Guest ooder Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Does anybody have any ideas on how to prevent losing wheelcovers on a 1952 Oldsmobile? They are held in place by 10 or twelve little "grippers" near the outside edge that fit on the rim lip near the tire. You can knock them on with a rubber hammer but when you knock on one side the other side wants to come off. After some effort you can finally get them on and looking good and tight. However, when you drive the car and hit a bump they will sometimes come off. Is there possibly some sort of adhesive material that you could apply to the rim or the "grippers"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dwhiteside64 Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Does anybody have any ideas on how to prevent losing wheelcovers on a 1952 Oldsmobile? They are held in place by 10 or twelve little "grippers" near the outside edge that fit on the rim lip near the tire. You can knock them on with a rubber hammer but when you knock on one side the other side wants to come off. After some effort you can finally get them on and looking good and tight. However, when you drive the car and hit a bump they will sometimes come off. Is there possibly some sort of adhesive material that you could apply to the rim or the "grippers"?I had the same problem with my '64 Riviera - in fact I lost one getting the car home after picking it up! I decided to clean the rust and dirt around the rim in order to give a better surface for these 'grippers' to hold on to. I also ensured that they were angled correctly to bite into the edge of the rim effectively. Car rims are nortorious for comming loose and rolling away on vehicles, and this is due to many factors such as corrosion/dirt forming under the grippers, hard jarring over time making them loose, and poor driving habits such as quick, sharp turns that flex the tire and make the rim vibrate. I decided to invest in another set of period covers and keep them handy just in case I lose another, and I also occassionally tap the covers to ensure a snug fit from time to time. Don't know of any adhesive but it may exist. Someone else can chime in and give their two cents worth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Commodore Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Are you using radial tires? They can be the source of wheelcover lose. They flex more then bias ply tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Car rims are nortorious for comming loose and rolling away on vehicles, Especially in the movie Bullitt... :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ooder Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Are you using radial tires? They can be the source of wheelcover lose. They flex more then bias ply tires. I have heard the same thing--that rims with radial tires flex more and therefore you are more likely to lose wheelcovers. However, the car in question has bias tires. It appears that all the grippers are straight and making contact and the rim has no rust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Commodore Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Well, this website , Auto Amenity, has some tips on keeping your wheel covers on. See link.http://www.autoamenity.com/FAQ/TightenLooseHubcaps.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dwhiteside64 Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 (edited) Especially in the movie Bullitt...Ha ha I know. I think that Charger lost a total of five during that chase! Edited May 7, 2014 by dwhiteside64 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 (edited) And passed the same VW about 3 times. Still it set the bar for chase scenes. Supposedly the guy they show as the bad guy driver actually did drive the Charger................Bob Edited May 7, 2014 by Bhigdog (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WEB 38 Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Try some clear silicone sealent adhiseve on your grippers it worked on my motor home covers Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickelroadster Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Try some clear silicone sealent adhiseve on your grippers it worked on my motor home covers BillI second this recommendation. Just make the area of contact nice and clean and they will stick quite well. When you remove a wheel cover just redo it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rjones Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 just a thought. If you can measure and layout where the grippers should be, take a chisel and make a little trench for them to stop in so that they have to pop past the trench before coming out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ooder Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Thanks to all of y'all. I have read the website link and it has some good ideas. Also the silicone sealent adhesive sounds good. Do you have a specific brand for that? I might even chisel a trench. I even got a movie review. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Are you using radial tires? They can be the source of wheelcover lose. They flex more then bias ply tires. As a structural engineer, I'm struggling to understand this statement. The steel wheel will always be stiffer than the rubber tire. In addition, the radials have sidewalls that are MORE compliant than those on bias ply tires, so the radial tire will be LESS stiff, resulting is LESS deflection in the rim, not more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike brady Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 First, determine if your wheels are correct for a '52 Olds. Next, ensure the fingers or "grippers" are angled (bent) correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Commodore Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 As a structural engineer, I'm struggling to understand this statement. The steel wheel will always be stiffer than the rubber tire. In addition, the radials have sidewalls that are MORE compliant than those on bias ply tires, so the radial tire will be LESS stiff, resulting is LESS deflection in the rim, not more.The steel wheel is not doing the flexing, the tire is. On lots of full wheel covers, the wheel cover is larger then the wheel. This part of the wheel cover that is larger then the wheel will be hit by the flexing radial tire and pushed off the wheel. Of course, not all full wheel covers are larger then the wheel and would not be effected by this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 The steel wheel is not doing the flexing, the tire is. On lots of full wheel covers, the wheel cover is larger then the wheel. This part of the wheel cover that is larger then the wheel will be hit by the flexing radial tire and pushed off the wheel. Of course, not all full wheel covers are larger then the wheel and would not be effected by this.Now THAT makes sense. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 A client was having exactly the same problem on his Continental Mark II, and you can imagine how expensive those hubcaps are. At a national meet, one of the judges told him to jack up the car enough to take the weight off each wheel as he's installing the hub cap. Apparently the weight of the car was distorting the wheels enough that it couldn't get a good grip on the rim. He did this, jacking up each corner in turn, installing the hubcap, and then putting the car back on the ground. To date, he has not lost another hubcap, and this was more than 5 years ago. It sounds crazy and I was disinclined to believe that the weight of the car could distort the wheel, especially sitting on an inflated tire, but this anecdotal evidence suggests that maybe there's something to it. Perhaps worth a try? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ooder Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Try some clear silicone sealent adhiseve on your grippers it worked on my motor home covers BillI put on a liberal amount of adhiseve and also jacked up the car to take the weight off when installing. Happy to report that I have been over 200 miles and haven't lost a wheelcover yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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