Hubcap Technique

[bajajoaquin]

I'm a little embarrassed to be asking this at all, but....

On my way to lunch day before yesterday, I heard a whaaannnnggg from the back of the car. Since it drove fine, and nothing was wrong with the gauges, I guessed it was a hubcap coming off. After lunch, I looped back around on the freeway (twice) and found it up against the concrete barrier at the shoulder:



(that's the I-5 and I-805 merge for anyone who is familiar with San Diego)

It had been making some noise driving around town, and I suspect I didn't get it on fully.

So here's the question: what's the best way to get these things on there? I felt like I was bashing pretty hard, and risking damaging them. So how do you do it? Put one edge in, and bash the other? Tap around the full circumfrence? Grease the tabs? Chant incantations?

Basically, is there a trick to this, or do I just need to hit it harder with a rubber mallet?

 

[MrMoparCHP]

I start with one foot in the center and pop an edge in then move a foot there and walk it on.
Back to the center and work the perimeter fully a few times.

This is assuming tennis shoes not work boots.

Sometime the covers need to be "rebuilt", take some pliers and squareup the hooks.


Alan

 

[bajajoaquin]

"Square up the hooks...." Okay, I'll look at that.

Also, I just put the hubcap back on, and saw the weights on the outside of the rim. Should these be on the inside of the rim?

I bet those guys with mags and spoked wheels don't have these issues...

 

[MrMoparCHP]

The weights should not impact the fitting of the covers but I generaly ask for them to be put on the inside.


Alan

 

[saforwardlook]

Don't know when the wheels were last balanced, but in California where you also live, lead weights have been outlawed for some time now. The weights now being used are very thick and interfere with the wheel cover installation badly. So the only options I see are to have the weights put on the inside, which doesn't really give the best balance or to use the old lead weights if you have some and find someone willing to risk their business by installing them, or to get a balancing machine that will probably do an adequate job and do it yourself.

 

[bluefury361]

get a balancing machine that will probably do an adequate job and do it yourself.

You can still find the old tri pod type bubble balance machines for not a lot of money. They are still the most accurate way to balance a wheel/tire assy.

 

[68Nwprt]

You can still find the old tri pod type bubble balance machines for not a lot of money. They are still the most accurate way to balance a wheel/tire assy.

I've been thinking about getting one of those.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-SER...1102045115&pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr

 

[bajajoaquin]

How does balancing a tire on this eliminate the problem of wheel weights?

 

[MrMoparCHP]

How does balancing a tire on this eliminate the problem of wheel weights?

Both the wheels and the tires are irregular and not balanced, it is the weights that balance them.

Alan

 

[bajajoaquin]

Right, so how would a different tire machine eliminate the problem of weights being too bulky?

 

[68plymouth383]

Dog-dish hubcaps would solve the wheel cover problem..............

 

[68Nwprt]

How does balancing a tire on this eliminate the problem of wheel weights?

It doesn't. Try having the wheels re-balanced and ask the technician to put wheel weights on the inside only. Then adjust the tabs on the hubcap so they will grip tighter by bending them outward slightly if needed. Push the hub cap on evenly starting on one side and working your way around, using a rubber mallet. When installed properly the hub cap should to be tight to the wheel and even for the entire perimeter. Hope this helps.

 

[patrick66]

Dog-dish hubcaps would solve the wheel cover problem...

The Imperial wheel is completely different from any other Mopar wheel. They are a 5-on-5" bolt pattern, and they have zero provision for a dog dish/cop/poverty cap, as they have no inside nubs.

Baja, I have a similar problem with the covers on my '66, which are actually '67 covers. The '64 through '68 Imperials are pretty infamous for having wheel covers that love to depart from the host car.

 

[78Brougham]

Almost all the new wheel balancers these days can be setup to have the weights put on the inside of the rim. It should be no problem to have them put inside. Nowadays they can even hide them behind spokes on a wheel to make them virtually invisible. Any good tire shop can do this if you just ask and tell them the issue you have with the hub cap. As far as losing them for no reason, I'm on my second 67 Imperial and I never lost a hubcap, or new them to be a problem. Just to be safe I would follow what the other guys were saying about installing, checking and adjusting the tabs if necessary.

 

[1970cat]

 

[bulldogchesty]

I haven't seen one of those since I worked at a gas station.

 

[tbm3fan]

I popped off a few of my Spring Special wheel covers before. Twice around town pulling out of a driveway and then once on the freeway where it went flying across 4 lanes of traffic. Hit a ripple in the roadway. I found that one later that night at 1:00 am in the morning when it was safe to stop in the fast lane against the median divider after five passes. They then went into a box in the trunk. The 1970 covers are more sporty and I use a rubber mallet and make sure the cover's rim is fully down against the the wheel's rim. So far no problems in 3 years.

 

[bajajoaquin]

Local tire shop who put on my tires said they would charge me $5 to unmount the tires and remount them with the weights on the inside. I think I'll do that on Friday. That, plus some hubcap tab-bending, and it should be better.

Thanks for all the feedback.