Awesomlmtv
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I’m looking for a set as well should anyone have some for sale.
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Wheel Covers / Rim Protectors
- Thread starter Hwhomes
- Start date
Awesomlmtv
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So apparently these don't exist anymore. What would it take to separate a set from someone? DM with your price. I need these.
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3-4 years ago these things were everywhere, and they could barely give them away. I think I bought mine back then for $20/ea, shipped! The last time I saw them around, I think they were like $100-150/ea. I haven't seen any in like a year or more.
Somebody is probably going to have to design up or produce some new ones.
Awesomlmtv
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I was hoping not to have to resort to Solidworks and the waterjet. Without a press to stamp them from steel into a shape, they would not be nearly as strong. This would be hundreds of dollars in materials and tens of hours on the CNC to have them machined from 7075.
Wish I could unsee them.
Wish I could unsee them.
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Yes, and no. If you were trying to replicate them exactly, including the manufacturing method, it would require quite an expense. However, some clever design, and design for manufacturing, and you could probably make an extremely/acceptably similar product without needing a 1000-ton progressive stamping press. A very large hydraulic bottle jack, perhaps even as small as the 20T Harbor Freight shop press, could probably form at least a section (e.g. 1/4) of one, which could then be welded together.
If you're willing to accept something that looks less like the original, you may even be able to use a hydraulic tube bender or roller to make a ring of square tubing. Then make a custom jig to run a plasma cutter torch around it to cut the bottom off the square tubing, leaving a c-channel shape. Finish with a couple secondary machining operations for the holes, and a custom "dimple die" in a shop press to stamp the bolt recesses.
Bottom line is there are ways to do it. It will never be $20, but nothing ever will. The only reason we saw them for $20 is because they were surplus. The govenment probably paid a fortune for these, too.
(Plasma cutter jig would probably be something functionally similar to this...
AllenF
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When you think about it all you really need is the valve body protected. The hoses and such are less likely to rub off. But that Schrader valve is a "what were they thinking?" 
kind of deal.
kind of deal.
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And a balanced approach. Pun intended : )When you think about it all you really need is the valve body protected. The hoses and such are less likely to rub off. But that Schrader valve is a "what were they thinking?"
PacificNorthWestLMTV
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If anyone has the exact dimensions of the wheel cover i would like to partner with my buddy to see if we could make A die for his press at the machine shop to stamp these out. Also what gauge of steel? Anyone?
Awesomlmtv
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If anyone has one I could get in hand, I have access to a Leica Scanstation P40 and have made parts models in Solidworks from point cloud scans. Could easily build a mold from that.
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High Water
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The wheel covers/rim protectors are not only CTIS protectors. In most developed countries, except CA and US, wheel lugs have to be guarded for pedestrian and bicyclist protection. This is a TÜV, ADR, and MOT directive. If you google any photo of a European truck you will see something similar. During my time in Germany on US military bases, I saw all wheeled vehicles had these protectors if they are driven on public roads. For those of us building a truck for international travel, we are keen to get properly fitted covers for this reason.When you think about it all you really need is the valve body protected. The hoses and such are less likely to rub off. But that Schrader valve is a "what were they thinking?"
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Third From Texas
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Something like that could be satisfied with a fiberglass wheel cover (or thin steel, alum, etc).
It would be simple to make a more "cosmetic" cover so to speak (that wouldn't be of much value off road or rock crawling).
High Water
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I look forward to seeing what some of the members come up with. Hopefully it will be designed to protect the CTIS as well.
Third From Texas
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Sure. I'm just saying that a cosmetic solution is simple.
It's when you go to the heavy steel that it requires the heavy die to stamp these out.
The cheep/easy/fast solution for physically protecting the CTIS is to simply get one of the *hundreds* of manufacturers (or anyone with a CNC machine) making rock covers for crawlers and sand cars to spit out a set for an LMTV rim. Flat aluminum ring...
A couple hundred bucks and /done
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You could put something like that on with standoffs.
Third From Texas
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Exactly
Here's an OEM bolt (really just a hollow threaded tube) next to the civilian solution (thread coupler and a bolt).
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One wonders if a European cap could be modified to fit an LMTV.
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Do we have the dimensions in a blueprint form or similar?
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Ideally, you would want standoffs that sit against the rim, so they take the forces, not your bolts. You can use that coupler nut to extend the rim bolt to retain the rim protector. (Coupler nut indicated by thin orange square in this drawing.)
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They also say that this is a simulated bead lock.
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Simple solution on a Hummer.