I bought a pair of NOS 1988 14" hubcaps on ebay, and tried to put them on my 1995 Aerostar with 14" rims, and they woudl not go on for anything, i DO have the stock plain steel rims, the ones that look liek ford ranger rims.
the hubcaps are the full ones have about 5 spokes and the simulated 5 lugnuts on the outside. whats going on? are there slight diffrences in the rims between the years? or what? ive even had professionals try and put them on, NO GO

 

any advice here, i hate to think i wasted my money on these

 

post them back on ebay and give us the item # so we don't bid on them

my Aero cheapy plastic OEM hub caps are just the flat type no fakey lug nuts or spokes, just several angles holes
never have came off even on the logging roads...first and only rig I've ever had that hub caps stayed on and no one tried to steal the hub caps or rims

 

i do have em on ebay, they ARE OEM and i dotn understand why they wont go on, i like their looks, but they dont fit. this is them:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3604581&rd=1,1


i reckon i'll put my LTD wire hubcaps back on, they fit alright and looked aight too this is what they look like:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3608389&rd=1,1

 

nice looking wire spoke hc's

i could never keep those clean...one season of log rode mudding kaput
my toothbrush cleaning days are over

here's what mine look like...off ebay add...even have scratches like mine
http://i9.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/9a/2c/2d21_1_b.JPG

these are listed as 92>97 so must have been change in 91>92?

use the ole Aero for night out trips to downtown clubs, movies and parking at lt. rail stops...no one bothers it
no fun ripping off an ugly old pig van for hotrodding and cop chases

 

yeah, those that u have, are the ones that came on my van originally, but i took those off, and replaced with the wire spoke, i sold those a while back, didtn exactly care for the looks

 

I believe those angled holes serve to cool the disc rotors ?? or at least help the timpkens cool a bit. I've kept mine standard, they are the same ones. I did have one crack, but $5 saw to that problem at the junk yard.

 

That E-Bay pic, the guy said they were new NOS, hubcaps. I could see two dents right away, I doubt if they never were on a vehicle.

The only thing I can think of, is they must have change the steel rims somewhat, on the later Aerostars. You should be able to easily see where the hooks on the hubcap bite into the rim. My hubcaps fit tight and secure ('87 Aerostar) so there must be a change in the rim. (later Aerostars) Do the clip on hooks line up in the same diameter area as your LTD spoke hubcaps?

You could get four older rims, cheap, and mount your tires on with those spoke hubcaps. Are you sure they are true Ford Aerostar hubcaps and not a imitation aftermarket hubcap?

I tried to enlarge that E-Bay photo, but for some reason it would not enlarge. Keep us posted.

Ed

 

Too bad those don't fit they look pretty good. I've been looking for a hubcap for the Aero that looks good without looking too cheesy. Those wire ones look pretty nice too.

 

1980/89 Ford Parts Catalog sez...

E83Z-1130-B .. Wheel Cover-Simulated Mag ~ use with 14" x 5.5 steel wheel.

Ford may have changed the original 1986 Aerostar wheels, to a different type after 1989.

 

I think Bill nailed it. Remember too, 1990 saw the introduction of the Aerostar Extended van, so maybe that had something to do with changing the design of the OEM steel stamped wheel, still 14", but maybe slightly different.

These were also used on Ranger trucks as well. I don't know for sure, simply a guess on my part.

Ed

 

Well, you should see my ride. Of coarse everyones tastes are different, but I sure like it. They are from a 1957 Ford Fairlane.

 

Weird I've replaced the stock hubcaps on our 94 with these years ago...they've held up great!

 

Oh yeah, well my hubcaps are 50 years old.

 

i used to have them 1957 ford hubcaps on an 82 thunderbird i used to own, sold the car, and the caps, separately. The wire spoke caps started givin me trouble goin back on, so i lost my patience and said screw em all