Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

[SteveCanup]

The wheels look great. Here's a pic of some Galaxie caps on Dodge 20 inch wheels for an idea...

[orangeRcode]

How are those hubs held on the dodge wheels?

[viper driver]

How are those hubs held on the dodge wheels?

Yes, how?

I saw in another thread this was from slick Facebook. I prowled arOund there for an hour trying To find it to see how this was done. I've got a couple ideas for attaching them, but I'd like to know how this one was done.

Thanks!

[SteveCanup]

He used push through center caps...like these....


He then installed a bolt through the middle of the 'push through' caps and then drilled a small hole in the hubcap and used a chrome acorn nut to hold the hub-cap to the wheel. If you look closely in the close-up pic, you will note the acorn nut on the hub cap. Ingenious. The pic I posted are the ones I have ordered and will be here Tuesday. I might do the same....Hope this makes sense and helps...

[viper driver]

He used push through center caps...like these....


He then installed a bolt through the middle of the 'push through' caps and then drilled a small hole in the hubcap and used a chrome acorn nut to hold the hub-cap to the wheel. If you look closely in the close-up pic, you will note the acorn nut on the hub cap. Ingenious. The pic I posted are the ones I have ordered and will be here Tuesday. I might do the same....Hope this makes sense and helps...

that does make sense, and it's a great idea. I'm not sure those type of push through caps will work on the CV OEM wheels. There's no clearance in there, but it sure is a good idea. I'll have to give that a try. THanks!

[SteveCanup]

I want to ask...what did you use to weld up the holes in your Crown Vic wheels? They look great btw. I want to do the same to mine...10 oval holes per wheel times four wheels....whew! That's a lot of welding.

[viper driver]

came out nice, had the tires installed today.

[viper driver]

I want to ask...what did you use to weld up the holes in your Crown Vic wheels? They look great btw. I want to do the same to mine...10 oval holes per wheel times four wheels....whew! That's a lot of welding.

steve, I hesitate to say this, figure a thousand people will tell me how wrong this is. I filled these just like I do firewalls. made oversize square patches that I welded to the back of the holes. i think they were 1.5 x 2", if I remember right. cut them on a chop saw from the same thickness steel as the wheel, about 1/8" i think. I welded them from the back and then from the front as well. once I had the patches welded on, I used evercoat everglass to fill the 1/8" deep circles. That stuff dries a thousand times harder than normal Rage filler, and can be used much thicker. I left it just below the surface, then filled the last bit with Evercoat Rage. Then filler primer, 400 grit sanding, and single stage black to finish it off.

I agree, welding them perfectly level with circular holes that perfectly fit is a better option. My skills don't allow that. There is certainly a chance that this filler will crack. I've used this stuff dozens of times, and in many cases way thicker than this, and I've never had it crack before, but it absolutely could. If it does, I don't see any safety issue. I also spent all of zero dollars on these wheels, so I'm not out much if they do.

But, why would you do this? just buy some smoothie wheels! --there aren't any with this crazy +63 offset, or whatever it is. If someone made them, I'd buy a set. I know of one place that will make them, and a guy who bought them. They didn't clear his brakes and he then had to put spacers on, totally defeating the purpose. These fit...well. They aren't perfect, but I like the look. It's just right for me. I daily drive this, so the crown vic mechanical bits are just right for me!

[SteveCanup]

Those wheels are "mac daddy!" Sharp! Some spider caps or chrome center caps (think small moons) will really pop on those black wheels. You did exactly what I was thinking about doing. I actually took some metal out today and cut a few pieces to go over the holes. Then thought about just welding them to the back of the wheel and filling the difference. Thanks for the input.
Steve-

[orangeRcode]

I agree with Steve, those wheels are the cat's a$$. Love em!

Steve, take some pics of your filling in project. I would like to see and possibly do it as well!

[SteveCanup]

With moon caps...

You don't see the acorn nut in the middle. Here's everything you would need to install hubcaps to Ford or Dodge 17" or 20" wheels...

Orange, I will post more pics on my build thread....I've already hijacked Viper Drivers' thread enough....lol....

[Justind]

are those 16s or 17s?

[orangeRcode]

are those 16s or 17s?

Steve's are 17"

[viper driver]

Steve i like the mini moon cap a lot! that looks great.

I'm looking around for something in a similar size to that one that says "ford" on it. Seems like Model B wire wheel center caps from the 30s might be just about right. I don't think I can use those push through center caps on my car to mount them. the edge of the OEM crown vic 17" wheel's center bore is tight against the hub. There's not a thousandth of clearance in there for even the thinnest cap to fit and poke through.

[viper driver]

are those 16s or 17s?

justin, mine are the stock 2008 crown vic police interceptor 17x7.5 wheels. the ones that have 10 holes per wheel.

[viper driver]

my wheel patches have started to crack. as I suspected might happen, the edges of the filler to the wheel. I know wheels flex a bit, but it's more than I thought. took several hundred miles, but there are very small cracks now right at the edge of the filler. It's only on the front wheels so far, likely because I have an inch less sidewall there or maybe due to them turning and adding more sideload to the wheel.

the cracks right now are small enough that probably nobody else would ever notice, but I have a couple other ideas on how to fix it. So far I'm zero dollars in to this project. it looks good and was free, so I'll keep working on making it better.

[SteveCanup]

Thanks for the feedback. Let us know what you do to fix it.

[SteveCanup]

Any updates?

[viper driver]

Any updates?

Here's a photo from this morning after a drive with my 3 and 6 year old boys.

8500 miles on it now. Drive it to work quite a bit, haul my mountain bike to races around Southern AZ. I've taken it cross country out of state twice. Taken my boys to the donut shop dozens of times. It's just great.

The wheels still have hairline cracks where I filled the holes. I haven't even bothered with it so far. Just too much to enjoy in life to worry much about it. I've got a couple ideas to fix it still, but I might not ever get around to it.

The crown vic drivetrain has given me trouble twice. One ignition relay went bad, killing the engine in my neighborhood. Easy fix using the google. The electric cooling fan quit, which was tough to even notice til it was idling here in the AZ heat. The cooling system is so strong, and my 61 temp gauge so sketchy, that I probably drove for months that way. Don't think I hurt anything, just finally noticed the AC compressor was turning off occasionally. Anyway, it's just great.

What a fun truck.

[oldsmiley]

Did you know you could get SHOT for cutting up that beautiful bed floor.....lol. I know ALL about building YOUR truck to YOUR desire. I get ridiculed over mine all the time. Just saying that on the East coast and elsewhere, solid bodies like that are getting SUPER hard to come by.

Can't wait for the finished product.....