I've always thrown them away. Never really understood what they were supposed to be for.

Am I doing something wrong?

In throwing them away, I suppose I get some of the advantage of alloy wheels (reducing the unsprung mass, though unsprung mass has never worried me much) without the attendant fragility, plus without them its easier to take the wheels off

I suppose if your wheel nuts fell off they might retain them, but that doesn't seem to happen.

They also help to retain brake dust, which I have no use for, but maybe helps to protect the lungs of the public at large a little. (A very very little in the case of Taiwan, where air pollution is part of the religion)

Maybe there's a tiny aerodynamic advantage?

If I'd wanted to keep them I suppose I might have used cable ties, but then I'd have had to carry a knife or side cutters.

So the best wheel trim is no wheel trim at all.

Edited by edlithgow on 28/05/2024 at 04:14

OK. If I get a pre-war Rolls-Royce I'll consider keeping its wheel trims, though perhaps if you have a pre-war Rolls-Royce you shouldn't be shirking your wash and polishing duties, noblesse oblige stylee

Actually, I did encounter a possible use for wheel trims.

You can apparently get plastic fake whitewalls which I think are retained by the wheel trim, and which might protect the sidewalls from the strong sunlight here in Taiwan. Or possibly I could have improvised something by cutting the sidewalls off old tyres.

But I'd already chucked the trims, so never tried it. Probably wouldnt have got around to it anyway.

Edited by edlithgow on 29/05/2024 at 01:23