3rd Gen Tech: Hub Cap Cummins Logos

[wildcat]

This is the second part of what appears to be a 3 part series on removing “Ram” Logos, and replacing them with Cummins logos. (I have debadged my truck, which unofficially, was modification #1.) My original reasoning was because I’m going for the whole “Silver and Black theme”, with a reduction in gaudy chrome badges, (Obviously, chrome Cummins badges don’t fit into my “Gaudy” filter!) That is because I’m not particularly “dissatisfied” with Dodge, but I AM particularly pleased with the Cummins aspect of my truck, which should kind of help you understand where I’m coming from with these mods.
Here we go!

If you decided to debadge your truck, and NOT do the front grille mod,
You will have 2 Cummins badges to work with. If you DID do the front grille mod, you have one left over badge.

Either way, all is not lost!
The dealer has plenty of logos for you.
My Dealer wanted $20.00 each for these. I’m hoping your dealer is cheaper, or you may try finding them at another source.

OK. The very first step is to remove all your hub caps. Turn them over, so you can see the inside of them. Note that at the center of the cap there is a protrusion of plastic.


This needs to be removed; a couple of smacks with a hammer do the trick.


Next, we are going to use this reference to transpose a “Center” to the outside of the hub.
Take a soldering iron with a pointed tip, and with it fully heated, melt through the inside mark, until it burns through on the outside. Doesn’t have to burn through much, an 1/8” hole is great plenty.



When you are done, you should have a Ram head with a “Bull’s-eye” hole clearly visible.




After you have treated all 4 hub caps to the same procedure, it’s time to move on to prepping the “Cummins” “C”. Use a die grinder to cut off the “Turbo Charged” portion of the logo. The emblem is plastic, so caution needs to be exercised not to melt the plastic up into the “C”. sand the bottom of the “C” smooth.


In this pic, I show the Ram head being drilled out, but the actual technique was to use my feet to hold the hubcap while drilling. The hole saw you use to completely remove the Ram head is 2 ¾”.



When you are done, it should look like this:



It’s not really important if the hole you drilled is perfectly centered, what is important, is that there is NO remainder of the Ram’s head. A flat surface is what you are after. If your hole is a little off center, remove the protruding Ram horn so you have a flat surface.




Just a shot of the Ram head that was removed…



Next, we cut a 3 ¼” hole, I decided on plastic, because it’s easy to work with, if all you have is metal, you could do that too, And actually come up with some custom variations of this modification. Do not think you are limited by what I did. Your ONLY limitation is your imagination!
Here is my piece:




After some trimming of “Plastic Burrs”, it will fit nicely.

[wildcat]

Scuff the plastic (Or metal) pieces for paint adhesion.




OK. Admittedly, I painted my pieces Black BEFORE filling in the Center hole…
Live and learn…


I would recommend you fill in the center hole before painting your pieces… On with the article…

This is the paint I used,. Honestly, if you do one coat, even if it’s heavy, your results will be better than mine. In other words, a touch up coat with this paint is difficult.




Ok, once the paint is dry, it’s time to glue the new piece to the hub.
My choice was RTV, Black. Run a bead along the ledge on the hub cap.





Place the new piece on the hub cap, using a light “Rotate and grind” motion.
All 4 of these are done.



Flip the hub over and ensure the RTV has purchase on both the hub and the cut out piece.
Just use your finger to ensure the RTV seals to the hub and to your new piece.

Now let’s move on to the Cool part of attaching the “C” logo!! It looks like this when it’s done.



OK on the truck it looks like this:



Disregard the truck cover…


More Pics:






As Always, any questions are certainly welcome!

[oglejust]

that looks awesome man

[wrench123]

Like it!

[mishkaya]

Excellent write-up!
mishkaya

[wildcat]

To the top for the morning crew!

[wildcat]

And, Thanks for the compliments, guys!

[lukesdiesel]

Very Nice



Luke

[jstange2]

I like it.

If you don't want the guide hole in the middle from the hole saw, take a piece of plywood and cut a hole the size you want. Next take the guide bit out and clamp the piece of plywood with the hole in it to what you want to get the circle out of. Hold steady and put the hole saw in the hole in the plywood and drill through. No more guide hole from the hole saw. I hope that was clearer than mud?
I still like it though.

[wildcat]

That's a great tip, jstange2!

Just goes to show, we all analyze problems different, and the collective knowledge and ideas better everyone!

I follow what you meant in your post. You are saying use the outside of the wood hole against the OD of the hole saw to keep the hole saw from wandering, Vs. using the pilot drill bit in the center. Clamping the wood to the work is assumed, of course!

[dieseldocter16]

Nice job, looks great!