Calling all KJ owners - Diesel and Gas models:

Anyone recently checked out how much hub centre caps are from the local Stealership? It appears that Chrysler deliberately made them to dissolve in the presence of road grime and salt, so when you go to the stealership to buy a new set you can be gouged by them. The ones for my 06 model are about $25.00 each - - and are really cheaply manufactured. Apparently, the all-metal centre caps from earlier models retail out at over $100.00 each! IS THERE AN AFTERMARKET SUPPLIER FOR THESE PARTS WHERE THEY CAN BE PURCHASED FOR A REASONABLE PRICE, ($5.00 each).

If there is no aftermarket supplier, I may have an idea...

The problem with my centre caps is not the fact that the main body is made of plastic, (in fact, that part has held up to the ravages of road grime and car washes well), but rather the thin aluminum sheet metal that is covers the plastic cap and serves as the cosmetic cover for the cap with the JEEP logo embossed on it. It has a very thin plastic coating sprayed on it, to act as a protectant, but that never lasts. As soon as the plastic coating cracks, road grime and salt solutions get in under it and the aluminum foil cover corrodes badly. See the following photos of my best centre cap in comparison to my worst one, and you will see what I mean.


1264


1265


1266


1267


1269


1270


1275

Images 1264 and 1265 are of the same cap in good shape; images 1266 and 1267 are of the same cap in bad shape, where the aluminum sheet metal has corroded badly. However, you can see that the plastic parts of BOTH caps that grip into the centre hole of the wheel are in fine shape, irregardless of the corrosion of the aluminum sheet metal.

What do you people think of the idea of stripping the aluminum sheet off of the centre cap and replacing it with a stainless steel one that will never corrode? I spoke with my machine shop, (the very same folk who are carving out the new engine thermostat housings for the CRD models), and they say that making a new cosmetic cover would be easy to do. All we would have to do is strip off the old corroded aluminum cover, and glue on the stainless steel one.

I do have a concern about using the JEEP logo, however... there may be copyright issues there. Maybe we could use the LOSTJEEPS.COM logo; seeking and getting permission to do so from LOSTJEEPS.COM administration first, of course. In return, some of the money from the sale of these covers can go back to LOSTJEEPS.COM for maintaining the web site.

Just my

My wheels are 10 years old and no issues with center caps
Lots of places to buy them though , junk yards , auto recyclers etc
No need to reinvent the wheel when there are plenty of parts out there waiting

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MUDD'S MOTORSPORT'S We do IFS lift installs ,
03 OVERLAND EDITION /Kilby-Skidrow-Mopar-4XGuard skids/ 2.5 inch TOTAL CONTROL JBA coilovers -JBA Arms/MOABS-31 FALKEN WILDPEAK AT3W / 4.10's etc, 04 Kilimanjaro Edition loaded, plus 05 KJ limited

This posting is directed to those of us living in areas where the climate is conducive to the corrosion issues described and clearly shown in the photos. You clearly are not in such a climate that causes this corrosion; if you were you would realize - after checking and confirming - that all of the regional junk yards and auto recyclers have centre caps with the same problem.

The areas that you use your Liberty in are not nearly as cold, miserable and sloppy with sand, gravel, and calcium chloride road salts as they are up here, tommudd.

I am simply trying to find out of anyone else is having the same problems I am having with the centre caps and measure the interest in a possible solution. If indeed there is enough interest, I am hoping to get my local machine shop to punch out embossed stainless steel covers for the hub centre caps and retail them out to KJ Liberty owners for less than half what the stealership charges.

I may also see if there is a possibility for my machine shop to re-create the entire hub centre cap.

Never been to the Midwest in the winter then have you when the roads are pure white from that crap.
OH well I am very sorry to post on your topic, just trying to help!!

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MUDD'S MOTORSPORT'S We do IFS lift installs ,
03 OVERLAND EDITION /Kilby-Skidrow-Mopar-4XGuard skids/ 2.5 inch TOTAL CONTROL JBA coilovers -JBA Arms/MOABS-31 FALKEN WILDPEAK AT3W / 4.10's etc, 04 Kilimanjaro Edition loaded, plus 05 KJ limited

Amazon carries aftermarket and oem ones. Living on an island I don't have many choices so that's my go to supplier.

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Outlaw KJ '04 4X4 v6 Sport
Frankenlifted front, custom springs 4" rear, 23.25" F/R - 265/75 Duratracs 16x7 D windows- JBA 4.5 UCAs, Y-link - AEM Brute Intake - Rockcrusher diff cover, Mopar Front Skid, All J belly skid, Skink Sliders - EBC Green Stuff F/R - DTT Front, 4.10s

tommudd: Never apologize for your crtiticisms... I took no offense to what you wrote. I require feedback - both positive and negative - to make an informed choice in this matter. It could simply be that, despite your inclement climate conditions, you had good luck with your centre caps. Despite my best efforts, my centre caps are in terrible condition. I simply would like to offer a solution if this is a wide spread problem.



fortx4 KJ: Where on Amazon are these caps available... both the O.E.M. ones and the aftermarket ones?

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Outlaw KJ '04 4X4 v6 Sport
Frankenlifted front, custom springs 4" rear, 23.25" F/R - 265/75 Duratracs 16x7 D windows- JBA 4.5 UCAs, Y-link - AEM Brute Intake - Rockcrusher diff cover, Mopar Front Skid, All J belly skid, Skink Sliders - EBC Green Stuff F/R - DTT Front, 4.10s