Diesel Place banner

Loose Center Cap Retainers on OEM Steel Wheels

18K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  unka2m 
#1 ·
Has anyone had any problem with the center wheel cap retainers coming loose on their OEM Steel wheels?

All four of the center wheel caps on my truck are coming loose and I cannot get the retainers tight enough to hold.

It looks like the plastic nut retainers are too short and only one thread or so on the plastic retainer bites onto the lugnut threads so it is easily stripped.

I've carefully measure all the parts involved and this looks like a design flaw to me. The plastic retainer nuts should be approx 1/2 inch longer in order to get enough threads to grab on to the lugnut threads and be able to adequately secure the center cap.

Has any one run into this problem with their OEM steel wheels?

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

See sketch below.
 

Attachments

#2 ·
I've got the aluminum wheels and I don't have a problem. I wonder if putting a dab of rtv silicone on the threads might not help in your situation. (although you should not have a problem with this in the first place).
P.S. nice drawing
 
#3 ·
My truck came with steel wheels. They were fine. I put the PYO wheels on (factory aluminum) and now have the same problem as you. They barely catch, each wheel consistently has at least two or more that come loose. I put the steel wheels on our '94 burb and the caps tighten plenty far on it too. I aske the parts guy at the dealer, he says the computer doesn't show any different lugnuts or caps for steel and alum. I don't know what the problem is, but fear that I'll lose a cap sooner or later.
 
#5 ·
marcdeluca;1283008; said:
My truck came with steel wheels. They were fine. I put the PYO wheels on (factory aluminum) and now have the same problem as you. They barely catch, each wheel consistently has at least two or more that come loose. I put the steel wheels on our '94 burb and the caps tighten plenty far on it too. I aske the parts guy at the dealer, he says the computer doesn't show any different lugnuts or caps for steel and alum. I don't know what the problem is, but fear that I'll lose a cap sooner or later.
yup, the steel and aluminum wheels take different center caps, but the same plastic caps. The steel caps when used on the aluminum wheels won't let the threads engaged. I found out when I got a set of takeoffs from the dealer, complete with center caps. Problem was they mixed the center caps with a set of steel wheels, and I spent one evening trying to figure out what was wrong. When I went back the parts guy knew exactly what happened and swapped center caps.
 
#6 ·
At one time, there were two different nut caps. One with long skirts on them (more treads) and one with shorter. The longer was for Alum wheels because they are so much thicker than the steels.

There are little pads on the backside of the center caps that rest on the wheel, and keep it from rattling. I know that I had to grind those off so the center caps would fit my Eagle Alloys. Then, when you put them back on the stock wheels, they rattled. What I needed were those shorter treaded nut caps to tighten down farther so it would fit tight.

The shorter nut caps were on my 2000 HD 3/4 with the old factory steel wheels. You should be able to get them I would think. That might help your issue. Wish I had a picture of the two for comparison, but that truck is long gone. The 2000 HD's were actually the old body style truck and there was not an aluminum wheel option on them, so you might go to a dealer and have him look those up

Sorry, just reread your post. You are looking for the longer ones. I would have the dealer look up the nut caps for the Alum wheel option, and see if they are different than what you have. If they are, then that is your answer. They used to be longer on the alums. IF not, you might try a 2001 or 2002 model with alum and see if they are any different.

Good Luck.
 
#7 ·
I'm going to have to visit my dealer and see what they have to say. My problem is that I am going on vacation Friday and will be gone for 4 weeks, so I don't have a lot of time to deal with GM right now.

Whatever it is, they are going to have to come up with longer retainers or with caps that are not as tall as these in order to get them to work. I am afraid that unless they change one or the other (maybe both) I am going to lose one of my center caps. This is a pi$$ poor design right now!
 
#9 ·
Unearthing an almost-10 yr old thread? Thats got to be some kind of record here! :hehe:

You do realize they were talking about GM wheels way back when, right? Both those part numbers are for Ford wheels.
 
#11 ·
I know this is an old thread but I ran into this issue after buying a used 2006 Duramax so just in case others are looking, here is what I did when the plastic lugs were too short to thread onto the steel lugs on steel chrome OEM rims. There are four standoffs on the back of the center cap that have black inserts in them that are what contacts the wheel when the plastic nuts are tightened. I pulled out the inserts and using a Dremel tool with a cut off wheel, cut off approx. 1/8" of the 4 standoffs on each cap. Then cleaned the plastic shavings from the standoffs and reinserted the inserts back in the standoffs. The shorter standoffs now let the plastic nuts thread perfectly on to the lug nuts.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top