Wheel trim RANT

[NormanD]

I’m on the last two mile trek home yesterday, after a 30 mile fitness ride, cycling along the cycle path beside the duel carriageway that heads from Gateshead International Stadium to Heworth Roundabout, facing oncoming traffic.

I’d been held up for a few seconds by a bus at the traffic lights of a merging on road, I cross this little section, turn the corner push a few strokes on me peddles then heard the wheel trim long before I saw it.

It came rattling down the carriageway at some speed, shedding bits of plastic as it did so, clipped the curb stone and launched itself into the air at about shoulder height, crossed the cycle path and continued through some trees taking some branches off in the process, then bounced again before leaping the high wire fence into a transport yard.

This thing shot passed about ten to fifteen feet ahead of me, I’d hate to think what might have happened hadn’t I been held up waiting for the bus to pass through.

I’ve seen the damage one of these things can do when one smashed into an enclosed bus stop full of people a few years back.

I mean haven’t these people heard of cable ties? Or at least a wobbling wheel trim would have caused some vibrations through the steering wheel indicating a problem. You often see people driving with a wheel trim in this condition and they just continue on regardless.

Rant over with
Norm

 

[Mr Pig]

With more and more cars sporting alloy wheels it should be less of a problem in future.

As for the cable ties, the real point is that you shouldn't need them. Manufacturers should build their cars so that bits don't fly off at speed. Some design the trims so that the wheel nuts hold them on, that should be compulsory, but sadly no one cares.

Same with space saver spare wheels and cans of tyre foam, by law manufacturers should have to provide a full-size spare.

 

[Night Train]

Wheel trims should be banned and replaced with silver coloured steel wheels where alloys are not fitted. Why can't people just spray their steel wheels silver and be done with it? It's not like the silver plastic trim is fooling anyone.

Same with the other bits of Halfords silver coloured plastic add ons that pretend to be alloy and the sticky back plastic carbon fibre effect.

 

[Black Sheep]

firstly the wobley not quite on wheel trim is so light it makes little to no difference to the handling of feel of the car.

secondly, the ones that have the nuts holding them on are designed by the manufacturer of the car, the ones that don't are often after market ones sold by places such as halfords who, if there is a market for them will continue to sell them.

they can't make them to be held on by the bolts in this setting as there are too many different sizings and spacings.

the reason they come off is people aren't careful and just bash the curb damaging the wheel trim.

the wheel trim has evolved from hub caps that are there to protect the hub and bearings from water and dirt, both mine and almost mrs black sheep's cars have silver steel wheels with a small centre cap, mine does have some chrome trims to cover the point where the wheel and tyre meet but the fact that after 30 years of being on the car they still need a screwdriver to get them off, they ain't gonna be coming loose any time soon.


whats the point of a spare if most people call the AA out? thats the current thinking anyway. Cars that come with wide alloy wheels normally end up with a space saver or a full size spare, however even this is different enough to affect handling of the car - the space saver should reduce confidence in order to stop people driving like a twit in a car with mis-matched wheels

we all know it doesn't tho.

 

[Mr Pig]

the wobley not quite on wheel trim is so light it makes little to no difference to the handling of feel of the car.

You can feel it. The weights they use to balance the wheels when you get new tyres fitted are much lighter than a wheel trim. It might not effect the handling but poorly fitting wheel trims will give you a bit of vibration.

 

[Black Sheep]

You can feel it. The weights they use to balance the wheels when you get new tyres fitted are much lighter than a wheel trim. It might not effect the handling but poorly fitting wheel trims will give you a bit of vibration.

i've not noticed in the company car i had last summer, it had three and a half wheel trims at one bit.

i feel less of whats going on when driving a car with power steering tho as i'm used to one without that has a properly balanced steering rack - ie, i can turn the wheels to parallel park when moving at under 3mph!

 

[Arch]

A bit OT, but we were all at my sister's once, and we got in Mum's car to go out and as she pulled away from the kerb, she realised we had a flat tyre. Due to parked cars, the only place she could pull in again was a side road, some way up the hill. As she turned, the trim on the flat wheel popped off. Once we were pulled up, I set off to retrieve it, to find that it had rolled all the way back down the road, and past where we'd even started off from.. That was a long walk...

 

[stoatsngroats]

Same with space saver spare wheels and cans of tyre foam, by law manufacturers should have to provide a full-size spare.

This is an exceptionally high cost to a manufacturer, when they're producing 200,000+ cars/yr, a saving of £100 per car is £20Million!

 

[Mr Pig]

when they're producing 200,000+ cars a saving of £100 per car is £20Million!

No way it would cost a manufacturer £100 for a wheel and tyre. Plus we're not talking about the cost of a full-sized wheel, just the difference in cost between that and the space saver.

The point is that they are compromising safety solely to save money. And I don't think they should get away with it.

 

[Fnaar]

What's a space saver spare wheel? I've googled, but I'm none the wiser. All my cars have been old second-hand jobbies... still never had one with a cd player as standard

 

[Mr Pig]

What's a space saver spare wheel?

It's a spare wheel which is much smaller than the rest of the wheels on your car. Just so happens I'm selling one on eBay so you can see what they look like: LINK You will have seen one.

They are much narrower than the rest of the wheels/tyres, usually higher profile and often smaller diameter. They call them space savers to make it look like they're doing you a favour when in fact it's just a money saver. Many cars, like mine, still have a space big enough for a full-sized wheel so no space is saved and there are significant down sides to space savers.

You are not supposed to put them on the front of a front-wheel drive car as traction and braking are effected. If you brake hard the car will slew sideways. Speed is limited and, due to the saver being smaller diameter than the other wheels, if you drive for too long with it on the driven axle it could damage the differential. So if you get a puncture on the front you are supposed to move one of the back wheels to the front then fit the saver on the back.

Of course few people bother about any of this stuff! Last week I saw three cars with space savers on the front and do you suppose the insurance would pay out if you crashed like that?

A proper wheel is much better. You can fit it and forget it as the car's handling etc is normal, which is how it should be. Space savers should be illegal as they offer no benefit and increase the likelihood of an accident.

 

[Fnaar]

Blimey, the stingy gits (car manufacturers, that is). Remind me never to get a more modern car; every car I've had has had a proper spare. Would not be happy with one of those jobbies... can only see down sides for the motoris from your description (for which, thank you, by the way ) and no genuine positives (apart from it's round, and will fit on your car for a bit)