| [GMCnet] Hubcaps going AWOL [message #360119] |
Sat, 14 November 2020 16:46  |
Stu Rasmussen
Messages: 130
Registered: January 2019
Location: Silverton, OR
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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Hi all,
On Thursday I ventured to our nearby Firestone store for a set of new
shoes for Blondie. 6 tires mounted and balanced and installed for $800
after discounts and such.
Prior to the tire expedition I procured 10 much nicer OEM hubcaps for
the 16.5" wheels from an eBay vendor to replace the strangely funked
ones on the coach when I purchased it.
'Strangely funked' meaning the PO or someone had built a set of
'bridges' on each wheel spanning two opposite lug bolts which had a
5/16" bolt protruding outward from the center and going through a hole
drilled in the center of each of the hubcaps with a large cap nut on the
outside. Really spoiled the 'look' of the coach. Didn't seem to have any
particular use and looked bad.
So, with new tires installed, newish hubcaps installed, off I went.
First left turn out of the parking lot I heard a metallic ka'tink wabba
wabba wabba sound characteristic of a dropped hubcap. WTF?
Turned right off the main drag into a side street and heard a second
ka'tink as another hubcap departed the coach.
Uh oh.
Parked and retrieved the errant saucers, pulled the rest off to avoid
additional escapes and headed for home.
New tires made a big difference - the thumpa-thumpa-thumpa was gone and
the steering wheel stopped clattering - but now, what about those
misbehaving hubcaps?
Why would they just 'pop off' like that? Bad wheels? Bad hubcaps? Bad
Ju-Ju? This must be the reason the PO did the funky 'bridging hubcap
retainers' but was that just covering up a more serious problem?
Anybody experience this before?
Thanks in advance
Stu
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Stu Rasmussen W7QJ
Silverton, OR
'77 Birchaven
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| Re: [GMCnet] Hubcaps going AWOL [message #360121 is a reply to message #360119] |
Sat, 14 November 2020 18:16  |
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Matt Colie
Messages: 8547
Registered: March 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 7
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Senior Member |
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Stu Rasmussen wrote on Sat, 14 November 2020 17:46Hi all,
On Thursday I ventured to our nearby Firestone store for a set of new shoes for Blondie. 6 tires mounted and balanced and installed for $800 after discounts and such.
Prior to the tire expedition I procured 10 much nicer OEM hubcaps for the 16.5" wheels from an eBay vendor to replace the strangely funked ones on the coach when I purchased it.
'Strangely funked' meaning the PO or someone had built a set of 'bridges' on each wheel spanning two opposite lug bolts which had a 5/16" bolt protruding outward from the center and going through a hole drilled in the center of each of the hubcaps with a large cap nut on the outside. Really spoiled the 'look' of the coach. Didn't seem to have any particular use and looked bad.
So, with new tires installed, newish hubcaps installed, off I went. First left turn out of the parking lot I heard a metallic ka'tink wabba wabba wabba sound characteristic of a dropped hubcap. WTF?
Turned right off the main drag into a side street and heard a second ka'tink as another hubcap departed the coach.
Uh oh.
Parked and retrieved the errant saucers, pulled the rest off to avoid additional escapes and headed for home.
New tires made a big difference - the thumpa-thumpa-thumpa was gone and the steering wheel stopped clattering - but now, what about those misbehaving hubcaps?
Why would they just 'pop off' like that? Bad wheels? Bad hubcaps? Bad Ju-Ju? This must be the reason the PO did the funky 'bridging hubcap retainers' but was that just covering up a more serious problem?
Anybody experience this before?
Thanks in advance
Stu
Stu,
I actually did have covers on 16.5 wheels at one time.
If you could or did put them on without a wooden stub and and mallet, that is your problem. If they did not need to be hammered on to seat in the rims properly, then the holding fingers are loose and need to be re-bent.
If you did not check that they were seated properly, well, you can't blame them.
I've decided that I like the look of my powder coated white 16" wheels enough to not bother with wheel covers at all.
Matt
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
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| Re: [GMCnet] Hubcaps going AWOL [message #360122 is a reply to message #360121] |
Sat, 14 November 2020 20:12 |
Marsh Wilkes
Messages: 155
Registered: January 2004
Karma: -3
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Senior Member |
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I used to put wire ties on mine.
Marsh Wilkes
Perry Florida
-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Colie via Gmclist
Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2020 7:16 PM
To: gmclist@list.gmcnet.org
Cc: Matt Colie
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Hubcaps going AWOL
Stu Rasmussen wrote on Sat, 14 November 2020 17:46
> Hi all,
>
> On Thursday I ventured to our nearby Firestone store for a set of new
> shoes for Blondie. 6 tires mounted and balanced and installed for $800
> after
> discounts and such.
>
> Prior to the tire expedition I procured 10 much nicer OEM hubcaps for the
> 16.5" wheels from an eBay vendor to replace the strangely funked ones on
> the coach when I purchased it.
>
> 'Strangely funked' meaning the PO or someone had built a set of 'bridges'
> on each wheel spanning two opposite lug bolts which had a 5/16" bolt
> protruding outward from the center and going through a hole drilled in the
> center of each of the hubcaps with a large cap nut on the outside. Really
> spoiled the 'look' of the coach. Didn't seem to have any particular use
> and looked bad.
