I have radials on the original rims on my 65 Mercury and the full wheel covers will not stay on the front,I have heard that radials will make older rims flex causing this issue so it must be true. I usually use the small caps and never had this issue before so if I want to use the full covers will I need newer rims so they will stay on.
My experience with mid-'60s FOMOCO rims is they are very flexible.......had a '66 Ford convertible with full size covers that regularly fell off from the time it was new.....had the heavier ones though. Also has a '66 Ford LTD, but never had a cover fall off......maybe different rim vendors/specs??
Wheel flex is the reason Chevrolet started putting small caps on cop cars... full covers wouldn't stay on. And before you say it: no, it wasn't a cost cutting measure, at least not here in Washington, it was due to wheel covers saying adios at speed.
Yeop. Keep an eye on tire pressures. If you are getting consistently low numbers, have the wheels checked for cracks.
Back in the Day I remember that some guy's would Drill 3 small holes in the Full Cover and in to the Rim, to hold them on. Just my 3.5 cents Live Learn & Die a Fool
Some wheel covers just flat do not work well on any wheel that they didn't leave the factory on or for. One thing I have found is to bend the teeth that grip the cap to the wheel out just a tad so they have a tighter grip. I have done that on a lot of them when I was working in tire stores.
The problem of losing a hub cap has always been there, and is not confined to old/new/bias-ply/radial; As a kid, if we traveled the old country roads every once and a while you'd see a hubcap hanging from a barbed-wire fence patiently waiting for the owner to return. also, my oldest son, his late-model pickup, if driven slowly, the left front wheel would "squeak", if you swapped wheels the squeak would move so he put the noisy wheel on the right rear where he couldn't hear it.
This may seem a little "shadetree" but I had trouble losing aftermarket caps from time to time - until I put 4 or 5 1" beads of clear silicone spaced around the outside edge of the cap, tap the cap on tight and wipe off any excess. Never lost one after that. You can still pry the cap off if needed, just takes more effort.
Have a set of correct poverty caps on the way,paid a little more then I wanted but not as much as some and got all four at one time. Have two sets for a 65/66 Ford and do not remember ever seeing any for a 65/66 Merc at any swapmeet but now I will find then for two dollars a piece.
The Jalopy Journal
