Hubcap Heartburn

My only wide 5 experience was on my 1957 VW sedan, which had similar hubcaps and clips.  They worked great until I turned the rims around to get them to stick out more (they were dished inwardly and I wanted them dished out).  I still wanted to run the hubcaps, so I ground off the rivets that held the clips on and re-installed new clips and rivets on the opposite side of the rim.  I then had the same problem that you have and cured it by re-bending the shape of the clips until I got everything to sit properly on the rim all the way around.

After I got to that point, I beat on the hubcaps here and there with a rubber mallet to make sure they wouldn’t fall off (one was looser than the others) and after that they seemed OK.

Had a similar problem on a dune buggy with super-deep-dished rear wheels and had to mess with the clips til I got them to latch the hubcap on tight.  For those, I needed to drill those little holes in the hubcap rim edges to use one of those dual hook tools to pull the cap off, as there was no way to get a screw-driver-like tool in there to pry the cap off.

My belief is that the clips do not closely mimic the shape of the hubcap to grab them properly so the cap doesn’t pull in all the way.  Take a close look at both clip and cap - you’ll see what I mean.

I’m also not a big fan of the EMPI hubcaps as a lot of people have a lot of trouble getting them to fit, but that’s just what I’ve read on here.

Thank you, sir.

I suspect that the EMPI caps are the issue, but won’t know for sure until I buy new ones. Might just buy one of Stoddard’s to test that theory before investing fully!

I feel your pain. The clips on the wheels that came with my VS were spaced too far apart. I then ordered, and returned, wheels from a variety of suppliers-- all having the same clip spacing. So, I resorted to violence.

You'll find that if you get the hub cap set on three clips you can pound the cap onto the remaining ones. Be careful to only use the base of your palm at the cap's raised center. Hit a cap anywhere else and you could dent it.  

That should get it on. But the real problem comes when you try to get it off. The edges of the clips often catch on the cap's rolled-over inside rim.  Good luck.

Thanks . . . . and, you know, the best part (sarcasm) is that although three of the caps are not completely flush, they absolutely don’t want to come off, either. 

Haven’t lost one yet or even had one come off while driving, so I guess that’s good. I just make sure to double check they are still secure before I back out of the garage.

Like I said earlier: it just doesn’t seem like it should be such a major hassle to get these caps on securely and properly.