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hub cap fit on eldorado wheels

Started by Viator Trudeau, August 25, 2013, 10:29:48 PM

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Viator Trudeau

A few years ago a poster talked about eldo hub caps not fitting all '71 to '76 wheels . 
A couple months ago I removed a cap to air up the tire, and could not get the hub cap to go on.
I had to remove the wheel, put it on the work bench top pound on the the cam W/ a rubber mallet.
The comment then was not all caps will not go on all ELDO wheels.
Any comments on this subject?
Thanks.
V. Trudeau

The Tassie Devil(le)

The biggest problem is when the wheels are balanced, and the wrong wheel weights are used.

The Cadillac wheel has a deeper edge for the cap to grip, and therefore special CAX weights must be used.

These place the actual weight inboard and allow the cap clips to grip.

As for getting the caps onto a wheel, I always use a rubber mallet, as the hand isn't tough enough to belt it on.   Not like the old days of basic hub caps.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

76eldo

You can adjust the clips or tangs or fingers or whatever you want to call them with pliers to proper grip the rim. Make them tight. I just lost a cap on the highway last week.

So you put the cap on the rim on a workbench. Then what?
Didn't you have to remove it to remount the wheel on the car?

You need to start it on one end and tap it on, making sure not to bend the tabs to where they are outside of the edge of the rim. Also make sure that the valve stem is not being pulled to the side by the slots in the cap or you will damage the valve stem seal.

Brian
Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado

Viator Trudeau

Hi, thanks for the reply.   On series  #1 eldos the hub cap material is not very thick so I've had no problems getting those on W/ a rubber mallet.   Caps on my '74 are of a heavier gauge metal and not very flexible.  I have had it for 5 months and am afraid to remove any more of the 3 remaining.
Tomorrow I am having an alignment done and hope the shop can get them back on.  I am going to watch, hope I learn something.
I finally put the wheel on the work bench just to see if I could get it on.  As I hit it with  the rubber mallet it just walked around the edge of the rim.  I finally got it on with 3 large "C' clamps.
I adjusted the clips to make it easier.  Finally got another eldo cap, it had clips from the factory arranged every 6o degrees- 6o W/clips and 60 blank.
I hate to admit I can not get a hub cap on as I had good luck for 60 years starting with a 55 Chevy.
V Trudeau

beastly beauties

You certainly got some good advice on this topic. I have seen the special wheel weights on ebay for sale just recently if you go in that direction. I purchased a whole new box myself after I already installed the new tires using the glue on wheel weights on the inside of the rim as close to the outer rim as could be. I realize there is some controversy over these types falling of, but I never had that happen before. I have had the standard weights fall off before! Make sure the weights you use are thin enough to clear the brake calipers and the surface is very clean for adhesion. You might want to find a quality short tire valve extension to eliminate the need to remove your caps to begin with. In your situation, someone may have used the incorrect weights to achieve balance. Check the tabs on the back and line up the weight with an area on the cap that doesn't have tabs and try to install, or bend tabs to clear your weights. Just some ideas you might think about. Those caps can be a little tedious on a good day.      Good Luck

Thule

do the hub caps of an deville/fleetwood (mesh) fit the eldo's ?
Ivar Markusson.  icelandic cadillac club (part of CLC)
73 Eldorado coupe.

76eldo

#6
The 67-78 Eldo rims have a massive offset due to the front wheel drive and the clearances needed so caps from the DeVille series will not fit since they are intended for different rims.

The caps only grip on the inside edge on the outermost part of the rim so if the little fingers are not tight enough you can loose a cap like I did recently or have trouble getting them to fit on the rim like the original poster.

Once you get them adjusted they are fine but there are variations from cap to cap. Plus these rims bend easily so your car could have slight differences on the rims if any have been replaced.  Sure wish I had checked mine a bit closer before taking a 3 hour drive.

Brian
Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado

Viator Trudeau


re: hub caps.  My first experience W/ '71-74 eldo caps.  As I said I removed wheel to see if it was possible to get a cap on any way at all.  Previous owner must have had a better way to get the caps on??  If he did it I should be able to do it too.

TJ Hopland

Did you try it with the wheel jacked off the ground?   Maybe the wheel is slightly distorted from supporting all the weight and jacking it up will give you just enough more clearance that you need to get the cap back on?

My guess is that at some point in its life someone has tweaked the little tabs on the cap to make it tighter.  If you have one that goes on easier than others compare the angle and such of the tabs.  I suspect you will find the difficult ones will have a significantly different look to them.   Maybe knowing that you can tweak them to find a good compromise between how well they hold and how hard they are to install.   
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

76eldo

All you need is a pair of pliers to bend the tabs out of the cap fits loosely, or bend them in if you can't get it on.

If you grab it and can pull it off of the rim with your hands, then it's too loose.

Start it on the valve side, make sure the valve is centered in the opening, not pulled to one side, and tap it on going in a circle, then make sure it's fully seated.

Not really too complicated.

Brian
Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado

The Tassie Devil(le)

#10
I had a problem with the caps on my '60 CDV that kept on falling off.

It turned out that the caps were "walking" around the rim, and it was the valve that was acting as a ramp as it bent over, and forcing the caps off.

To stop the "Walking" I did a bit of trial and error twisting of some of the tabs, so that the corners of them dug into the rim , and this stopped the movement.

Never had any trouble with the '68 caps on my '72.   But, have to use the rubber mallet to get them on.

Bruce. >:D

PS.   One thing about the Eldorado rims is that the solid valves don't act as a ramp when the cap starts to turn.   They just sit there, stiff.
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Glen

I found that when I am installing the hub caps on my 68 ELDO I need to use the rubber mallet, but I have to be very careful to keep the hammer direction straight on.  On more than one occasion I swung the hammer at an angle driving to the outside I bent the tabs slightly and the hub cap would tend to come off.  I had to go around the edge bending the tabs back out to keep them on the wheel. 
Glen Houlton CLC #727 
CLCMRC benefactor #104

Viator Trudeau

Glen,  I never have had any difficulty installing the hub caps on my '68 Eldorado.
On the '74 the cap is more ridjd and gave me the hard time.????