stock rims (steelies)

i have a 99 lx sedan with steelies and the OEM covers.

i was wondering how to get the covers off?

i tried prying, but didn't want to break them, do you have to remove the lug nuts?

once i get those off is there an easy way to re-finish the steelies (mine are rusting)?

it is possible to sand/paint them without removing the tire?

would any shop be willing to do this (i'm also in the market for some cheap new tires, could they do it when they change them)?

i forgot how steelies with hubcaps look like. if there's no center cap, then yes, take the lug nut off, then you can get the hubcaps off. don't know how you could polish it though.

Yeah you gotta remove the lug nuts and the covers pop right out. Paint your hubcaps black =D

here are step by step instruction
1. remove hubcap cover
2. throw in trash
3. ride on dookies until you can either get new oem/aftermarket rims
4. drink coke cuz its better than pepsi

im not knocking you bro i just hate hubcaps

jdm_dynasty said:

i forgot how steelies with hubcaps look like. if there's no center cap, then yes, take the lug nut off, then you can get the hubcaps off. don't know how you could polish it though.

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i wasn't going to polish anything, i just want to sand out the rust in the steelies and re-paint them black.

cg6boi said:

here are step by step instruction
1. remove hubcap cover
2. throw in trash
3. ride on dookies until you can either get new oem/aftermarket rims
4. drink coke cuz its better than pepsi

im not knocking you bro i just hate hubcaps

Click to expand...

i totally agree, i was hoping to get rid of the hub caps and repaint the steelies (hopefully for free), and use them until i can get something better (summer?).

when i take the lug nuts off to pull off the hub cap, do i need to jack up the car? or will the wheel stay on (safely) without the lug nuts?

EDIT: anyone know of a good place to buy some slipstreams? preferably with cheap/decent tires included?

and what size fits my car? i think it's 4x114.3 but what offset? and what the biggest size that'll fit? are there any tires i could buy now that would fit on aftermarket rims (slipstreams)?

yea, theirs a little ring around the lug nut that holds the caps on. take off the caps and paint like this:




yes thats my car, yes that was last winter, yes it was hilarious, hahaha.

Sketch o5 said:

yea, theirs a little ring around the lug nut that holds the caps on. take off the caps and paint like this:

yes thats my car, yes that was last winter, yes it was hilarious, hahaha.

Click to expand...

so, do i need to jack it up when i remove the lug nuts?

and can i just spray paint the steelies while still on the car?

Sketch o5 said:

Click to expand...

hmmm, didnt see those pics coming when discussing painting steelies

it would be easier to take them off the car to paint. youd avoid runs plus you wouldnt be painting spots on your brakes. masking off the tires would be easier as well...speaking from personal experience of course...lol.

if youre not using an impact gun, use your lug wrench to break the nuts free. jack up the car enough to lift the tire off the ground. then, you can take the lugnuts and the cap off. you should have lugnuts on the car if the tire is bearing weight

i jacked it up and took one off. the steelie is not looking good (rusted) and the center piece is yellow. i'll get a pic up later.

i don't really have the time to take the wheels off to re-paint the rim, so i think i might just try to fix up the hub caps for now.

here's the current condition of the one i took off:





the others are similar. is there any kind of solution that would take the rest of the finish off without damaging the plastic underneath?

sanding all those weird angles just doesn't look like fun.

when i re-paint should i go for that black, or should i just re-do something similar to the silver that's on there now?

is there any hope: