Please Help - Hubcaps/Wheel Covers Falling Off!!!

[wldcat10]

Ok I have a problem with my wheel covers falling off! I put on some new tires on my '70 lwb this past Friday and put on my wheel covers just before leaving the tire shop. I made a u-turn and there goes my front passenger wheel cover rolling into the middle of the street, as I pull over and brake my front driver side wheel cover rolls off. So I go and grab them and figured I would just put them on later. So later that afternoon I put them on and pull out my driveway, as my front tires are rolling off the slanted concrete (where the sidewalk meets the stree) my front left wheel cover pops off. I brake to get out and get it and my other front wheel cover pops off!!! Am I doing something wrong??? The wheels I putting them on are smoothies, when I put them on it feels secure but they still pop off! I took pics of both wheels and wheel covers. Do I need to pull out/adjust the small teeth on the back of the wheel covers? Please help me out! I just want to take my truck for a little cruise without having to worry about my wheel covers falling off and not having to dodge traffic for my wheel covers! Any help is appreciated! Pics below!

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[too much stuff]

Doesn't look like you have a lip inside the rim for the cover to grab on. You will have to change wheels or go without those caps i think.

[wldcat10]

Oh man really? I was hoping I didnt have to change my wheels! What kind of wheels have the lip on them? Do the steelies have the lips that would grab onto them?

[too much stuff]

You could try bending the tabs up a little bit, but i think there is not enough lip on the aftermarket wheels to grip on to.
Lets see if anyone else has a different opinion. Would hate to see you change out the wheels...

[sameyrasmea72]

At first I was thinking it was the tabs, but it may be your wheels. Did you have the wheel covers on these wheels before you got new tires?

Over the last 40 years the tabs do get messed up especially if people have pounded them on incorrectly.

[ChevLoRay]

Chrome plating yields a harder surface. Add to that, any deficiency on the hubcap or wheelcover, and it makes it very difficult for them to stay on, when you add in the torsional stresses that occur as you roll down the road.

Back in '64, I had a '54 Ford 2-dr sedan that was a mild custom. It had a set of Dodge Lancer 4-bar wheel covers on it. I had to go and find one of them, more than once....and that was on a painted wheel, not a chrome wheel. The removal/reinstallation process will cause the spring tension on those tabs to weaken....and that's all that keeps 'em on, in the beginning.

[wldcat10]

Originally Posted by sameyrasmea72

At first I was thinking it was the tabs, but it may be your wheels. Did you have the wheel covers on these wheels before you got new tires?

Over the last 40 years the tabs do get messed up especially if people have pounded them on incorrectly.

No I never had the hubcaps on before I got the tires. Thats the reason I wanted to get the white walls so that I could finally put on the wheel covers! Should I try to pull out the tabs a little? What kind of wheels would I need to replace these with if they dont stay on? My wheels on it right now are 6 lug. Is it hard to find some 15" 6 lug steelies?

[darush01]

Also just a thought but your wheels were chromed i think, already firgot, and that might make the surface a little slicker than a painted wheel so that might be why it wont grab onto the wheel, its just a thought
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[wldcat10]

I found a guy selling some 6 lug steelies but they are 16". Is it hard to find 6 lug 15" wheels?

[ChevLoRay]

Shouldn't be hard to find 'em. You have Desert Valley Auto in Phoenix. Surely, those guys would have some for you. I mean, 15's with 6 lugs were common-place from '56-70, on 1/2-ton trucks. 4WD trucks used them from '58 to '87, in the 1/2-ton capacity. There's a butt-load of 'em out there, and they're much more common than hens' teeth!

[wldcat10]

I was hoping it wasnt the wheel! I'm going to see if anybody around my way want to trade their 6 lug 15" steelies with either dog dish hubcaps or full wheel covers for my smoothies!

[wldcat10]

Anybody have a pic of a wheel with a lip that would work for these wheel covers?
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[brad_man_72]

arg I hate to be the one to post this.... May be able to run some duct tape along the inside of the wheel where the hubcap grips onto. It's cheap and maybe orth a shot.

[wldcat10]

Originally Posted by brad_man_72

arg I hate to be the one to post this.... May be able to run some duct tape along the inside of the wheel where the hubcap grips onto. It's cheap and maybe orth a shot.

Funny that you say that! I have a buddy who used to have some full wheel covers too and he said he used electrical tape on the wheel to that it would grip the wheel cover teeth. I might have to give that a try. but if it doesnt work i might have to pick up some steelies. Anybody got any pics of a wheel with the kind of lip I need to hold these on? would a regular 15' steel wheel work?

[sameyrasmea72]

Originally Posted by wldcat10

Anybody got any pics of a wheel with the kind of lip I need to hold these on? would a regular 15' steel wheel work?

Original wheels off a 72 truck!!!!.

[Barney1970 CST]

Originally Posted by wldcat10

Anybody have a pic of a wheel with a lip that would work for these wheel covers?
Posted via Mobile Device

These are some pictures of some 15x6 steel rims I have on a 70 CST I just got. You can see in the pictures how the trim ring scares them up, I would think the hub cap/ wheel cover would do the same thing. I really like the wheel covers!!! can I ask were you got them. I have trim rings and center caps on my other trucks and would like wheel cover on this truck. Hope the pictures help.

[wldcat10]

Originally Posted by Barney1970 CST

Attachment 703218

Attachment 703223

These are some pictures of some 15x6 steel rims I have on a 70 CST I just got. You can see in the pictures how the trim ring scares them up, I would think the hub cap/ wheel cover would do the same thing. I really like the wheel covers!!! can I ask were you got them. I have trim rings and center caps on my other trucks and would like wheel cover on this truck. Hope the pictures help.

Thanks for the up-close pics! Now I see the lip you guys are talking about! I love these full wheel covers and have been waiting to put them on, and now this happens. I found a guy seeling these wheel covers at the swap meet about 6-7 months ago. He wanted $125, I talked him down to $25 a beer.

[wldcat10]

Not sure I can do this here but....Does anybody here in the Tucson area have a set of 15' 6 lug Steelies with either dog dish hubcaps or full wheel covers that would be interested in trading straight up for my smoothies?

[wldcat10]

It feels like its on there pretty good when I put them on. I give it a tug and seems like it would stay on, as soon as I hit a bump or brake it goes rolling off!

[7T2]

All the wheel covers/trim rings I have had actually dig into the paint/steel of the rim. I'm not sure you can run hubcaps on chrome wheels. Anybody else out there actually doing this? Now I'm curious...

[Barney1970 CST]

Man they are sweet, I have a place a few towns over and he has a lot of wheel covers, hope to get by in next few day. I just want some with a Chevy bowtie on them, does not have to be correct year, just need to hide my ugly wheels. I do plan on painting them in spring then covering them with wheel cover. I tell you that is one heck off a deal. I may have to bring a cooler with me and see if my guy will settle for some cash and a beer.

[wldcat10]

Haha yeah he was a cool guy we just bs'd for like a n hour and he ended up taking $25 and a budweiser, cool guy!

[brad_man_72]

friend of my stepfather purhased an old junkyard, all that's left is a mobile home full of wheel covers he said I could have. I guess I better get on it.

[Barney1970 CST]

Originally Posted by brad_man_72

friend of my stepfather purhased an old junkyard, all that's left is a mobile home full of wheel covers he said I could have. I guess I better get on it.

A mobile home full of wheel covers. Not that wheel covers are all that popular with most folks, I like them on old stuff. Lots of new cars have them, I bet that mobile home is worth a gold mine.