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The front hub caps on my 1954 Packard Clipper Super seem to move of their own accord within the wheel housing. This causes the hubcap hole for the valve stem to start riding against the rubber valve stem and abrading it. I have bent the retaining clips outward for better grip to stop the issue, but can't seem to get that to completely work. I just don't want to tear off a rubber valve stem. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Metal valve stems will fix that

You could drill a small hole in the edge of the rim and put in a screw. The head would act as a stop so the cap can't "walk".

Thanks, all

I think I will try the metal valve stem set-up.

Just to get the nomenclature right, I believe you're speaking of wheel covers or shell covers, not hub caps which are much smaller in diameter and just cover the lug bolt area of the wheel.

The metal stems will stop the rotation of the shell cover, but really, they shouldn't rotate to begin with so there is probably another cause. "Tired" tangs on the covers perhaps, incorrect wheels perhaps? Are the tangs cutting thru the paint (paint still soft?)?

Along the paint lines, one hubcap site mentions hubcaps that loosen--in their case, continually coming off. They suggest checking whether the wheel has been painted with a hardened paint so teeth can't grab or has been waxed. In both cases they suggested scuffing to give a surface for the clips.

Thanks for the suggestion about the wheel paint. Yes, mine have been painted. I will scuff up the rims where the shell cover tangs make contact.

I was thinking it might be wheel flex from using radials.

The problem of full wheel covers "walking" around the rim (and cocking/chafing the tire valve) predates the use of radial tires.

The full wheel covers on my V8s have a coupe of special teeth, which are adjacent to the valve stem opening, upset from the metal between the ring of teeth (inboard) and the rim of the cover (outboard). These extra teeth correspond to a couple of divots on the OE rim. I believe this was intended to help keep the opening centered on the valve AND prevent the cover from "walking".

I don't have '54 full wheel cover handy, but suspect it has the same feature.

I wouldn't entirely discount Rusty's thought however as a possible contribution to the problem. Some cars, especially late 50s Chevrolets, were quite notorious for flinging their wheel covers like frisbees after installation of radials.