>
> So, with new tires installed, newish hubcaps installed, off I went. First
> left turn out of the parking lot I heard a metallic ka'tink wabba wabba
> wabba sound characteristic of a dropped hubcap. WTF?
>
> Turned right off the main drag into a side street and heard a second
> ka'tink as another hubcap departed the coach.
>
> Uh oh.
>
> Parked and retrieved the errant saucers, pulled the rest off to avoid
> additional escapes and headed for home.
>
> New tires made a big difference - the thumpa-thumpa-thumpa was gone and
> the steering wheel stopped clattering - but now, what about those
> misbehaving hubcaps?
>
> Why would they just 'pop off' like that? Bad wheels? Bad hubcaps? Bad
> Ju-Ju? This must be the reason the PO did the funky 'bridging hubcap
> retainers' but was that just covering up a more serious problem?
>
> Anybody experience this before?
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Stu
Stu,
I actually did have covers on 16.5 wheels at one time.
If you could or did put them on without a wooden stub and and mallet, that
is your problem. If they did not need to be hammered on to seat in the
rims properly, then the holding fingers are loose and need to be re-bent.
If you did not check that they were seated properly, well, you can't blame
them.
I've decided that I like the look of my powder coated white 16" wheels
enough to not bother with wheel covers at all.
Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes
with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
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Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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| Re: [GMCnet] Hubcaps going AWOL [message #360123 is a reply to message #360119] |
Sat, 14 November 2020 20:48 |
lqqkatjon
Messages: 2324
Registered: October 2010
Location: St. Cloud, MN
Karma: 5
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Senior Member |
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I have lost many hub caps.
The OEM GMC 16.5” hubcaps were the only ones to stay on. But they were really hard to install without denting them. I had a hard plastic block i could use with my rubber hammer.
2 things made them stay-
1. Need to make sure the valve stem notch is correctly placed.
And most importantly- NO wheel weights. I used balance beads
I am guessing your issue is lots of weights
To make that old steel rim run balanced. And that is causing issue with hub caps.
Jon Roche
75 palm beach
EBL EFI, manny headers, Micro Level, rebuilt most of coach now.
St. Cloud, MN
http://lqqkatjon.blogspot.com/
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| Re: [GMCnet] Hubcaps going AWOL [message #360124 is a reply to message #360119] |
Sat, 14 November 2020 21:07 |
C Boyd
Messages: 2629
Registered: April 2006
Karma: 18
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Senior Member |
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Sir, Bout everybody has sperienced this with hubcaps. In our case it was the size of the weights holding the caps from going down tight. There are different types of weights. Some will allow the hubcap to seat completely and some won’t. I dug thru quite a few old weight bens before I got what I needed to replace the fat ones I had with skinny ones the same weights. By then my caps weren’t so cherry any more and I found a set of 16.5 aluminum wheels for my new tires.
Stu Rasmussen wrote on Sat, 14 November 2020 17:46
Hi all,
On Thursday I ventured to our nearby Firestone store for a set of new
shoes for Blondie. 6 tires mounted and balanced and installed for $800
after discounts and such.
Prior to the tire expedition I procured 10 much nicer OEM hubcaps for
the 16.5" wheels from an eBay vendor to replace the strangely funked
ones on the coach when I purchased it.
'Strangely funked' meaning the PO or someone had built a set of
'bridges' on each wheel spanning two opposite lug bolts which had a
5/16" bolt protruding outward from the center and going through a hole
drilled in the center of each of the hubcaps with a large cap nut on the
outside. Really spoiled the 'look' of the coach. Didn't seem to have any
particular use and looked bad.
So, with new tires installed, newish hubcaps installed, off I went.
First left turn out of the parking lot I heard a metallic ka'tink wabba
wabba wabba sound characteristic of a dropped hubcap. WTF?
Turned right off the main drag into a side street and heard a second
ka'tink as another hubcap departed the coach.
Uh oh.
Parked and retrieved the errant saucers, pulled the rest off to avoid
additional escapes and headed for home.
New tires made a big difference - the thumpa-thumpa-thumpa was gone and
the steering wheel stopped clattering - but now, what about those
misbehaving hubcaps?
Why would they just 'pop off' like that? Bad wheels? Bad hubcaps? Bad
Ju-Ju? This must be the reason the PO did the funky 'bridging hubcap
retainers' but was that just covering up a more serious problem?
Anybody experience this before?
Thanks in advance
Stu
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
C. Boyd
76 Crestmont
East Tennessee
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| Re: [GMCnet] Hubcaps going AWOL [message #360152 is a reply to message #360119] |
Mon, 16 November 2020 09:56 |
jhbridges
Messages: 8412
Registered: May 2011
Location: Braselton ga
Karma: -74
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Senior Member |
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I had a '62 Polara convertible with the flipper hubcaps. When I fitted it with radials, it shed the caps regularly. My thought was/is the GMC caps were meant for bias ply tires whose wheels don't flex quite as much. I'm open to other reasoning though.
--johnny
Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell
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