Does anyone have problems with hubcaps rotating?

[trapster]

Does anyone have problems with hubcaps rotating?

About 3 weeks ago, after returning from a short trip, one of my tires went flat quickly about 10 minutes after I parked the car.

What happened is the hubcap rotated enough to break the valve stem. :wack:

I have never seen this happen before, has anyone else.

So I then removed all of the hubcaps and re-positioned them. Three of them were tugging on the valve stems. So I made sure they were all centered correctly.

I have taken the car out twice since then for about 15 miles maybe less and it is doing it again to the same three. See Picture

The caps are tight and I cannot get them to move without removing them.

Also the the stems are all pointing the direction of the car when it is going forward. weird right ?

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

I have never had it happen but I have seen cars with the valve stem twisted over like you show. I always thought someone didn't install the caps correctly. Lesson learned here.

I don't know how this cap is made on the back but if it has grippers all the way around I would tweak them to where they would get a better bite.

 

[Dartman1969]

I have seen it happen many times. I have taken hubcaps off just for the purpose of finding the valve stem to check the tire pressure. Some are worse than others and just because you can not turn the hubcap by hand does not mean that centrifugal force can't. You can try bending the retainers so it grips the wheel better but this usual results in a warped hubcap that is difficult to install and remove and may not cure the problem. You can go to your local tire shop and have metal valve stems installed. This will not cure the issue but the hubcap will stop rotating when it hits the stem instead of folding the stem over and causing a leak.

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

Putting metal stems in a nice original car like yours just would be like putting a Chebby motor in it in my opinion.

Just a light tweak of the grippers won't distort the hub cap unless you are trying to use a pipe wrench or something. Try something like a very small of pliers or Vice Grips. You won't touch the face of the hub cap unless you are bending something besides the grippers.

REFERENCE Only Picture because I couldn't find the back side picture of the exact hub cap on the car.

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

Need some extra caps for your convertible for $12 each? Buy one or three.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/63-64-Dodge...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item1e5b67c3da

 

[twofosho]

Tweek the mounting tangs just enough to make the side of the tang in the direction of travel dig in a little deeper, sometimes that's enough. If that doesn't work, screw a pair of small self tapping screws into matching holes you've drilled in the rim on either side of one the mounting tangs, a dab of sealant on the threads wouldn't hurt. Mounting tangs squeezed into a rim to hold a wheelcover on certainly aren't going to jump over screw heads.
While I don't have that problem now because I'm running cop car wheels that look good powder coated white with chrome lugnuts, I've had it in the past with similar stock full covers on a 14" wheel.

 

[Dartman1969]

Putting metal stems in a nice original car like yours just would be like putting a Chebby motor in it in my opinion.

Really Bill?? Metal valve stems = Chevy motor?? Do you think these will really distract from the appearance of that nice original car??
~Michael

 

[66340SEDAN]

Are your tires good or have they been balanced recently? If not, the tire will shake a little, that will cause the hubcap spin too.

 

[Seca900r]

Yep! Happened to my Dart. Out of balance or bent rim.

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

I have seen it happen many times. I have taken hubcaps off just for the purpose of finding the valve stem to check the tire pressure. Some are worse than others and just because you can not turn the hubcap by hand does not mean that centrifugal force can't. You can try bending the retainers so it grips the wheel better but this usual results in a warped hubcap that is difficult to install and remove and may not cure the problem. You can go to your local tire shop and have metal valve stems installed. This will not cure the issue but the hubcap will stop rotating when it hits the stem instead of folding the stem over and causing a leak.

As another member has expressed tweaking the tangs won't warp the hub cap but will help the hub cap grip the rim better. I hope you did read where I mentioned grippers all the way around. I have tweaked tangs on a many of a hub cap to get them to stay on the car especially on spinner hub caps. The spinner on this Furd cap is much heavier that the cap. I lost several of these caps until an old timer had me tweak the grippers to get them to stay on. I did it and the caps stayed in place and I never lost another one again during the 4 years I had the car. Simple logic tells you that tweaking the grippers/tanks might stop the hub cap from moving if they are gripping the wheel securely.

Really Bill?? Metal valve stems = Chevy motor?? Do you think these will really distract from the appearance of that nice original car??
~Michael

Chebby motor was on the extreme just as I intended it to be and yes metal valve stems will distract from the appearance of an original car. The caps are likely to chew through the coating and reveal metal on the valve stems that will look horrible. Metal stems might also cause the hubcap valve stem hole to become elongated and ruin the cap because it will still be trying to move.

 

[69B-Cuda]

my 50 DeSoto used to do that... nub caps would spin.... don't have it anymore though...