have gotten their center caps. It charges around $10.50 per cap. But then you have to add about $13 for shipping & handling for 4 caps, so the total delivered price for 4 works out to around $55.

There are other online stores that may sell them for less. But I didn't find them when I did a quick search last year.

Here's one of the center caps threads with all the info (types available, part numbers, etc.):

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...ifications/61201-15-wheel-center-caps-15.html

 

Great idea theloop82!
I was borderline looking for new wheels for my brand new Prius III and saw this thread. Within 20 minutes I had the covers off, bought the close out caps at Home Depot ( 80 cents each ) and am looking good!

I might even silk screen a big "H" in the center ( for Helex ).