Third year in a row and I am now putting my Studebaker on the road. I love hub caps, but for the last 2 years I have had to buy a hub cap. I realize that steel wheels flex, but how did my father keep the hub caps on the old Chrysler in the 50's?
I had 2 fronts fly off in less than 6 blocks after just putting them on. For some reason, the front rims won't allow a correct fit. They are aftermarket baby moons, and snap outside of center , not covering whole wheel as your probably do. I was bummed and desperate , so after checking everything I could find on Goggle, I attached them with 4 spots of clear silicone from the hardware store and snapped them on. Yea, I know, not easy to get off and definitely not putting back on on the side of the road. So far, I've put about 1000 miles and no frisbee moons sailing in the ditch. Your results may vary, but I had nothing to lose, but another cap.
The caps or wheel covers in the 50s were also newer and less abused than the same caps today. I bougt a 35 Pontiac with wire wheels and small caps, the caps were held on with emblem tape.
Long long ago in the very early 70's some tire shops had a poster warning about putting flexible radial tires on wheels designed for the old stiffer bias ply tires. ...certain minimum thickness required, or they wouldn't install radials on them. Long long ago when radials were being used more and more on wheels designed for bias ply tires, and more and more wheelcovers started falling off due to flexing of the older thinner metal used on the older wheels, I solved mine by cranking up the arc welder really high and quickly scratching on some rough "dingleberries" as my old welding instructor called them, in the surface area where the wheelcover fingers tried to grab the rim. The roughed up wheel surface was completely hidden by the cover, the wheelcover fingers had something to grip, and I have never had a wheel cover come off since the 1970's. why be ordinary?
I'd start by looking at how the caps are secured, and how well they are secured. Even if you just post a picture of one of the wheels with the hub cap on it, so we can see what type of wheel it is, and what type of cap it is, maybe someone is familiar with that setup, and can offer useful advice. Usually the problem is that the caps are reproductions, or they are some type of aftermarket cap that just is badly designed, or doesn't fit right. Or it's an old original cap, being used on a wheel that it is not designed to fit.
I have sharpened the teeth on a few and they stay on, gouges the hell out of the paint on the wheel but they stay on. Old hubcaps were used and abused, even with a good polish on the outside people forget about the teeth rounding off on the inside. I have also heard of putting a small weld on the rim to give the teeth something better to bite, but have not tried it.
Are you running stock Stude wheels? Late model Mopar and Ford wheels will fit the studs (check for width), and will be fine for modern radials.
Great stuff. My Jalopy Journal friends connect the dots on problems that I forgot long ago. Thank you for the great ideas.
I have one repop rally on the coupe that flexes. I lost a Dodge cap off it at highway speed. Heard it pop loose and the rear wheel hit it. The center where the wheel goes over the hub has no metal turned back like a regular wheel. 20 years ago I oreded the wheels from one of theWest coast suppliers. He asked about the huds the brakes and said I know just what you need. All four fit perfect and no balance are wobble. Just one shucks hub caps. Also the cap slips on the same wheel. Chevy bolt pattern on 56 pickup hubs. Standard Chevy wheel will not slip over the hub.
radials WILL cause that to happen. you can try running a a bead of weld on the wheel so the disc has something to grab onto. or use moon discs!
just to be accurate you are calling wheel discs hubcaps there is a difference.climbing back into foxhole
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