1999 Silverado Base steel wheels

[MichaelJT]

Today I took all 4 wheels off my 1999 shortbed stepside base Silverado to clean and paint them. These wheels are steel with what looks like a Chrome or Maybe Stainless steel cover on the front face of the wheel. I expected to be removing the cover to get under it to clean and paint. But when I got to that point I wasn't sure I could get that cover off without damaging it. Fortunately the wheels were in decent shape for Northeast Pennsylvania so I ended up just doing the back sides of the wheels.

 

So. Are the covers removable? Is there a trick?

 

MJT