I have a copy of Chrysler's 1972 parts catalogue in front of me and it
refers to a "Wheel Hub Cap" that covers the centre hub and the lub nuts.
The small cap used on the front wheels to cover the nut, cotter pin and
grease is referred to as a "Wheel Grease Cap".
See Section 22-08-0 : Wheel Hub Caps
The present term for the hub cap and grease cap came into being when wheels
became removable from the hub / axle by using lug nuts or bolts. In the
days of the Model T the wheel was held on to the axle ends by the nut and
cotter pin in the centre - the same one that today is used to hold the drum
or disc in place. It wasn not until the mid-1920's that four wheel brakes
became common. Prior to that brakes were only on the rear wheels.
Bill
Vancouver, BC
----- Original Message -----
From: Wayne Graefen
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2003 5:15 AM
Subject: [FWDLK] Terminology: Hub cap / Wheel cap
Technically, the "hub cap" is the cap on the end of the spindle poking
through the center of the wheel. It covers only the hub where the bearings
are housed and packed in grease thereby keeping dirt and water out of the
bearings and keeping the grease in. Think of the cars of the very early
'30s (like a Model A F__d) and earlier where the "hub cap" truly coverd the
bearings and grease on the spindle. Once the wheel caps covered the hub
caps for ornamentation, and to give a larger place to promote the brand of
the automobile in large chrome and bright colored letters, people confused
the two terms.
A "wheel cap" is any appearance item that attaches to the wheel to cover the
"hub cap" and lug nut area. Thus whether the wheel cap is small covering
only the center of the wheel (small or standard wheel cap) or is large
covering the wheel to or almost to the tire ( large, full, or deluxe wheel
cap) they are ALL wheel caps. Not all wheel caps were chromed or bright
stainless either: in 1942, when some "blackout" models were built for the
war years, they had black or gray painted wheel caps.
I don't know who invented the term "dog dish hub cap" but it became popular
sometime after the muscle car era and it still sound silly to me. Its a
"dog dish" if you leave it off the car and it fills up with rain but under
no conditions is it actually a "hub cap".
Wayne
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