saburai
NAXJA Forum User
Sorry to hear that, sucks...
Stock wheel centers on aftermarket rims?
- Thread starter saburai
- Start date
Sorry to hear that, sucks...
- Location
- Roanoke VA
OK, so here is the write up on the stock center cap install on aftermarket steel wheels.
The tool list;
drill press, to make the fixture with, and a welder
1/2" drill bit
15/64" drill bit
5/8"x82 degree counter sink
Material list;
(2) 1/2"x20 2" long bolts
(1) 1 1/2"x6"x1/8" flat bar(steel)
(2) 1/2"x20 lug nuts
(12) zinc plated sheet metal screws, size 10, 3/4" long(i think, i lost this info in the crash!)
My son wanted a different look to the Crager soft 8's than just chrome caps and the caps rust bad anyway so we went with stock center caps from XJ's and some TJ's so they would be easy to find in the junk yards.
The first thing you will notice is that the center caps have 3 screw holes and 2 locator posts, break the posts off. We only want to drill 3 holes in the wheels.
The next issue I ran into was getting the hole perfectly centered and on the same circumference as the lug holes are, this took some trial and error and some math. I made a drill fixture that would center the hole dead on each time. The fixture has (2) 1/2" holes drilled to match two adjacent lug holes and then a 15/64" hole to match the hole to the center cap. I then welded in two 1/2"x20x3" bolts and used some lug nuts to attach the fixture to the wheel at 3 locations to match the screw holes for the center caps.
Then you need to counter sink the screw holes so the screws will not interfere with the wheel mounting surface. I used a 5/8"x82 degree countersink for this, the screws should fit flush.
Then mount the caps up by securing the 3 screws from the inside of the wheel.
The finished product!
The tool list;
drill press, to make the fixture with, and a welder
1/2" drill bit
15/64" drill bit
5/8"x82 degree counter sink
Material list;
(2) 1/2"x20 2" long bolts
(1) 1 1/2"x6"x1/8" flat bar(steel)
(2) 1/2"x20 lug nuts
(12) zinc plated sheet metal screws, size 10, 3/4" long(i think, i lost this info in the crash!)
My son wanted a different look to the Crager soft 8's than just chrome caps and the caps rust bad anyway so we went with stock center caps from XJ's and some TJ's so they would be easy to find in the junk yards.
The first thing you will notice is that the center caps have 3 screw holes and 2 locator posts, break the posts off. We only want to drill 3 holes in the wheels.
The next issue I ran into was getting the hole perfectly centered and on the same circumference as the lug holes are, this took some trial and error and some math. I made a drill fixture that would center the hole dead on each time. The fixture has (2) 1/2" holes drilled to match two adjacent lug holes and then a 15/64" hole to match the hole to the center cap. I then welded in two 1/2"x20x3" bolts and used some lug nuts to attach the fixture to the wheel at 3 locations to match the screw holes for the center caps.
Then you need to counter sink the screw holes so the screws will not interfere with the wheel mounting surface. I used a 5/8"x82 degree countersink for this, the screws should fit flush.
Then mount the caps up by securing the 3 screws from the inside of the wheel.
The finished product!
Last edited:
aparke4
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Atlanta, Ga
sweet - they might look good too painted black but leaving the jeep logo
saburai
NAXJA Forum User
arty:viperbluelx
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Ringgold, GA
Yep, I made them work. You will have to drill and countersink 3 very precisely centered holes in your Cragers though.
that looks great, how much lift? what size tires/wheels and most importantly what is the backspacing?
- Location
- Roanoke VA
3" OME lift front and rear, TeraFlex 1.5 shackles in the rear, 3/4" spacers in the front.
Crager Soft 8's w/3.75 BS, 32x11.50 Dunlop Rover MT's
The 32's rubbed and this is my kids XJ, he didn't want to cut it so we stepped down to 31's.
viperbluelx
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Ringgold, GA
3" OME lift front and rear, TeraFlex 1.5 shackles in the rear, 3/4" spacers in the front.
Crager Soft 8's w/3.75 BS, 32x11.50 Dunlop Rover MT's
The 32's rubbed and this is my kids XJ, he didn't want to cut it so we stepped down to 31's.
15x7 or 15x8?
- Location
- Roanoke VA
Sorry, 15x8
- Location
- Poplar Grove, Illinois
i would so pay like 20 bucks for that...
deucestudios
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Malvern, PA / JFC
Good write up. My stock center caps are on their 3rd set of wheels.
5 years ago:
3 years ago:
Now:
5 years ago:
3 years ago:
Now:
hubs97xj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Fort Wayne, IN
Shoot fyrfytr1717 a PM; he might hook you up with a template for a few bucks.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1027064
fyrfytr1717
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Turlock, CA
Sorry, just caught this thread today. Haven't been on here as much the last couple of months...
Actually I've been sending them out for free in exchange for a promise to post up some pics on my thread when they were done. They cost me about $1.10 in postage to mail out. Still no pictures on there yet... :dunno:
There's really no guesswork or need for trial and error on this project. The holes used for the mounting screws and locator posts are on exactly the same 5 on 4.5" pattern as the wheel lugs. Simply make a template that is 10 on 4.5", use the lug holes to line it up on five of the points, and the other five points are where you drill.
Here's the finished product on my rig
Check out my thread that hubs97xj linked to above for more details if you're interested.
And OP, your searching skills must be lousy. I specifically named my thread "Stock Jeep Center Caps on Cragar Steel Wheels" to make it easy to search for. Shoot, you used three of the words in your post!
Actually I've been sending them out for free in exchange for a promise to post up some pics on my thread when they were done. They cost me about $1.10 in postage to mail out. Still no pictures on there yet... :dunno:
There's really no guesswork or need for trial and error on this project. The holes used for the mounting screws and locator posts are on exactly the same 5 on 4.5" pattern as the wheel lugs. Simply make a template that is 10 on 4.5", use the lug holes to line it up on five of the points, and the other five points are where you drill.
Here's the finished product on my rig
Check out my thread that hubs97xj linked to above for more details if you're interested.
And OP, your searching skills must be lousy. I specifically named my thread "Stock Jeep Center Caps on Cragar Steel Wheels" to make it easy to search for. Shoot, you used three of the words in your post!
I read here that you can run "Jeep" centers on Cragars.I searched. Nada.
Anyone have info? Pics
- Location
- Poplar Grove, Illinois
yeah. it looks fairly easy to do yourself. buttttt id love to have a bracket/guide to just bolt on and drill away...
OutkastBoss
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Saint louis
I kinda just eyeballed mine and 3 out of 4 are perfect and the other you can only see is off a bit on the highway
