3 buck alloy wheel center caps!

Thank you so much for the great idea. I got mine for 88¢ ea. but i took it one more step further. I didn't like the cheap unfinished metal look to them, so I took a little of the Aluminum/Steel polisher powder for my pot and pans and rubbed them for a couple of mins each and now they have that polished satin finish that matches the rims much better IMO. Here's a pic

 

Lowe's for .97 a piece, smooth with no size marking at all.

 

Thanks for the advice. I picked mine up from Home Depot yesterday. They had the 1 1/2" stamp on them but I just filled it in with some putty and painted over the whole thing.

 

Here's my two Yen, for whatever its worth. First and foremost, the reason I found the beautiful rims behind the cheap nice person hubcaps is because of this thread. For that, I thank you greatly! Secondly, while the proposed center caps seem like a good idea, they really aren't (sorry). The electrical plug tangs are actually fairly sharp and you have to bend them out quite a bit for a 2011. I can't speak to other years, but I assume they are the same. Its VERY EASY to scratch the alloy rims if you aren't VERY careful. I decided to order the Toyota chrome center caps from Parts.com and they look great! That being said, Parts.com sucks and it took them over 3 weeks to ship these to me, for approximately 53 bucks. eBay is definitely the way to go. But, like I said, the rims under the ridiculous hubcaps, are really great but I would advise against this particular 'mod'.

 

I dont know why you would be against this mod.. it worked for me! no scratches and I spent less then 5.00 lol ..

 

Well, I've had mine on and off countless times during the process of painting, fitting center medallions, etc. (along with installing them on 4 other Prii) and have yet to scratch anything but my finger.
A possibly solution might be a can of "Plasti-Dip" (made to insulate or create grips on tools-about $6 at Lowes), Just dip the offending tangs and let them dry. Should eliminate even the slightest chance of scratching, and might even reduce the need to bend the tangs out quite as far.
Even with that purchase, you're still under $11 for the whole set of metal (not plastic) caps.

Just a thought....

 

Our Home Depot only had the covers with the "1 1/2" stamps on them, so I rummaged thru the entire box to find four that were lightly stamped. Also looked for other surface defects.
Then I went to the paint section. Rustoleum Metallic Matte Nickel (7277830) worked out nicely. It's very very close to the Toyota wheel color. After bending the tangs out enough so that they appeared to be ready, I wrapped electrical tape around the tangs (two at a time, so that the electrical tape sticky side meets between the tangs) then popped them in.

 

I remember reading on another thread that the "official" center caps jutted out far enough to interfere with replacing the wheel covers if one was so inclined, say, for the winter months. These knockouts look pretty flat. Has anyone tried to put the wheel covers back on with these in place?

 

Sure do appreciate your posting this solution; I followed your instructions and the wheels look great.

 

Our friends from China are selling them for $11, not $60.

4x WHEEL HUB CENTER CAPS FOR 2004 to 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS | eBay

I just bought these 4 days ago, price was $15.

 

I'll post pictures of these "fake" caps from China next to the $60 OEM caps, when I get them. Should be a few more days.

 

Thanks Mac !

Just bought mine for $11.

REV

 

No prob Rev. That's what sh'boy is here for, to help you save some bang.

Edit: Now the listing is at $9.98. This is tufa king ridiculous. I must say I'm a lil bit angry, lil bit sad, but a lil happy for the rest of you.

4x WHEEL HUB CENTER CAPS FOR 2004 to 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS | eBay

 

If you hold these you realize what a rip-off the Toyota caps are. They are puny little bits of chromed plastic.:angry:

 

You have the genuine Toyota ones?

 

Yeah ... I saw that as well on my shipping notice ... I am so pissed ... a DOLLAR LESS !!!!! Just kidding.

Did you get yours yet Mac ?

REV

 

Not yet, I ordered on Sat. I saw a feedback saying China to CA in 7 days. So I'm hoping to get it maybe on the weekend? Who thought I'd be so excited about center caps...

 

Not sure if they're the same: I have the centre caps for the 17" OEM rims. They're pretty dinky. Just assumed the same, or something very similar, was used on the 15" rims without the covers.