A center cap, or centercap is a decorative disk on an

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...

that covers a central portion of the wheel. Early center caps for automobiles were small and primarily served the purpose of keeping dirt away from the spindle nut and wheel bearings of vehicles. Center caps are often found on new cars to hide the

lug nut A lug nut or wheel nut is a fastener, specifically a nut (hardware), nut, used to secure a wheel on a vehicle. Typically, lug nuts are found on automobiles, trucks (lorries), and other large vehicles using rubber tires. Design A lug nut is a ...

s, and/or the bearing. Center caps are a type of

hubcap A hubcap or hub cap is a decorative disk on an automobile wheel that covers at minimum the central portion of the wheel, called the hub. An automobile hubcap is used to cover the wheel hub and the wheel fasteners to reduce the accumulation of ...

, the other primary type being wheel covers. Some modern center caps are retained to the wheel using spring clips, while others are retained by the wheel lugs or other threaded fasteners.

History

Early center caps were usually either very small, or very large. They started on

cart A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

wheels and wagons and slowly evolved into what we know them as today. Many of the center caps from the 1950s to the 1970s were made of stainless steel. The rest of the wheel was originally of

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

or many fitted metal parts. In modern times, center caps are both metal and plastic, and are typically used with aluminum alloy or styled steel wheels. Some full wheel covers use removable center caps, typically those retained by lug nuts, with the center cap's purpose to hide the lug nuts that are securing the wheel to the vehicle's hub.

Characteristics and design

Often a center cap will bear the

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

of the maker of the automobile or the maker of the center cap, but there are custom center caps without any

as well. Early center caps were often chrome plated. Center caps that are found on trucks are "baby moon" center caps, that originated on

Mack Trucks Mack Trucks, Inc. is an American truck manufacturing company (law), company and a former manufacturer of buses and Trolleybus, trolley buses. Founded in 1900 as the Mack Brothers Company, it manufactured its first truck in 1905 and adopted its pr ...

and are found on Freightliner Trucks.

References

Automotive accessories Auto parts Automotive styling features {{automotive-part-stub

History

Characteristics and design

See also

References