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Scarebird dust caps


Doug&Deb

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Installed the scarebird kit on the Coronet. Everything went well except the dust caps. I can’t get them to fit no matter what. Anyone else have this problem? Other than that I’m quite happy so far. I’ve only put about 10 miles on the car but we’re supposed to have good weather all week so I’ll be able to test the brakes better.

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I had issues with Scarebird's dust caps as well. Mine would not stay in. It's funny you brought this up right now, because on another thread I have been ranting about cheap Chinese products making there way on to our vintage cars. I believe that may be what you're dealing with on the dust caps. Being a machinist, I was able to chuck my caps in a lathe and form the steel to a diameter that works. If you have access to a lathe, you may be able to reform them? You can sometimes deform them a bit around the circumference with a dull chisel, but it won't be pretty.  I can't remember the exact diameter. If you measure the I.D. carefully of the hub where the caps insert you might be able to find a better quality set? But it's difficult to find. Most all of this stuff comes other countries now and often the manufacturing tolerances are sloppy. Call Mark and perhaps he has a better way?

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9 minutes ago, Doug&Deb said:

Yeah, made in China stickers on both of them. I’m a machinist also so I’ll figure something out.

If anyone knows of a quality set of these dust caps. Please let us know. I'll gladly throw the Chinese ones in the scrap bin and buy new ones. Lols!

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you could try a marine store, as they carry dust caps for boat trailers. maybe a trailer store also. harbor freight might have them.tractor supply,napa, advance, etc. I have seen soft rubber ones that go over the hub instead of inside. at least good temporarily. west marine used to have those.  hope this helps.   skyler

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This past week, I had to deal with a squeaky wheel on the single axle flat trailer, as I think I might have repacked them bearings back in 2008 so it was obviously due for service.  Picked up new galvanized dust caps as the 22yr old originals were kinda dinged up, and they were such a tight fit that I couldn't even get them caps started in the hub bores by hand.  I recall seeing tools to accomplish this task, but I opted to dig thru the scrap metal pile and make something work.  I made a similar driver before, but much smaller, out of angle steel by forming over the anvil horn, to engage the flange on opposing sides of the cap...but I lucked out and had a short piece of tubing that was slightly larger ID.  This made a driver that engaged the cap flange in an arc about 75°, which was enough to get the cap started in the bore, then work around to square up the sides and drive it home...the best part of all, other than the nice tight fit, was no dents on that shiny cap :cool:

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ouch...sorry for my comment now.....lol   I am not that familiar with the Scarebird....do the Olddaddy mods myself.  I am not sure but gather these hubs may be an in-house turned item or at least a contracted buy.    That is why I always suggest to go back to the suppliers....I am sure as daylight you are not the first to have this problems.  I am sure there is a fix out there by Scarebird, if not, they still need to know the shortcomings to address your issue and ensure the next fisherman don't snag this stinking fish.    It is good to have folks stepping up to supply these needed parts...but for sure they need to be trouble free for the installer/owner.  I am sure they will gladly hear your feedback.  

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Over the years I have had this problem with many replacement dust caps, some to big , some to loose. What a pain always!

 

But with a somewhat round faced hammer and a socket close to ID of the cap size- in a vice, sometimes on the appropriate extension if needed to be clamped securely they can be expanded to larger or smaller sizes working the end to fit the hub with hammering, either shrinking or expanding the size. A pain but still beats chasing another cap or caps that may not fit either.

Slow and easy gets it done.?

 

Good luck,

 

DJ

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3 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

ouch...sorry for my comment now.....lol   I am not that familiar with the Scarebird....do the Olddaddy mods myself.  I am not sure but gather these hubs may be an in-house turned item or at least a contracted buy.    That is why I always suggest to go back to the suppliers....I am sure as daylight you are not the first to have this problems.  I am sure there is a fix out there by Scarebird, if not, they still need to know the shortcomings to address your issue and ensure the next fisherman don't snag this stinking fish.    It is good to have folks stepping up to supply these needed parts...but for sure they need to be trouble free for the installer/owner.  I am sure they will gladly hear your feedback.  

