OK, so one of my projects is a 1951 3/4 ton Ford truck. It has some moon-style hubcaps that are huge and cover about two-thirds of the 16" wheels.
It was very easy to remove them, but now that I have polished them, I can't put them back on!
Well if I pound the heck out of them with a rubber mallet I could probably get them back on, but I have already put a few little dents even trying that.
These wheels have four "nubs" on the inner raised feature of the wheel. Two of the opposing nubs are larger than the other two opposing nubs. The hubcaps have no feature that allows you to line them up in any special manner.

So one of you must have figured out how to put these hubcaps on without having to pound the snot out of them.
Does anyone remember?

Thanks in advance....
Tom


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I have used the palm of my hand before and it worked good, Give it a sharp rap and it should pop right on.

LK

I have used the palm of my hand before and it worked good, Give it a sharp rap and it should pop right on.

LKI agree with that but it's sounding like it's not going to be that simple. Is there an odd configuration on the back of the hubcap that's preventing this? :confused: Pictures might help.

A little lubricant might help

Do you have a BFH that everyone here speaks of?:D

I have had good luck putting them on by hand. The wheel has bumps that hold the cap in place. Place the cap against the wheel with the cap pushed past two of the bumps and then push it on, squeezing the cap inward in an area between the other bumps. This distorts the cap slightly, allowing it to get past the last bump on the wheel.

Try hooking thecaps on the larger nubs you say you have firist.then push down over the smaller one hand, and tap with your palm of the other.

I agree with that but it's sounding like it's not going to be that simple. Is there an odd configuration on the back of the hubcap that's preventing this? :confused: Pictures might help.

Yep, it's not as easy as it looks but I don't know why. These are perhaps the original hubcaps and although they are pitted they have almost no dents - certainly none from being pounded in place. There are no special features on the hubcap themselves to help make it past those raised areas. So there must be a trick. I tried wheel bearing grease (Blubu)- no luck.
Here is a photo and although it does show two of the raised nubs, there isn't enough detail to show that they are slightly different in size offset to each other.
I tried all combinations of placement and began to reach for the BFH (Gary) but thought I'd better not and have no regrets.
They came off without a lot of effort - but it seems like I would have to stretch them about 3/8" inch to get them over a nub. None of them will go back on. My rubber mallet started to dent them.
I can imagine back in about 1952 some small town garage/filling station had a guy who dented the crap out of someone's new truck hubcaps and had to buy new ones out of his own pocket. After that he learned the trick and passed on that info to everyone he knew. Hopefully it was passed on and some of you guys heard or learned.
I've put many hubcaps and center caps on wheels over the years - mostly with the palm of my hand (alwhite) but these are a different beast.

Thanks for your replies - I can take a close up photo if needed.
Tom


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Look for some distortions on the underside of the cap.
Try to align these distortions or dents withthe nubs on the wheel, and it should pop right on.

I actually have to do this on my 59 with ralleys and 67 flat caps.

I see that you have quite a mismatch of parts there. Your Ford would have originally had 17" wheels and the "nubs" for the hubcaps would have been on the inside of the raised portion of the wheel. The wheel in the picture looks like a Chevy wheel with the center torched out to clear the bigger Ford axle end. I bet Chevy hub caps from a 3/4 ton would go right on no problem. I have no idea what the hub cap in the picture is from.