Folks, it’s 2024, and minimalism is dead. The early aughts are back in full force, bringing with them a kind of aesthetic maximalism that cars haven’t truly seen since “The Fast and The Furious.” Being visually loud is back, and what better way to draw eyes than to install color-matched cans of Monster Energy as center caps in your wheels?
A helpful tutorial, posted as an Instagram reel by mister_cat_hands, shows exactly how to drain, modify, and install your preferred flavor of Monster as an accessory to your car. But while the tutorial does seem to work, there’s certainly some room for improvement in its implementation.
Were I to install cans of Monster as my center caps — which, to be clear, I absolutely would — there are a couple of small changes I’d make to the Instagram tutorial. For starters, I’d do any amount of measuring on the cuts for the base of the can. You want them even, so the can sticks out perfectly straight, so measure out the depth and width of each resulting tab before you cut. Maybe do it with an instrument more precise than a pair of scissors too.
From there, I’d recommend throwing a bit of 3M VHB around the newly-created rim formed from those tabs, so the can actually adheres to the wheel and doesn’t slip while spinning. For true accuracy, however, you can actually go a step better: Wedge the metal of the can between your wheel and a set of hub centering rings that are sized for your car. That’ll lock the can in place and ensure it’s properly centered, giving it the least chance of bending out of shape from the force of your wheels’ rotation.
You don’t have to go that hard in your install, but you should absolutely put cans of Monster Energy as the center caps of your wheels. Bonus points if the flavor is color-matched to your car, and double bonus if it’s only an accent shade within a greater early aughts-inspired livery. Sleek and clean is out, baby. It’s time to bring back flash.