Yep! Just about everything is made in China. Does not matter what name is on it. Too many of us (including myself) work around and put up with this crap. We should complain to the sellers and demand quality even if we have to pay more for it. The hubs on my Scarebird kit were of high quality. I inspected them with micrometers, bore gauges, digital calipers, and a vision measuring system. The Dorman dust caps were crap!

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4 hours ago, JBNeal said:

This past week, I had to deal with a squeaky wheel on the single axle flat trailer, as I think I might have repacked them bearings back in 2008 so it was obviously due for service.  Picked up new galvanized dust caps as the 22yr old originals were kinda dinged up, and they were such a tight fit that I couldn't even get them caps started in the hub bores by hand.  I recall seeing tools to accomplish this task, but I opted to dig thru the scrap metal pile and make something work.  I made a similar driver before, but much smaller, out of angle steel by forming over the anvil horn, to engage the flange on opposing sides of the cap...but I lucked out and had a short piece of tubing that was slightly larger ID.  This made a driver that engaged the cap flange in an arc about 75°, which was enough to get the cap started in the bore, then work around to square up the sides and drive it home...the best part of all, other than the nice tight fit, was no dents on that shiny cap :cool:

Right tool for the job is always the best way! Not the fastest for the first one, but then you have for subsequent jobs. I have a vintage tool for removing spindle dust caps as well. Takes them off without damaging them whatsoever.

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It’s unfortunate that these don’t fit but that’s the only complaint I have. The kit was well made and the installation was very easy. I emailed the company to let them know about the problem. This isn’t a complaint about Scarebird just one poorly made component. They have been great to deal with. As Plymouthy said they need to be informed about any problems with their kit.

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A bit of massaging to the original caps got them fitting properly. Problem solved. Mark from Scarebird said he’s had this complaint before. Perhaps custom made caps will become part of their kit in the future. Again no complaints about the company. Mark has been great to deal with and I’m happy with the results.

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  • 5 months later...

Resurrecting an old thread, as I just received a Scarebird kit for my `49 Club Coupe, a kit which still includes dust caps that don't work in this application.  As noted by Doug&Deb above, the original caps can be made to fit just fine with a bit of work.  Not sure how D&D went about it, but here's what I did.

 

Several of my larger sockets are slightly tapered at the end where they connect to the ratchet, (somewhat) gradually flaring out to their full diameter.  For me, the 36mm socket was just the ticket.  Using the socket as a swadge, situate the cap over its tapered end, apply heat until the metal becomes pliable (an orangish/red glow is a pretty good indicator) and tighten the vice.

 

Takes about five minutes per cap.

 

 

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Edited by Hamilton
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I assume that the dust cap manufacture is slightly off and buying another after-market might work.  I lost a cap on my first cruise.  I discovered that the old bearing buddies from a boat trailer fit very snug, except they wouldn't work under the hub cap.  I think I merely put a couple of smal dimples in the edge of the cap and never had another problem.

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Scarebird doesn't care about the grease cap problem.

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5 minutes ago, Dodgeb4ya said:

Scarebird doesn't care about the grease cap problem.

 

That right there is enough for me to pass them by.

 

On the dust cap issue, I was looking for new caps for my 51 as the old one were ugly.  I measured the diameter adn went looking.  While I never found a source other than NOS I did find that Dorman does list the diameters in some of the descriptions.

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It seems strange that they wouldn't address this.  Heck, rather than shipping the incorrect caps they'd be better off shipping no caps at all and advising people to adapt their stock ones. 

 

Even stranger is that the rest of the kit appears to be well thought out, well manufactured and of high quality.

_

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It seems to me that when you spend over $500 in parts that dust caps aren't that big of deal.  I went Scarebird and I couldn't be happier. A little mod on a dust cap or buy a new one.  I no longer have to adjust four brake shoes and my car stops in a straight line.  I would buy them again in a heart beat. 

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it is the surprise factor when assembling you find out that a part that is supplied is not suitable.....it is also the fact they know of this and have not cared to correct it, or to any statement here issued refunds or lower the cost for you added expense for a work around....feedback from the field it seems has fallen on deaf ears and if the average car tweaker comes up with a fix, surely they could easily engineer said fix in their product...it is this shortcoming that is the twist many do not like to find.

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