Don't want this to be another 'bash the wheel vendor' post, but I am looking for others who have had a problem with early Ford caps not fitting Wheel Vintiques wheels... don't snap in and fit tight like they should... sloppy and rattling. I'm having the problem on chrome gennies and '42 Ford caps I got from WV in mid-March, and I know Danny Burroughs is having the problem on some he got from WV recently... anyone else? Again, not looking to slam WV. Just got off the phone with Joe at WV and he is gonna make it right, prolly by sending me another set of caps so's I can mix/match until 4 fit tight, but he was at a loss and said he'd never really heard of this problem before I called. I thought I heard others on the HAMB say they had the same problem before (?). I just want to give Joe a heads-up on the scale of the problem and see what others did to get it resolved. Any info would be appreciated...
Had that problem a few years back. Just shimmed the points on the caps that popped on the 3 pins in the wheel worked fine.
I talked with WV before I bought some wheels and they said it was only a problem with some of their 16 inch wheels. I ordered a set of 15 inchers and my 40 Ford caps fit perfect.
The center caps on my original 16s are repops, and they fit loose. I have to adjust them to fit tighter, but they loosen over time. If you look at an original, then look at the repop, you can kind of see why they don't fit as snug as original.
I've sold a ton of WV wheels,(mostly 16-15 gennie)never a loose one.Just the opposite,couldn't get the caps to snap one.Even had to cut little splits in the caps to get it to fit.And if powdercoatd,had to sand down the ***s on the wheels. I have original wheels with repop caps on my car.One is loosey goosey,but it's garage art-I'll never drive it.
We used 16" on the modifieds and found the caps wouldn't fit coz they were too tight!! We actually bent a couple of caps trying to get them on.We ground down the ******s and they fitted better. Didn't ,matter if they were original or repro caps. Cheers, Stewart.
I have 16" WV's on my coupe. I lost a couple of caps due to a loose fit. A dab of silicone in a few spots on each rim solved the problem.
A friend of mine has the same problem and he bought 15" gennie wheels. His hub caps haven't fallen off yet, but he hasen't driven it much. Yoy can almost turn cap on wheels. He is a good ol' boy type businessman and dosen't want to agrevate anyone as he is honest and expects the same back. I tried to get him to complain and he said to much trouble. He has had wheels about 6-7 mths. Jim
Yea, I had the opposite as well, 15" WV solids and repop 41 ford caps and they were tight to get on the first time and just as tight after a couple of years.
Me too .... Except mine were 48 Ford caps ... Both original and the repops ... just do not want to go on ... the original ones were tighter than the repops ...
For me the cap lips were bending in and falling off at high speeds Some of the lips are stronger then others, were they will snap back into place other just bend in??.. The quality varies from cap to cap.. Must be inported
I had Bob Drake reproduction '46 hub caps that wouldn't fit on the WV 15 inch steelies. They wouldn't snap on all the way over the bumps in the wheels. I called WV and they said they had other problems with people using the Drake repro caps and that I needed to get the caps from them instead. I ordered their hub caps and they fit fine.
I bought a set of wheels from a local builder in Visalia, California. They were nicely done and ran very true. I ordered a set of Drake re-pro 48 Ford style caps and found they wouldn't fit. Sent those back and ordered a set of re-pro 48 Ford caps from the wheel builder. They fit nice and are retained securely. More than likely the Drake caps are the same size as FoMoCo made caps and it's the aftermarket wheel centers that are different from the Ford wheel centers. Possibly done to make the aftermarket centers proprietary and you have to buy their caps. That's ok, but I wished I'd known that right off.
[I am now on my 4th set of WV steelie wheels and have used several styles of their caps, moons, '41 and '48. The only problem I have had is 'tight' fit. NOTE - all 4 sets have been powder coats which may contribute to the tight fit. I solved the problem by greasing the tabs where they snap in and it really works well. No loose or lost caps, and they are easy to get off without chipping the paint.. I also had a set of WV wires with 33 caps and the caps came from two sources. The WV set was OK but the other set was loose. Bent the tabs a bit and never lost one ....even at 100MPH in a '27 T Tudor. Kermit
It prolly is the caps and not the wheels, but the point is that both wheels and caps were bought from WV and don't fit together like they should. Joe at WV says he's gonna make it right, so I'm good with WV - just wanted to see who else has had this problem. Thanks for the feedback, guys.
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