Aerodynamic wheel covers and mounting assemblies

A wheel cover system comprising:

• a disk assembly comprising:
• a disk portion;
• an inner portion coupled to the disk portion, the inner portion comprising a tab that projects radially inward at the inner portion, the tab having a thickness;
• a hub mounting assembly adapted to mount to a hub a vehicle wheel, the hub mounting assembly comprising:
• a bracket;
• an alignment bushing coupled to the bracket, the alignment bushing having an alignment bushing inboard surface and an alignment bushing outboard surface, the alignment bushing defining an open area to receive the tab;
• a piston comprising:
• a tab seating area, the tab seating area comprising a tab seat outboard surface;
• a rib aligned with the open area, the rib comprising a rib outboard surface that is further outboard than the tab seat outboard surface, wherein the piston is translatable in an inboard direction from a first piston position at which the rib extends into the open area to a second piston position to create a clearance between the alignment bushing inboard surface and the rib outboard surface of at least the thickness of the tab to allow the tab to be rotated from a first tab position aligned with the rib and the open area to a second tab position aligned with the tab seating area;
• and
• a biasing member that biases the piston in an outboard direction.

A wheel cover method comprising:

• positioning a disk assembly in a first position relative to a hub mounting assembly that is mounted to a hub of a vehicle wheel, wherein:
• the hub mounting assembly comprises:
• an alignment bushing defining a notch, and having an alignment bushing inboard surface;
• a piston, the piston comprising:
• a rib, the rib comprising a rib outboard surface exposed through the notch;
• and
• a tab seat, the tab seat having a tab seat outboard surface;
• and
• a biasing member to bias the piston in an outboard direction;
• and
• the disk assembly comprises:
• a disk portion;
• and
• an inner portion coupled to the disk portion, the inner portion comprising a tab that projects radially inward, wherein in the first position, the tab is aligned with the notch and the rib;
• pushing the tab against the rib to translate the piston in an inboard direction to create a clearance between the rib outboard surface and the alignment bushing inboard surface sufficient to allow the tab to pass inboard of a portion of the alignment bushing;
• and
• rotating the disk assembly less than a full turn to align the tab with the tab seat, wherein the biasing member biases the piston to trap the tab in the tab seat and secure the disk assembly to the vehicle wheel.