Community Forums

pfm41 · 12-25-2017, 02:09 PM

We just bought a new Winnebago ERA with the standard wheels and stainless steel covers. Those covers are coming off and being stashed for the day we sell it years down the road. They look nice but do nothing for the performance and discourage tire maintenance. The thing is, the wheels are already scratched up from taking the covers off. Has anyone had luck at finding the right touch up paint for the wheels? I assume they are painted and clear coated.

Mr_D · 12-25-2017, 02:26 PM

I doubt that they are clear coated.

AC Orange · 12-25-2017, 02:51 PM

Yeah, I highly doubt a clear coat is on them.

namusmc · 12-29-2017, 12:39 AM

Many owners like me use heavy plastic or ss zip ties to secure the chrome wheel simulator to the steel wheels. It works fine takes the worry out of losing a wheel simulator (and taking a TPMS sensor with it).

pfm41 · 12-30-2017, 11:06 AM

Not worried about losing them; just want to touch up the rims where the simulators have scraped the paint. IMHO there is no purpose for them and the rear ones have to be taken off for any tire maintenance. They will be nice to have around when I sell the rig.

CharlesinGA · 12-30-2017, 05:26 PM

I also wanted to locate the gray paint that MB used on the wheels. Turns out it is a Euro only paint.

I was told this paint was the same stuff, but never did get it. I found a Rustoleoum that is about the same, and used it.

https://www.autogeek.net/1z-einszett...eel-paint.html

If you don't have them, get a set of the plastic wheel covers for the front, they cover up the rather ugly front hub. You remove every other lug nut, but leave the split cone washers in place, and install the hubcap and then reinstall the three nuts and torque.

Its possible you still have the black plastic caps installed. Apparently some of the wheel simulators are designed to fit over the OEM hubcaps without removing them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Hubca...dS~8ms&vxp=mtr

They can be found cheaper than this, if you are patient. I bought some for $20 each, "new take offs" I assume from an RV manufacturer that was removing them and the employees were making extra money selling them on Ebay.

Since you sound like a guy seriously interested in proper maintenance, check out this post I made in August, detailing the servicing tools that work with steel wheels with the covers off. I am not a fan of the long valve stems that everyone raves about.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f87/dual-...ml#post3742410

Charles

pfm41 · 12-31-2017, 05:57 AM

Thanks Charles, we are thinking alike. Our rig does have the original front MB hub caps. The rear stems are the same as the front and spare but the inside ones do have a short rubber coated extension. With the owners manual was a piece of hose that is used to screw the cap off the inside dual and the outside dual has a cap similar to the Gator. I use the same gauge and chuck as you, works great. BTW our first trip with it will be to Augusta in a month or so before the Masters crowd hits. Right now the thermometer reads -13 in northeast Nebraska.

CharlesinGA · 12-31-2017, 03:48 PM

Remove any extensions as the added weight failing around will damage a valve stem. Just install the Gator caps as you inflate right thru them. Just prop a light up between the wheels to see the inner one, so you can stab it with the gauge or chuck.

Had a windy drive thru Nebraska last August. Drove from Hotsprings to Chadron on Sunday the 20th and toured the Museum of the Fir Trade, then down to Alliance and found a nice place to park with a couple of other View owners, My brother drove in Mon morn for the Eclipse and afterward I drove NE route 2 east to Halsey and spent the night at the Nebraska Nat Forest, next day down to Nebraska City and south on I-29, my only experience in Nebraska.

Charles

pfm41 · 12-31-2017, 05:39 PM

Charles, you took one of the nicest routes through Nebraska. Most travelers cross on I80 and think the whole state is flat and boring. A short trip west of Chadron is Ft Robinson State Park which I consider the gem of Nebraska's parks. The fort has a rich history from the frontier days, the Indian wars, the buffalo soldiers, the largest remount post for cavalry, Olympic equestrian team training, and one of the largest military dog training locations during WWII. Thanks for the info