The other day we saw a car that that had shiny black wheels and they were trimmed in bright red. Claire said, \u201cthose are mighty fancy hubcaps.\u201d Of course people around our age do usually refer to the part of the car\u2019s wheels that you see, as hubcaps \u2014 of maybe if you\u2019re a little younger, you call them wheel covers.
But are they called hubcaps or wheel covers? Is there a difference? And do cars today have hubcaps or wheel covers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wheels and tires on cars have changed a lot since I was young. I remember that all tires had tubes inside them \u2014 that\u2019s the thing that held the air. But then someone came up with the tubeless tire, and there aren\u2019t many, if any, car or truck tires that have tubes\u2026. I think bicycles still have tubes in their tires. Until I was well into adulthood, almost all car tires had \u201cwhitewalls.\u201d I remember when you washed the car, you had to do the tires because the whitewall always got dirty \u2014 I think SOS pads were the preferred tool for cleaning them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But anyhow, today most all cars come with what\u2019s called alloy wheels \u2014 rarely do we see \u201cwheel covers.\u201d Most wheels still have hubcaps, but they look a little different than what I grew up calling hubcaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cModern\u201d cars, for a long time, used metal wheels \u2014 the part without the tires. When steel wheels were the thing, manufacturers used hubcaps to protect them from corrosion. Steel is susceptible to rust, especially when being covered with debris from the road \u2014 and salt in the winter. But hubcaps didn\u2019t cover the whole wheel \u2014 they were only used to cover the center part \u2014 the part that attaches to the wheel hub. That\u2019s the part that contains the bolts that the wheel attaches to. Hubcaps only cover that center area, and the early one were simple and looked like a plate.\u00a0
Today\u2019s alloy wheels still cover that area with the bolts but the modern term is center caps \u2014 not hubcaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now on to wheel covers \u2014 these cover the whole wheel and are usually only used for steel wheels and only serve a cosmetic purpose. Even though they cover the wheel, they don\u2019t really offer much protection from dirt or debris.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s the point of all this? As usual, there is no point \u2014 I just thought it was interesting the way automotive technology \u2014 and terms \u2014 have evolved over the years. I guess just like everything else, as things change it creates confusion over terminology
But \u2014 if you were paying attention as you read, I have now set you straight about hubcaps, wheel covers and wheels.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The other day we saw a car that that had shiny black wheels and they were trimmed in bright red. Claire said, \u201cthose are mighty fancy hubcaps.\u201d Of course people around our age do usually refer to the part of … Continue reading