Help! My hubcaps keep working off!

The custom hubcaps on my '40 keep working loose. I have lost one and now switched over to using the caps off my '53 Stude which grab somewhat better.

The wheels are Wheel Vintiques Smoothies (15 x 5) and the caps are '53 Ford full wheel discs with bullets in the center. I believe that the profile of the rim is rounded such that the grips on the caps cannot get a good pruchase.

Anybody experienced similar problems and what did you do to correct the issue?

 

Just take a pair of pliers and bend the tabs working every other one until you have them all moved,,,HRP

 

UsuAl solutions are gently prying out the clips to make the
Grip tighter, there have been other solutions advanced, you
Might search for prior threads on the subject. I use a
S crewdriver as well as pliers to pry clips.

 

Silicone 'em on...not all the way around...just a few dabs here and there...

R-

 

Yep, clear silicone works! I put a little dab, maybe 1/4" long every few inches around the outside endge of the cap. I also work around the cap with a ball pean hammer, tapping each clip out slightly.

I haven't had a problem since using this method, and yes, you can get them back off again, just work it off slowly.

 

Fabric Tape around the wheel gives something for the hubcap tabs to grab onto.

 

That's been tried. The problem is that the grips are trying to catch on a sloped surface (the curved profile near the outer edge of the rim) and can't hold.

Believe me, there's almost no paint left from remounting the caps so many times.

 

I thought I might try using a beauty ring that has a deeper insertion into the rim, where the grip is straight, and pop riveting the cap to the beauty ring. I understand that is what is done to make a Sombrero cap work on conventional wheels.

I use beauty rings on the back wheels, because the skirts cover the center. I have never had a beauty ring loosen at all.

Anyone ever done that?

 

Silocone sounds interesting. Worth a try, anyway.

Thanks.

 

velcro

 

If you are running radial tires on wheels that were not designed for them, the wheels will actually flex, allowing the wheelcover to loosen. If not, some of the fixes mentioned above should do the trick.

---John

 

Be sure not to run big valve covers lice DICE. They could possibly tear up the side of your ride.

 

^^ Man the above english was horrible.

Avoid big air valve covers. There, I said it.

 

ON THE FLOOR CRYING!!!!

 

I had a 53 ford shoot its hubcap off when I was behind it on the highway. It took out my trailer tire to correct the problem I had to buy a new tire.