Wheel Covers

Yes they are pretty.  And capable of injuries requiring stitches (yeah guess how I know) when trying to fight a leaking extender thru those little openings.  But are they necessary?  I am wondering about running without them so I don't have so many struggles with the valves and getting TPMS units on and off. 

I removed our wheel covers after the first year. I had a leak involving an extension on an inside rear wheel. After that I retired the extensions and the wheel covers (yes, they are pretty). I bought one metal extension that I use to  check the inside tires.

But are they necessary?

Nope.  But they are pretty.

I have a 2017 2552, PC has done away with the long valve extender attached to the center cup and use a shorter bent valve stem. I do not run TPMS so I purchased a single 4 inch straight valve extender at a NAPA store to use when checking air pressure. There were many lengths available so why not just extend the valve to allow the TPMS unit to just clear the cover. Just remove the TPMS to air up the tire.

We bought our PC brand new over 10 years ago.  It has those flexible braided extenders attached to the center hubs.  The rig has around 37,000 miles on it today.  I have not yet disturbed anything with the tires, extenders, or wheel covers, untouched since Phoenix sold the rig to us.  I have never had an issue with a leak, but I fear any disturbance will yield in extender leakage and then wheel cover removal.

I had looked into replacing 4 of the 6 steel wheels with Alcoa alloy wheels when it comes time to replace the tires.  Here were some of the part numbers I found some years ago.

160241 - front wheels polished/finished for front mount
160242 - rear wheels polished/finished for rear mount
?????? - front center hub cap
?????? - rear center hub cap
190 - lug cap x32
13/99/87 - the lugs that accept the caps (I think we have these already)

I recalled locating a company in the south (maybe Alabama) that sold them so much cheaper than everyone else, including shipping.  I wish I kept that information.  Just now I just googled "Alcoa Wheels E350" and found THIS Retailer

You don't want to replace the inside rear wheels from steel to alloy because the rear axle lug stems on the E350/E450 are not long enough for the extra thickness of the Alcoa wheel x2.

Of coarse having Alcoa wheels eliminates tire rotation.  I would never rotate our tires anyway so that works for me.

I've seen high-end motor homes sold with Alcoa wheels and they really look sharp.  Our PC would look so much better with them.  It would be the perfect time, replacing tires and wheels together like that.  I'd then sell my old wheels and tires mounted on them, on Craigslist to recover some of the cost.  A local landscaper in my community running around with older-yet bald tires and bent & rusted wheels on his truck would surely be interested in them.  He can swap them himself on his driveway, keeping his costs lower yet.

Our wheel covers untouched for the past 10+ years.

Thanks for the responses.  I will consider mine history I believe.  I can see where they had already rubbed the finish off the wheels so I will see about cleaning that up.  If I ever get really bored, I might see what kind of gray paint I can find to do the wheels instead of the standard white so they won't look quite so noticeable on my gray and silver PC.

If you are going to paint the wheels, consider Eastwood companies 'Argent" paint for wheels. Did it once and came out nice.

Maybe a shiny aluminum spray paint would look good.

I like ours, and will be keeping them. Unfortunately, replacing the front brakes left me with studs just a wee bit too short to mount the fronts again.   I think so at least..might be the retaining nuts.. I had NO (feel very foolish now..) idea how the front 'holding lugs' came off. You know how hard it is to separate the stainless cap off the nut?  I ruined 5 of them before a drivers lug rotated.. and gave me a clue.  I felt like a FOOL! The T-handle tool I found in back made more sense after that also. 

I would be interested in buying your used hubcaps, or at the very least the retaining nuts.

Hi Folks,
You may wish to consider Duallyvalve for wheels with wheel covers. Check out their website www.duallyvalve.com. These are not valve extensions, but replacement valves. Although the valves are relatively inexpensive, the labor involved in replacing them isn't. These valves work well with wheel covers. I bit the bullet and did all six wheels at once but you can piece meal it as you replace tires. Leaky valve extensions had tried my patience. Have had them on my coach since 2008.

I really like our hubcaps now, after being without them for a couple weeks.

I ended up machining down 8 of the lug nuts about .120 to allow for the original retaining nuts to work. WOW the coach looks so much better.

I have spent a little time in the past cleaning aluminum wheels on trucks, both with aluma brite and by hand polish polish.. I got all four hubcaps looking great in the time it would take to polish one wheel.

Thanks for the PM on the extenders, Roo!  We have new tires on at the moment, so wont have an opportunity to be switching out soon.

Happy New Year everyone!

Just throwing this option out there for the interested and curious....powder-coat your PC wheels.  Powder-coating is the finish used by auto makers when they offer painted alloy wheels.  It is much more than a paint.  You can have the wheels powder-coated in just about any color including one that resembles a polished alloy.  Of coarse the challenge for us PC owners is placing the rig on heavy duty jack stands for a number of days, and also matter of dismounting your tires from your rims, balance them again, etc.  But if replacing your tires, the timing is right to consider such a project.

I have used THIS SHOP in the Chicago area who charges only $50 per wheel.  They sand blast the entire wheel and powder-coat the entire wheel.

I bought a 2007 Pontiac Solstice GXP in 2016 to restore and sell for profit.  It originally came with polished alloy wheels with clear coat, but the clear coat was failing along with impact blemishes and curb rash.  I had the 4 wheels powder-coated to match other silver-painted parts on the car like the windshield frame and the trim outside high up behind the seats.  I did it primarily because the car turned out so well that the wheels brought down it's over-all appearance.  The car needed new tires anyway so it was the perfect time to restore the wheels.

Here is the finished product.
I wonder what a PC would look like with the polished-alloy painted finish.




I still favor replacing the steel wheels (4 of the 6) with ALCOA alloy wheels when it is time to replace our tires.