Installing New Wheel Badges

This article was first published in 2004.

If you’ve got non-standard alloy wheels on your car, chances are that the centre badge doesn’t fit the aesthetics very well. It might be because the badge features the wheel manufacturer’s name standing bold and looking ugly, or if you’ve sourced the wheels off another make, the brandname might be completely wrong.

As in, a Ford badge on a Lexus. Or vice versa.

However, getting new centre badges made and then installing them is cheap, easy, and looks great.

This is how the centre wheel caps looked - a silver disc with a Ford oval badge inset. Looks good on a Ford, not so good when the wheels were being used on a Lexus.

It’s not widely know but new badges can be made very cheaply. These Lexus badges, printed on 0.5mm aluminium and then covered with resin, cost only AUD$5 each to have custom made. Look in the Yellow Pages under ‘Badge Making’.

The first step was to remove the Ford badge. This was glued on and could be unstuck with the assistance of a small screwdriver.

The area of the cap that was going to be covered by the badge could then be scuffed with sandpaper, which allows the glue to grip better.

The badge was then curved to match the domed cap. The badge was inserted face-down in a small glass bowl - this supports the edges of the badge. Next gentle thumb pressure was applied in the middle of the badge to curve it into the right shape.

As can be seen here, the amount of curvature that was needed wasn’t a lot – but it makes a big difference to how the badge sits on the cap.

The badge was glued to the cap using silicone adhesive. Don’t put on too much – you don’t want it squeezing out everywhere.

Finished...

...and on the car.