Many of us Autopians might have a bit of sickness when it comes to anything with wheels on it. If we can’t make it go faster, handle better, burn less gas (or burn more gas more funly?), we’ll at least try to put better-looking rims on the wheeled thing in question to improve and personalize it’s appearance.
Rolling trash bins absolutely could use some help in this area.
Most rolling trash bins come standard with blow-molded black plastic wheels on them. As you can see, the designers went for a facsimile of a spoked wheel and lugged tire with utterly generic results.
… which is fine, but can any self-respecting car enthusiast (or garbage bin enthusiast) live with such crap? No, absolutely not.
Thankfully, there are a bunch of sources on the web ready to dress up your garbage and/or recycling container with 3D-printed wheel covers that emulate your favorite automotive rolling stock. A site called Trash Can Wheel Rims has a variety of options for you:
If you’re less of a street hustler with a penchant for radial spokes and faux knock-offs, and more of a BMW-driving dentist with a preference for classic sporting style, then these BBS lacey-spoke covers would be perfect:
How about some authentic Houston flavor? These “H-Town Spokes” will trick out your bins in full swanga style. At nearly sixty bucks for a set, that’s some serious coin to blow on a trash can mod, but even if you had a 3D printer of your own and the correct-color filament, that sixty bucks might be worth the labor savings for you. I love these, but if you park your bins side by side like I do, they might cause the same clearance issues.
The covers appear to install with self-tapping screws into the outer surface of the trash cans’ plastic wheels. Be aware that, depending on how your trash service works, you may or may not actually own these bins, and making modifications could be ill-advised if they aren’t your property. Also, if the sanitation department comes and takes them away, you’ll lose your rims and maybe even be browbeaten or worse by the city. Naturally, any municipality that frowns upon these improvements to a trash bin doesn’t deserve to live on the same planet that you do.
Other sites and even eBay and Etsy listings have more choices, including one in the top right below that looks suspiciously like the “bowling ball cover” wheels from the KITT 1982 Trans Am. Supposedly there are “multiple mounting options,” but they aren’t listed.
If you search for “trash bin wheels,” you’ll find far more examples. Places like Printables.com have plenty of files to let you make your own covers, but as an Autopian I see a lot of missed opportunities. Come on, where are Volvo Turbo alloys?
How about Ferrari Cromodoro-style rims? Ronal Bears? Saab soccer balls?
I found some fake Fuchs alloys for Jerry Seinfeld to put on the bins at his Porsche collection’s garage at least. Still, there must be a few of you out there with some mad SolidWorks skills who could make a whole catalog for us to choose from. At the prices listed, you could make a few bucks printing and selling them.
Why stop at rolling waste bins? What about lawn mowers or snow blowers? Cozy Coupes? If it has wheels, there is no excuse for it not to have cool-ass rollers on it.
Top graphic image: SolveFunction.com
But you could always get wheels for Subarus
$40-$60!? hahahahahahaha, no no no…
Right? Someone thinks very highly of their ability to download a file from MakerWorld and hit the print button.