Dog Dish Grip on Reproduction Steel Wheel

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69V

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Hey,

I bought 15 inch 63 series wheel vintiques steel wheels, i also bought reproduction dog dish hub caps. Problem I have is I don’t trust the grip the cap has on the wheel. It snaps on there, but when I squeeze it in the right place I can take them off with my hands, with not a lot of effort.
I have an original steel wheel laying around, and put them on there. They fit way nicer since it has four tabs on the rim. Has anyone else had to deal with this problem and has found a solution, or has an idea to improve the grip of the dog dish on those rims?

Thanks in advance
 
This has been a problem with repop wheels for some time now.
I believe that the producers have fixed this. Maybe you have some older stock.
I have been told that a small die grinder to under cut that area will give the lip a better hold.
Also a dab of silicone helps. Sad that for what they cost they can't make them correct.
 
I have not, I will do that right now.
I'm curious to their response, as I called them about availability on some wheels and they acted like it was moving heaven and earth to find an answer. Not very customer friendly. Good luck!
 
i've heard people complain about this in the past. i have never had an issue running wheel vintiques wheels with stock doggies. they have been on the car since 2015 and i've never lost one. roads around here are horrible too..

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I'm curious to their response, as I called them about availability on some wheels and they acted like it was moving heaven and earth to find an answer. Not very customer friendly. Good luck!

yea? when i called to order my wheels (granted it was 2015) they were great to deal with. i ordered a custom backspace and they had said so many weeks to do. they actually were finished early for me.. i was happy with them.. 8 years i guess a lot can change.
 
I took a round file to mine after I painted them and then put one thin coat of paint to prevent rust, been like that for years, no problems.
 
yea? when i called to order my wheels (granted it was 2015) they were great to deal with. i ordered a custom backspace and they had said so many weeks to do. they actually were finished early for me.. i was happy with them.. 8 years i guess a lot can change.
Really? This was the first and only time I've ever talked to them. Was back in November, I think. They shot down my questions before I even finished them and acted like they had so much more important things to do. I was really disappointed.
 
Yep, I had the same issue on mine from Wheel Vintiques. I ended up having to build the lugs up with a small weld bead and dressing them down with a die grinder. Without doing that, the caps would fall off if I looked at them wrong. Granted, I bought mine about 8 yrs ago now.
 
i've heard people complain about this in the past. i have never had an issue running wheel vintiques wheels with stock doggies. they have been on the car since 2015 and i've never lost one. roads around here are horrible too..

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How solidly are they on there? Can you pry them off with your hands?

when I grip the dog dish between two nubs, I can just take them off with some force. not a lot compared to original wheels where I have to use a pry bar.
 
This has been a problem with repop wheels for some time now.
I believe that the producers have fixed this. Maybe you have some older stock.
I have been told that a small die grinder to under cut that area will give the lip a better hold.
Also a dab of silicone helps. Sad that for what they cost they can't make them correct.

I tried taking a file to behind the nubs and a lot of powder coat came off that had “flown“ in there. I think it is better now, but not tons. I am just hesitant to go drive with them on, don’t want to lose 40 bucks on the road.

i should have gotten orignal wheels from the junkyard down the road. Would have cost me 20 dollars a wheel instead of the 170. Even after blasting and powder coating it would have been cheaper and I would not have the problem.
 
It says stainless on the website, but it definitely feels like aluminum.
 
they are repop ones? maybe its them and not the wheel? the stock stainless ones are a nice piece.
Oh I see. You have stock ones on there. What makes me think it’s the wheel is that the caps fit very nice in a stock wheel.
 
I had this problem with mine also, original caps on stock wheels very tight, original caps on aftermarket wheels, not so much.



I had to take a dremel and deepen the notch behind the lugs. Doing this allowed the bead on the cap to better "snap" into place. Prior to doing so the caps could be pulled off very easily, afterwards it was fine. Not what you want when you spend real money on the aftermarket parts, luckily it was prior to paint.

While we are on the subject, I sure wish you could buy these wheels raw rather than having to sandblast fresh powder coating off. Shame you paid for that, just to remove it. Plus, blasting that off is a *****.

Modifying cars brings a whole new meaning to bolt on, or direct fit................ Reminds me of that wonderful lock ring on my new sending unit........
 
Probably a stupid question - but why must the factory coating be blasted off? I just scuffed mine, shot them with sealer, and single stage. They turned out great.
 
I worked up a set of those years ago for a guy with an old Ford truck.

After finally getting a return call, I learned the owner of Wheel Vintiques was the one spraying 28-37 mils of primer on them.

3-4 mils is the industry standard.

Good luck blasting that $hit.
 
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