Rusted behind hub caps

[linkandnavi]

Evening everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else has a significant rust issue behind their hub caps. My wife bought a brand new MG ZS EV back in January, so it's only nine months old.

I removed the hub caps yesterday as I was topping up her tire pressure and I find it easier to get access to the valve with the covers removed. The central bore on both front wheels appears to be completely rusted, picture attached. Both left and right, but front only. The rear wheels seem to have some kind of covering.

Thanks.

 

[ShirLow]

I haven’t had my hub caps off since I’ve bought it, but will have to have a look now as that doesn’t look good

 

[profdraper]

Evening everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else has a significant rust issue behind their hub caps. My wife bought a brand new MG ZS EV back in January, so it's only nine months old.

I removed the hub caps yesterday as I was topping up her tire pressure and I find it easier to get access to the valve with the covers removed. The central bore on both front wheels appears to be completely rusted, picture attached. Both left and right, but front only. The rear wheels seem to have some kind of covering.

Thanks.

PS & FWIW:
NB that more often than not on the ZS EV gen 2, the wheel covers are fitted incorrectly & this makes the air valves hard to access & indeed, easily top up air at the petrol station.

The fix is to remove each wheel cover (pull from both sides at the centre of the wheel) then rotate the cover to match the ONE hole /slot that is larger than the rest & which fits the valve correctly.
After this, all the air filling probs go away.

 

[linkandnavi]

I haven’t had my hub caps off since I’ve bought it, but will have to have a look now as that doesn’t look good

For what it's worth, I did some wider searching and there seem to be threads on multiple other manufacturers' forums (BMW, Mazda, Kia etc) with the same issue and all concluding that it's both normal and not a major issue.

No rust visible on my Tesla though, which is older and my only available comparator.

 

[Susanna]

@linkandnavi I bought some longer dust caps for the tyre valves, which made them significantly easier to remove. That was a tip from another forum member.

 

[Lovemyev]

The central bore on both front wheels appears to be completely rusted, picture attached. Both left and right, but front only. The rear wheels seem to have some kind of covering.

The rust you see is formed on the end of the CV joint on both front wheels, it is of no real concern TBH.
Other manufactures are the same with a FWD set up.
It is not present on the rear wheels as it is a completely different set up.
What you are looking at on the rear is the cap that retains the grease for the rear wheel bearings.
The reason it is not present on the Tesla is because it is RWD and therefore does not have any CV joints like the MG.
The rust could be removed and a protective silver paint be applied to prevent any more rust from forming, but it’s purely a visual thing TBH.

 

[linkandnavi]

The rust you see is formed on the end of the CV joint on both front wheels, it is of no real concern TBH.
Other manufactures are the same with a FWD set up.
It is not present on the rear wheels as it is a completely different set up.
What you are looking at on the rear is the cap that retains the grease for the rear wheel bearings.
The reason it is not present on the Tesla is because it is RWD and therefore does not have any CV joints like the MG.
The rust could be removed and a protective silver paint be applied to prevent any more rust from forming, but it’s purely a visual thing TBH.

Thank you, that's massively helpful

PS & FWIW:
NB that more often than not on the ZS EV gen 2, the wheel covers are fitted incorrectly & this makes the air valves hard to access & indeed, easily top up air at the petrol station.

The fix is to remove each wheel cover (pull from both sides at the centre of the wheel) then rotate the cover to match the ONE hole /slot that is larger than the rest & which fits the valve correctly.
After this, all the air filling probs go away.

@linkandnavi I bought some longer dust caps for the tyre valves, which made them significantly easier to remove. That was a tip from another forum member.

Thanks both.

I've had a look and I honestly can't see any difference in size between the slots. The difference is obvious on my Tesla's because they have a little round cutout, but as far as my naked eye can see, they're all the same on my MG. In all honesty, I'm not too bothered. They take about 5 seconds to pull straight off.

I might have a look at a valve extender for my wife's convenience though and keep it attached to the air pump in car boot. It's her daily driver for ferrying our two year old around, so if it makes life a bit easier in the event of an issue then all the better.

 

[Susanna]

@linkandnavi - it’s not the size of the slot, but the shape at the edge. It took me some time to notice it, in fact it was after I had removed mine and subsequently put them back on, only some correctly, and then needing to put air in the tyres!

If you look/feel the edge of the slot, only one is flat. The others are all angled, which makes the valve too close to the aero cover.

 

[linkandnavi]

@linkandnavi - it’s not the size of the slot, but the shape at the edge. It took me some time to notice it, in fact it was after I had removed mine and subsequently put them back on, only some correctly, and then needing to put air in the tyres!

If you look/feel the edge of the slot, only one is flat. The others are all angled, which makes the valve too close to the aero cover.

View attachment 20982

Ah, thank you. I'll have a look after work. Their dealers clearly don't know about it either, given none of them on my car are aligned like that!

 

[Paulie68]

As already said, that's fully normal. Every car I've ever owned has done that. I used to work in new car logistics and many cars roll off the ship with the hubs already rusted before they even get sold! If it bothers you, brush the area over with some waxoyl or similar to stop it worsening, although it only gets so rusty then pretty much stays like it for the rest of the cars life. Again, harmless.

 

[profdraper]

@linkandnavi - it’s not the size of the slot, but the shape at the edge. It took me some time to notice it, in fact it was after I had removed mine and subsequently put them back on, only some correctly, and then needing to put air in the tyres!

If you look/feel the edge of the slot, only one is flat. The others are all angled, which makes the valve too close to the aero cover.

Exactly right, really you need to remove one of them and then you can see/feel quite easily.