58 Impala .Cant get my front hub caps to stay on

[Douglas]

So, I had to get a different offset wheels from Ecklers to accomadate disc breaks. The tits on the new wheels are smaller and my stock hub caps won't lock in enough to stay on. Drive five feet and they fall off. Any help with what to do would be very helpful. Thanks Doug.

 

[blkblk63ss]

Get bigger tit"s ,,,,LOL. Can you take a mig welder and build up the tit area like your old wheel"s and then smooth down with a flap wheel and abrasive wheel disc????Smooth around raised area with a fiberglass body filler to make a nice contour around raised bump.you will want to be on bare metal where you apply filler.you would have to experiment on high high to get bump"s by popping on hubcaps"s and see how tight they get?????that"s my idea,don"t know if it"s good or not????

 

[1958 delivery]

Get bigger tit"s ,,,,LOL. Can you take a mig welder and build up the tit area like your old wheel"s and then smooth down with a flap wheel and abrasive wheel disc????Smooth around raised area with a fiberglass body filler to make a nice contour around raised bump.you will want to be on bare metal where you apply filler.you would have to experiment on high high to get bump"s by popping on hubcaps"s and see how tight they get?????that"s my idea,don"t know if it"s good or not????

then you ruin the powder coating

Use silicone to glue the hubcaps on, it works well and you can take the caps off when needed. A friend ran 14" 1959 Impala hubcaps on his 15" steel wheels and they stayed on for years.

 

[DonSSDD]

Some of the hubcaps, maybe they were aftermarket, had "brackets" that you could bend a bit if they were loose. My 59 had those, maybe find some. The welding or silicone should work though to hold them on.

Don

 

[blkblk63ss]

then you ruin the powder coating

Use silicone to glue the hubcaps on, it works well and you can take the caps off when needed. A friend ran 14" 1959 Impala hubcaps on his 15" steel wheels and they stayed on for years.

Are they powder coated ?????

 

[poison ivy]

rtv will glue the caps on, however in 58 there were two kinds of caps, some with ribs that used the tits to secure,then they produced caps with stainless pressure teeth on the caps that GRIPPED the rim,that clawed into the rim and scratched the rim paint.

 

[huug]

I got tired of picking up my hubcaps from the roadside as well.
The types with the scratching teeth do stay on. And yes, they scratch in the powder coat.

"tits" type:

"Teeth" type:

 

[1958 delivery]

Are the hub caps with the "teeth" aftermarket? I think all 58's came with wheels that had nubs. In fact all wheels 55-61 had nubs.

 

[Douglas]

I bought a 1/4 " spacer to solve the problem? Does anyone have any thoughts on using a spacer? Thanks to Everyone.

 

[1958 delivery]

I bought a 1/4 " spacer to solve the problem? Does anyone have any thoughts on using a spacer? Thanks to Everyone.

Are you spacing the original wheels to fit the brakes because the hubcaps work on those?

 

[Douglas]

I got tired of picking up my hubcaps from the roadside as well.
The types with the scratching teeth do stay on. And yes, they scratch in the powder coat.

"tits" type:

"Teeth" type:

I got tired of picking up my hubcaps from the roadside as well.
The types with the scratching teeth do stay on. And yes, they scratch in the powder coat.

"tits" type:

"Teeth" type:

Are you spacing the original wheels to fit the brakes because the hubcaps work on those?

 

[Douglas]

Thanks

 

[Douglas]

Are you spacing the original wheels to fit the brakes because the hubcaps work on those?

yes. They are the original wheels and the hub caps stay on them. I'm just not sure about using a spacer.

 

[1958 delivery]

Not sure what brakes you have. But a 1/4" spacer won't be enough with most disc kits to try and fit original 14" wheels. Give it a shot. The main thing to watch for besides scraping the caliper is if the studs become too short due to the spacer.

 

[Douglas]

Not sure what brakes you have. But a 1/4" spacer won't be enough with most disc kits to try and fit original 14" wheels. Give it a shot. The main thing to watch for besides scraping the caliper is if the studs become too short due to the spacer.

No rubbing using the 1/4" spacers. As far as the the studs go, they go all the way through the nuts except around 1\8 th. not sure if that's enough?

 

[1958 delivery]

The stud should protrude the nut by 1 thread minimum. If not, buy the special lug nuts that have .300" deeper reach, that will give you an extra 4-5 threads engaged.

 

[1958 delivery]

This type, pg 6 scroll down mid way to G-T/Ultra open end: http://www.gorilla-auto.com/lug-nuts-page-11
You don't have to buy Gorilla brand but the same type.

 

[Douglas]

This type, pg 6 scroll down mid way to G-T/Ultra open end: http://www.gorilla-auto.com/lug-nuts-page-11
You don't have to buy Gorilla brand but the same type.

Thanks for the info. These will give me the extra threads I need. Regards Doug

 

[Douglas]

thanks for the info. These will give me the extra threads needed

 

[Phil Reed]

I just checked my inventory...........I have 8 58 Impala full wheel covers and 3 different designs of the retainer that holds the cap on!!!!!!!!!!! I'll try to post pictures when I get time.