thejum57 Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 How exactly do those little "hub cap" things attach to the wheels? I have rusty little nubs on my wheels I don't know how to get off. I have 3 hubcaps with empty little holes. I'm guessing the hubcaps have little things in them that clip on to the wheels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 They have metal clips that rust and snap off almost as bad as the plastic ones do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Those rusty nubs are spring nuts -- the bolts (or screws) are accessed from the back side, with the wheels off the vehicle. If you soak them well with PB Blaster for a few days, you should be able to use needle-nose pliers to grab one flange of the spring nut while removing the bolt/screw from the rear. If the rusty nubs aren't totally gone, wire brush them and press them back onto the projections in the center caps. Clean up the threads on the mounting screws and apply anti-seize before reinstalling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 These are the only hubcaps I could find with clips. I don't see how they can rust on. These are the hubcaps like Eagle was referring to. They're rusted pretty bad and you're probably going to twist the head off the bolt trying to remove them.Soak them good with Liquid Wrench,or a good rust penetrate. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 These are the ones with the speed nuts on the back: The only difference between these two is that the second has a chrome(like) center and outer ring. They both look like this on the back: What happens is that some previous owner who doesn't know how they work pries the caps off from the front, which pulls the nubs on the cap out of the speed nuts and leaves the wheel with the speed nuts visible from the front and the hex-head sheet metal screws still in place on the rear. It's extremely unlikely that you'll break the screw trying to remove the speed nuts, but it's very possible that you can destroy the speed nuts if you don't soak everything down beforehand with PB Blaster, and if you don't proceed with a bit of care. You need access to the back of the wheel to put a socket or nut driver on the head, so obviously the final attempt gets done with the wheel off the vehicle. But you can spray the rusty speed nuts with PB Blaster from the front. I have had good luck rescuing the speed nuts and pressing them back onto the nubs of the caps. Jim, your first two photos are the front and back of the snap-in center caps for the 10-spoke turbine wheels. There are no screws involved with those, so that can't be what he's asking about. (However, if you have a few of those gathering dust, send me a PM. I need a few.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejum57 Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 jimoshel, the second set of pics with the holes for the lug nuts is what I have. Yes they have the metal clips, some stuck in the plastic hub caps, most stuck on the wheels themselves. I'll try the lubercant and Vicegrips. I guess I'll be needing to go the wanted section to look for some new ones. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 jimoshel, the second set of pics with the holes for the lug nuts is what I have. Yes they have the metal clips, some stuck in the plastic hub caps, most stuck on the wheels themselves. I'll try the lubercant and Vicegrips. I guess I'll be needing to go the wanted section to look for some new ones. Thanks! The metal clips (what I call "speed nuts" are supposed to be stuck on the wheels. They are spring clips, with teeth that grab the plastic nubs of the cap and provide something for the screws to screw into. The ones on the wheels are not "stuck" -- they still have the screws holding them onto the wheels. Jim's eighth photo shows what they look like from the back side of the wheel. Those five hex heads are the sheet metal screws that go into the spring clips. Please note that I did NOT suggest using ViseGrips -- I wrote "needle nose pliers." If you use ViseGrips you'll crush the spring clips/speed nuts. If you use needle nose pliers, you can grab one edge and carefully remove the screw. Then you should be able to press the clip back onto the nub on the center cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted December 26, 2017 Share Posted December 26, 2017 Resurrecting an old thread. All 4 of my caps are gone. Where's the best place to find replacements? Also, is there a place that you can buy new spring clips for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strokermjcomanche Posted December 26, 2017 Share Posted December 26, 2017 What wheels do you have ? What centers are you looking for ? You can find them on here /eBay / and at the Junkyard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted December 27, 2017 Share Posted December 27, 2017 On 12/26/2017 at 7:08 AM, Strokermjcomanche said: What wheels do you have ? What centers are you looking for ? You can find them on here /eBay / and at the Junkyard. They looked like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strokermjcomanche Posted December 27, 2017 Share Posted December 27, 2017 Pretty sure I have some of those , I may have 4 even ..., I'll take a look . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 22 hours ago, Strokermjcomanche said: Pretty sure I have some of those , I may have 4 even ..., I'll take a look . Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJTIM Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 https://frederick.craigslist.org/pts/d/jeep-wrangler-rims-4000-each/6439463647.html On CL in MD. 40 miles N of DC, 5 miles due S of Gettysburg PA (for history buffs) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strokermjcomanche Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Found 2 so far ... decent but not perfect . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 16 hours ago, Strokermjcomanche said: Found 2 so far ... decent but not perfect . That's much better than none? What's your asking price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 On 12/28/2017 at 7:20 PM, 87MJTIM said: https://frederick.craigslist.org/pts/d/jeep-wrangler-rims-4000-each/6439463647.html On CL in MD. 40 miles N of DC, 5 miles due S of Gettysburg PA (for history buffs) Nice but I don't really need the entire rim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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