Plasti dip or wheel skins?

Esan · March 18, 2018

9 hours ago, Ashleyfox118 said:

Those 17s look nice with the black treatment and white letter tires!

I had some of the wheel skin things put on my truck right after I got it. Just the other day I noticed that I apparently curbed it a few times, and all the damage appears to be on the wheel skins and not on the rims. So that's where my vote goes. You won't get protection from that with plasti-dip. (Maybe you don't have that problem, but I almost always curb my vehicles at least once during the time that I own it.)

Thank you.

Yes that is always a concern I have had a few bumps and always cringed but when checking have yet to hit with rim. Always get lucky and scrub tire thankfully.

Biggest concern is when I get new tires. Will find out soon how that holds up I am hoping to use a rim clamp and use rim protectors like on the glossy chrome and see if that saves them .If not guess I will be re applying. Wasnt too bad about 4 hours total to do them all but I do have a heated shop with a lift so makes it alot easier.

Alex Hardy · March 18, 2018

I ended up dipping mine a couple years ago. It's been through two Maine winters and two construction seasons on job sites, still holding on great. I can't remember how many coats I did but i believe it was 4 or 5.

I changed out my tires last summer and was concerned about the dip being peeled off. When I took it in I didn't say anything about protecting the dip because I was curious what would happen. (and if it got messed up its VERY easy to do again) To my surprise the dip didn't get messed up at all, I don't know what they used for protection, I just know it held up and looks great.

Donstar · March 18, 2018

Curbing is something I didn't consider when responding to this thread. I imagine this can be quite a problem especially in older urban areas where street parking is the norm. Lower profile tires that come stock with the larger rims can increase the potential for damage. Wheel skins would be an asset simply for their protective properties! My wife's car is the vehicle that gets loaned to visiting family and the right front hubcap is always sporting a wound. Replacement caps are $225. each from Toyota and I can get replicas from Amazon at four for $60. Careless kids don't upset me so much! I find that my truck tires on 17's absorb any impact I encounter in drive throughs or when parking.

brawls · March 20, 2018

I went with the wheelskins as I too wasn't sure I wanted black rims, but as it turns out I like they way look. And its easy to go back to stock if I later decide to do so.

Donstar · March 20, 2018

2 hours ago, brawls said:

I went with the wheelskins as I too wasn't sure I wanted black rims, but as it turns out I like they way look. And its easy to go back to stock if I later decide to do so.

Those skins look good. They appear to fit like a glove!

MountainBound118 · March 20, 2018

They fit very well. I can snap a picture of mine at lunch (if you don't mind seeing filthy wheels.) You can't really tell they're "hubcaps" unless you're right on top of them. Even then, if you don't know what you're looking at, you may not even know.

They come in 3 flavors that I can recall. Chrome, gloss black, and flat black. I went with chrome, but frankly, I dont recommend that color cos they make the 18s look smaller somehow.

MountainBound118 · March 20, 2018

ok, as promised, here's a closeup, and yes these are chrome! They're just super dirty.

it's been like 6 months since the truck was washed. I have a lot going on these days.. it needs some serious TLC that it should get soon

Also incase you are wondering, no, you do NOT need to remove the wheel to install these. Just the centercap. They slide right over the lugnuts.

brawls · March 21, 2018

10 hours ago, Donstar said:

Those skins look good. They appear to fit like a glove!

They do fit very well! And they're dirty in the picture. When the truck is all cleaned up they really look good.

99silveradoz71 · March 21, 2018

Thanks for the posts and pics guys. Those look good. It was hard to judge from the sales site pics.

ram1067 · March 21, 2018

18 hours ago, Ashleyfox118 said:

ok, as promised, here's a closeup, and yes these are chrome! They're just super dirty.

it's been like 6 months since the truck was washed. I have a lot going on these days.. it needs some serious TLC that it should get soon

Also incase you are wondering, no, you do NOT need to remove the wheel to install these. Just the centercap. They slide right over the lugnuts.

those look pretty good.....how are the attached to the rim?

MountainBound118 · March 21, 2018

They have little clips on the backside of them. When I first saw that I was iffy, but they've been on the truck 40,000 miles now. We found the best way to put them on was to rough them into place, put a towel over them, then give it a good smack in the middle with a rubber hammer, then around the edges. After you take the center cap out of course. As we learned, if you're afraid to hurt them you'll have a hard time getting them on.

The clips don't seem strong enough to scratch the rim surface. I was afraid of that when we were putting them on cos at first I was trying to be nice to them and they rubbed on the rim a lot, but it didn't even leave so much as a scuff.

Maybe I can wash or have the truck washed and take pics of them so that you all can see what they look like in chrome.

ram1067 · March 21, 2018

cool thanks

txz71 · March 23, 2018

I just returned a black set because I didn’t like the way they attached. There is an expanding lock in the middle and clips that go behind the lug nuts but nothing to fasten it on the outer edges. It pulled away very easily and I was afraid that driving it would cause it to rattle and scratch the wheel behind it. They looked pretty good though.

MountainBound118 · March 29, 2018

I wonder if thats a different brand than what I have? I didn't have a center cap thingy. They had no retainers around the lugs and just went on with little clips on the spokes? Hrmm.

Here's a picture I promised earlier. I had my truck detailed!

I told you they were chrome