Is it okay to take the hubcaps off? I was told the noise that I hear in my front end was because of my hubcaps.
Of course it is OK! Hubcaps are for decoration, there is no mechanical downside to removing them.
I am surprised that you have hubcaps instead of alloy wheels. Yes, you can take them off and if the noise stops then you have your answer. Just curious, who said that was your noise and what are their qualifications to make such diagnosis.
Do cars have just hubcaps as opposed to wheel covers now? Can you describe this sound more? Itâs unlikely that the stock wheel covers would be making any sounds
Hubcaps and wheel covers are the same thing to some people . If this 10 year old vehicle had wheel covers it may have after market units on it now because the original were lost or stolen.
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My friendâs Dodge (2016 I think) uses a system that utilizes one of the wheelâs bolts (it uses bolts rather than studs & nuts) to hold the hubcap on. The hubcap can be removed, but itâs important to use the proper torque on the wheel bolt when itâs reinstalled. Check your ownerâs manual for this.
Noisy hubcaps? The only noise Iâve ever heard in a hubcap was from a fallen-off lug nut clanging around.
I have had numerous noisy hubcaps, Pontiac had a PMD center piece that would rattle, had Oldsmobile âsport wheelâ that had stainless trim that would rattle.
our 12â prius had alloy 5 spoke rims which were painted black and than had silver plastic covers that gave it a 2 tone sort of look. wife hit curb and lost the hubcap and we had to buy a replacement. yes the toyo cover was $50+ with a toyo logo while the aftermarket one was $20 or so. i did start to notice the other priusâs on the road more and did see quite a few without the silver covers.
My dad had a Studebaker Lark which had hub caps (not wheel covers). The hubcaps would âwalkâ as you went around a corner and make noise. The cure was to rub the edges of the hubcaps with a bar of soap where the hubcap made contact with the wheel.
Agreed. Iâve seen a few noisy hubcaps over the (long ago) years.
Many were quick to blame noises on hubcaps. Fortunately it was always easy to simply remove them and road test again.
The only downside to me was the lugnuts rusted a lot faster. The one tire without the cover got a flat. I broke a stud trying to remove the bolt to mount the spare. I called AAA, they broke another stud so I got towed 40 miles to the nearest service station. We were 125 miles into a 500 mile trip, on a Saturday afternoon and had to sneak the 2 cats and a dog into the only hotel about 1/2 mile walk away from the service station. The hotel had a no pets policy. The shop got some studs from tires plus or someone as the auto parts stores were closed, and we got on the road about 11 am Sunday morning. The wheels with the covers I checked after we got home, no problem.
Wheel cover or hubcap. Letâs call them wheelcaps and be done with it.
At one time VW had an issue with noisy hubcaps. The hubcap/wheel would flex while cornering and this would cause the hubcap to click like a bad CV joint.
This was cured by bending the tangs on the hubcap a bit more.
Notice anything in common with these vehicles?
They both have hubcaps.
The reason?
Theyâre both high performance vehicles.
And you canât have a wheel cover on this type of vehicle because a wheel cover can spin on/fly off the wheel, cutting/pulling out the tire valve stem.
And that would be a bummer for a racer or a cop.
Tester
Sweet and very rare '68 Roadrunner. I think the Hemi models were the only ones with dog dish hubcaps. Makes me yearn for my old '68 although mine only had the 383 Magnum. It also had Magnum 500 wheels; not steel with caps.