FACTORY ALUMINUM WHEEL CENTER CAP MOD
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:30 pm
My 2003 Hilux 4x has factory aluminum rims. When I bought the truck the center caps for the wheels were missing. I priced a set at the dealer, but they were way too pricey (135,000 Colombian pesos - $35 USD each). Couldn't find an aftermarket set here, so ordered a set from a China seller on Ebay for $13.99 USD/set of 4. Trouble is ... the only ones available are for 4x4s with auto locking front hubs and mine are manuals. So I had to mod two of the center caps to make them fit. Finished caps look factory and really cleaned up the look of the wheels.
I decided to post a how-to in case someone else wants to give this a try.
The wheel rim w/o the centercap
The stock cap. Free shipping from China to Colombia only took a week!!
I used a tool for cutting sheet plastic to make a deep score around the center of the cap
Then I drilled a hole pattern in the center, removed it, cut it into pie-shaped sections and CAREFULLY snapped each piece out
The cap with its center removed. The rough edge needed to be cleaned up and enlarged to fit over the manual hub.
Installed center cap fits perfect and looks as good as the factory cap at less than 1/4 of the price.
This mod was fun and pretty easy. Only took about 2 hours to do both sides.
- JAMES
I decided to post a how-to in case someone else wants to give this a try.
The wheel rim w/o the centercap
The stock cap. Free shipping from China to Colombia only took a week!!
I used a tool for cutting sheet plastic to make a deep score around the center of the cap
Then I drilled a hole pattern in the center, removed it, cut it into pie-shaped sections and CAREFULLY snapped each piece out
The cap with its center removed. The rough edge needed to be cleaned up and enlarged to fit over the manual hub.
Installed center cap fits perfect and looks as good as the factory cap at less than 1/4 of the price.
This mod was fun and pretty easy. Only took about 2 hours to do both sides.
- JAMES