I bought some baby-moon hub caps with a 243 mm interior diameter to place on my aftermarket (not sure whose) wide-five wheels. The on-line shop I bought them from assured me they would fit, and the hubcaps are marked “5-bolt”. But it doesn’t look like they will as the wheel’s clips seem too far apart. How can I bend them back without breaking them?
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All I have is a smart a$$ answer:
Q. How can I bend them back without breaking them?
A. Carefully
They are very thin spring steel and do not like being bent. We have had marginal luck with minor bends in them, but usually they break, cut you and cause a short cursing fit.
They can easily be bent by annealing them and once you know they are correct, heat them cherry red and quench them in oil. This gives the spring steel character back to them, although they are never quite as strong as "factory". That said, to get them this hot they need to be removed form the wheel and riveted back on, which may be more work than desired...
Or, you could get the right hubcap.
wombat posted:I bought some baby-moon hub caps with a 243 mm interior diameter to place on my aftermarket (not sure whose) wide-five wheels. The on-line shop I bought them from assured me they would fit, and the hubcaps are marked “5-bolt”. But it doesn’t look like they will as the wheel’s clips seem too far apart. How can I bend them back without breaking them?
And here's the answer to my own question: a mallet. A small rubber mallet hit gently and repeatedly did the trick. I tried everything else and was at the WTF stage when I grabbed the hammer. Sometimes violence (moderate) works.
...sometimes, but not very often!
I had to tweak five clips that were out so far the hubcap could not go on. On mine, it became apparent that if bent inwards, the angle of the clip that holds the hubcap would change and not grip properly, so my solution was to grind off the rivets that hold the clips to the wheel, adjust the holes in the clips and bolt the little buggers back on.
wombat posted:wombat posted:I bought some baby-moon hub caps with a 243 mm interior diameter to place on my aftermarket (not sure whose) wide-five wheels. The on-line shop I bought them from assured me they would fit, and the hubcaps are marked “5-bolt”. But it doesn’t look like they will as the wheel’s clips seem too far apart. How can I bend them back without breaking them?
And here's the answer to my own question: a mallet. A small rubber mallet hit gently and repeatedly did the trick. I tried everything else and was at the WTF stage when I grabbed the hammer. Sometimes violence (moderate) works.
So I guess "very carefully" was the right answer. Hmm who'd a thunk that?
