Holding dogdish hubcaps in place

[coW52Dodge]

Rolling around yesterday, I think I lost one of my dogdish hubcaps. :x

What's a good way to make sure those things don't rattle off, besides gluing them onto my wheel with roofing tar?? Those clips are horrible. First it took me forever to find wheels that have them all with the net result of still losing a hubcap.

I'm debating to put a bead of clear RTV silicone on the edges and just let that help hold them in place. Hotglue?

What works for you guys?

[Young Ed]

Are your clips weak or bent? I have a hard time getting mine off with a huge screwdriver! I usually end up launching them across the garage or driveway by the time they actually pop off.

[JBNeal]

A trick I learned when I lost 2 center caps off of my Dakota was to put RTV on the cap where it contacts the wheel/clip. I've also done this with my '02 Ram 2500 CTD 4x4 center caps after losing one of those li'l jewels. It appears the RTV doesn't glue the cap on as much as it fills the voids between the cap & the wheel/clip, vastly minimizing vibrations that would shake the cap loose. It's cheap, simple, and can be cleaned off & re-applied with new when servicing. IMO, it seems like it's harder to pry the caps off of the wheels because the cap doesn't want to pop off, it has to be worked loose to be removed.

[coW52Dodge]

A trick I learned when I lost 2 center caps off of my Dakota was to put RTV on the cap where it contacts the wheel/clip. I've also done this with my '02 Ram 2500 CTD 4x4 center caps after losing one of those li'l jewels. It appears the RTV doesn't glue the cap on as much as it fills the voids between the cap & the wheel/clip, vastly minimizing vibrations that would shake the cap loose. It's cheap, simple, and can be cleaned off & re-applied with new when servicing. IMO, it seems like it's harder to pry the caps off of the wheels because the cap doesn't want to pop off, it has to be worked loose to be removed.

Thanks. I'll have to try that along with marking my hubcaps with a "reward - call this number if found" message written inside. The springs on this particular wheel are a bit different in shape, them coming off a later year wheel so they are shaped a bit different than the other ones. It appears to be pretty tight, though.

The ones on the truck aren't fancy or prestine but I'd hate losing any more of them.

[Reg Evans]

Do the clips extend out away from the wheel as far as the 3 that aren't throwing a cap? Maybe finding another wheel with the same clips would do the trick.

[1949dakota]

sounds like another good place for a big ol' speaker magnet!

[coW52Dodge]

Do the clips extend out away from the wheel as far as the 3 that aren't throwing a cap? Maybe finding another wheel with the same clips would do the trick.

They extend a little more but look significantly different. It took me quite a while to find a couple of wheels with the same clips I already had (some were broken). One wheel was newer and wrong size but the clips looked similar so just transferred those clips onto this wheel. Like I said: it was a lot of trouble finding these clips.

I like the magnet idea. Maybe epoxy some rare earth magnets to the hubcap or something like that.

What surprises me is nobody just makes the proper clips. It seems that lots of people need them.

[grey beard]

After losing two new caps - expensive ones, too - I spent some time working on this issue. The clips are spring steel and they'll take some punishment, but they must be tight on the rim at their bases. If all the clips are tight, look at a wheel that has not had the problem and pay special attention to the amount of protrusion on each cliop - how far away they stnd from the rim. Bend each cliop so they are all identical in protrusion. When they are all righteous, you can still pound a new hub cap on with your fist, but it takes some brawn to do so, and as Younger said, they do tend to scoot away when you pry them off, next time. I just catch them in a large towel, so they don't get damaged.

Haven't lost a cap since I did this routine. Get all the clips standing out like they should and you 'll never lose another cap unless you drive in New York City pothole country.

Good Luck

[desoto1939]

If I remember correctly there was a past posting in which someone used a chevy hubcap clip to replace the brken clip on his moapr rim. He had to use a washer behind the clip to make it work.

Do a search and you might find the info. I think this was psoted around jan-Feb of this year.

rich HArtung

[Young Ed]

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=21298

[coW52Dodge]

If I remember correctly there was a past posting in which someone used a chevy hubcap clip to replace the brken clip on his moapr rim. He had to use a washer behind the clip to make it work.

Do a search and you might find the info. I think this was psoted around jan-Feb of this year.

rich HArtung

Thanks - that's what I've been looking for. Thanks also to Ed for the link.

I ordered some just now.