So what is a Wheel Cover? in simple teams it’s a cover that helps keep dirt and sunlight away from the wheel rim and tyre. When your car is stored outside it is under constant bombardment from the elements be it sun, rain, snow, wind, dust or a combination of all four! Lets brake this down so we can see what we are trying to protect.
The wheel is a good starting point, made from steel or aluminium and painted more often than not. This is not going to last if left unprotected, any paint will fade and could even peel causing you the job of repainting or worse.
Inside the wheel you have the brake drum or disc, normally made from cast iron and not very good at repelling the elements. Rusty brakes means a strip down and or replacement of parts, this will be expensive and could have been avoided.
Inside the brake hub or disc you have wheel bearings, this is normally well greased and has a seal that is designed to keep water out which is great when the car was new but your old classic is far from new. Water will find its way into the bearings and again will cause damage. Replacement and repairs will be the only way forward at this point and again your hand will be reaching for your wallet!
Now we get on to the tyres. We all know how much tyres can be and we don’t like replacing them if can help it, so why do you leave your car out all year with the sun beating down. Then the cold sets in and off we go again a never ending heating and cooling cycle on a material that is very heat absorbent. When we drive our cars the tyres are always being moved about so the tyre is less likely to get the full brunt of the sun etc but when parked up for long periods of time the damage starts to set in.
You can now see why a simple cover that fits over the wheel and tyre should help keep all of the above in better condition and in the long run save you time and money.
We supply the Wheel Covers in a range of rim sizes but when considering your purchase bear in mind the tyres overall diameter. We have constructed a simple guide to help with this, older cars have a taller side wall so by just using the rim size can cause the wrong product being ordered.