fyrfytr1717
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Turlock, CA
Let me start off by saying that I loved the Eccos on my '99 Classic. So much so that they are still sitting in boxes in my garage as I haven't brought myself to sell them yet. I did not however love their backspacing. Sure, wheel spacers were an option, but I just didn't want to go there. I was also set on sticking with the stock sliver color for the wheels (not polished or chrome) as I think it compliments my Chili Pepper Red with silver decals quite nicely. I was considering the AEV Pintlers, but they discontinued everything except the 17" sizes. Eventually I gave up on my search for silver painted alloys and decided to go for the good 'ol Cragars. I wanted to stick with the stock five spoke look so I went for the V-5's, in silver of course! (With some brand spankin' new KM2's I might add...)
Yep, they were ugly, just as I had feared. Especially the rusty nuts showing through the centers on them. They needed to be covered, but I didn't want the Cragar center caps. First off, I'm not a fan of chrome (they don't come in silver), second the big cans get smashed on rocks. I decided I wanted to use stock Jeep center caps instead. I had seen some pics out there of other folks that had used them and even stumbled upon a write up on another forum. I was still a little afraid as their install seemed sloppy and prone to having off centered caps. It was time to figure out a better solution on my own.
I picked my favorite Jeep center caps and ordered a few on eBay to play around with. Mine came off an '04 Liberty, but I believe they were used on TJ's and possibly other models as well. They're usually around $9 a piece on eBay, but you can get them for as little as $5 if you're patient and buy a set of 4 or 5. They are 5 spoke, low profile, and they even came in silver!
They use two locating studs and 3 #10 screws to hold them in place.
OK, so the obvious problem here is that there are no holes in the Cragars to bolt them up to. I took careful measurements off the center caps and found that all the mounting points are a dead on 5 on 4.5" pattern, just like the lugs! This got me to thinking... I could make a 10 on 4.5" template, line it up with the lug holes on the wheels, and use that to figure out where to drill. This needed to be pretty darn precise as the center caps would not fit over the hubs if they were too far off center. Here is what I came up with.
I made the circle in the middle 3.3" to match the bore of the Cragars and drew circles around alternating marks matching the size of the lug holes on my wheel. (I realize drawing these templates would be very time consuming without a CAD program. I might be willing to print off some extra copies if anyone is interested. Send me a PM...) For anyone making their own templates, 5 lug patterns are not as confusing as they might seem. Most on-line guides tell you to start at the center of one hole, skip a hole, and then measure to the back edge of the next hole. While this may be an easy way to figure out your pattern, it is not very accurate. There is actually no mystery to our 5 lug patterns. XJ's are still a 4.5" center to center measurement, it's just that there is no opposing lug hole to measure the center of. (See the following diagram) I started out with a 4.5" diameter circle, picked a starting point, and then divided it into 10 even pieces. A 360* circle means that each pair of adjacent points will form a 36* angle.
I cut out the templates and put a dab of glue stick at each drilling point to stick them to the wheels. The glue stick is immediately tacky, dries slowly, and is easy to clean off the wheels afterward. It's ideal for getting everything lined up just right.
(All the circles in the above pic are precisely aligned, I just couldn't find a camera angle that would show it.)
continued...
Yep, they were ugly, just as I had feared. Especially the rusty nuts showing through the centers on them. They needed to be covered, but I didn't want the Cragar center caps. First off, I'm not a fan of chrome (they don't come in silver), second the big cans get smashed on rocks. I decided I wanted to use stock Jeep center caps instead. I had seen some pics out there of other folks that had used them and even stumbled upon a write up on another forum. I was still a little afraid as their install seemed sloppy and prone to having off centered caps. It was time to figure out a better solution on my own.
I picked my favorite Jeep center caps and ordered a few on eBay to play around with. Mine came off an '04 Liberty, but I believe they were used on TJ's and possibly other models as well. They're usually around $9 a piece on eBay, but you can get them for as little as $5 if you're patient and buy a set of 4 or 5. They are 5 spoke, low profile, and they even came in silver!
They use two locating studs and 3 #10 screws to hold them in place.
OK, so the obvious problem here is that there are no holes in the Cragars to bolt them up to. I took careful measurements off the center caps and found that all the mounting points are a dead on 5 on 4.5" pattern, just like the lugs! This got me to thinking... I could make a 10 on 4.5" template, line it up with the lug holes on the wheels, and use that to figure out where to drill. This needed to be pretty darn precise as the center caps would not fit over the hubs if they were too far off center. Here is what I came up with.
I made the circle in the middle 3.3" to match the bore of the Cragars and drew circles around alternating marks matching the size of the lug holes on my wheel. (I realize drawing these templates would be very time consuming without a CAD program. I might be willing to print off some extra copies if anyone is interested. Send me a PM...) For anyone making their own templates, 5 lug patterns are not as confusing as they might seem. Most on-line guides tell you to start at the center of one hole, skip a hole, and then measure to the back edge of the next hole. While this may be an easy way to figure out your pattern, it is not very accurate. There is actually no mystery to our 5 lug patterns. XJ's are still a 4.5" center to center measurement, it's just that there is no opposing lug hole to measure the center of. (See the following diagram) I started out with a 4.5" diameter circle, picked a starting point, and then divided it into 10 even pieces. A 360* circle means that each pair of adjacent points will form a 36* angle.
I cut out the templates and put a dab of glue stick at each drilling point to stick them to the wheels. The glue stick is immediately tacky, dries slowly, and is easy to clean off the wheels afterward. It's ideal for getting everything lined up just right.
(All the circles in the above pic are precisely aligned, I just couldn't find a camera angle that would show it.)
continued...
. I can see how the screwed on caps would be a pain though. 
users agree you need to go out and buy yourself a bumper mounted tire carrier so you can stop messing with those darn center caps! :laugh3:
A family member of one of my co-workers clunked her 96 ZJ less than a thousand miles after getting new tires, so she offered to trade my nearly bald tires + extremely rusty stock steelies for her brand new tires + stock alloys if I gave her $250. I completely forgot to remove the caps, they're probably sitting in a junkyard somewhere now. Now that I'm on Cragars, guess I'll have to keep my eye on the classifieds and see if I can't pick up a set.
