This post is not to bash, merely to inform and educate. Last month with my yearly bonus check in the bank I ordered the wheels for my first hot rod project, a 1931 ford tudor. It was not an easy decision as I was going back and forth over the look I wanted. I finally decided on steel smoothies and found black powder coated wheels at a good price from summit racing. 15 by 7's were ordered for the rear and a week later 15 by 5's for the front. The wheels were made by US Wheel and included the plain chrome center caps. When the wheels arrived they were bolted on the car , clearances checked and tires mounted after they p***ed my inspection. Then I went to install the included center caps and discovered that the wheels were made with different centers, the fronts used a larger center cap than the rear. When I contacted summit I was told since I put the tires on, there was nothing they could do..they recommended I contact US wheel. US Wheel said that all their 15 inch wheels used the same center and to email all the receipts and pictures of the wheels and they would look into it. After doing this I received a fast reply that my 15 inch wheels from US Wheels were in fact made with different centers and this is the way they come. Hopefully this will help the next guy. Thanks for reading.
lesson learned the hard way, you are not the first. yep, once wheels mounted no business will accept them back. are similar caps available for different centers?
Thank you. Just received my rear axle last week. I bought the wheels from Summit a long time ago so I guess I should try them on since I still haven't put on the tires yet.
If this is a hubcap issue, I have repro '50 Merc hubcaps on my T coupe and there are two different sizes available. I have old Ford wheels in front that take the larger hubcap and later Dodge pickup wheels in the back that take the smaller hubcap. On the car, it is hard to notice the difference.
Just looked on the US wheel site for smoothies.. Inside nub for 14"-16" caps is 7 1/2". Inside nub for 17" & 18" caps is 7".
Oh man, that ****s. Thanks for the heads up. That's not something I would have thought to check. I might have checked one wheel with a cap and went ahead with the mounting. What kind of center caps are you using? Do some measuring you might be able to find caps to fit your wheels.
different size cap nubbies on different width 15 inch wheels makes no sense at all. Actually different size nubbies on different size wheels in the same line of wheels makes no sense. That means instead of stocking only one size of cap they have to stock two sizes on the shelf for the same design wheel.
Yep! Learned the same lesson the hard way. Measured then double checked lug nut pattern before ordering a set of Torque Thrust wheels from a major after market supplier. Wheels came were stacked in shop still in unopened boxes awaiting tires. Tires came and loaded wheels to take to be mounted, balanced, etc. Brought everything home and had to see how they looked even though car was not ready for wheels and tires. Wouldn’t fit wrong lug nut pattern. Called supplier and told them they sent wrong wheels. They acknowledged that they did indeed send wrong wheels. When I told them I had mounted tires customer service said they would not accept them back “No Exceptions” they said it was my responsibility to check fit prior to mounting tires. I was pissed but left with nothing to do about it. Was able to sell wheels without losing too much, learned a lesson, but did buy new wheels from different supplier. They offered no compensation even though I asked for cost of mounting.
That's not correct, if they're all 15" they should all take the same size hubcap. Did you maybe order two different kinds of wheel?
...Ah, we may be on to something here. Pictures and/or model of both sizes of wheels would clarify this. You did say that you ordered them separately, a week apart. Is there any chance you ordered 2 different types? It's easy enough to do.
A couple things don’t add up. “All our 15 inch…same” “Oh, not the same…” As mentioned do they have matching caps for what does work on the other two wheels?
Real question is what model or series the wheels are. If they are the same model/series but have different centers, shame on U.S. Wheel. Thats not the same wheel. Especially if centercaps sold are not noted for differences due to wheel width, which makes no sense if the wheels are the same model/series. If the caps came with the wheels and don't fit the wheels they were shipped with, that is completely on US Wheel. At minimum they should sent OP the correct center caps with a prepaid return label for the return of the wrong caps.
I am paying attention to how this works out. I am considering a different wheel on my 57. And I like the big and little/narrow set up. I would agree they should at least send the other centers.
It sounds like if US Wheel first said they shouldn't be different then once the found out what the OP actually had said they were correct it sounds like he ordered 2 different wheels types.
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