Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

we have a problem with our hub caps. as i drive they move and push on the valve stem causing air to leak out of the tires. does anybody else have this problem and how might i solve this problem?

I had this same problem on my '56 Patrician, turned out the wheels were bent on the offending hubcap. The motion and vibration of the wheel would cause the hubcap to rotate, bending and cutting into the valve stem. The only fix is of course new wheels.

On the '55-56 Packard full wheel covers, in addition to the sawtooth edge that holds the cover to the rim, there are a couple of "teeth" in the vicinity of the opening for the tire valve. On the wheel, there are a couple of corresponding indentations on the rim, again, near the tire valve. Engaged, these help prevent the cover from walking about the rim.

I had a '54 full wheel cover hanging on the wall in my dorm back in my college days, and - IIRC - it had the same feature.

Check to make sure these two teeth aren't damaged on your wheel covers and that your rims have the corresponding indentations and (as Eric noted) aren't bent.

Here are a couple of suggestions:

(1) Try squeezing a gob of silicone on the wheel in several places next to where the wheel cover saw-toothed portion contacts the wheel. Once the silicone has cured, it should stop the cover rotation; and

(2) Over time the wheel covers lose their grip because of removal and installation. Try expanding the saw-toothed portion by bending with plires so it will exert more pressure on the wheel.

I once had a cover rotate and cut the valve stem. The cover would not depart from the wheel, just rotate around it. It is a condition that needs to be dealt with. Good luck.

This started happening on my car when I went from bias ply tires to radial tires. My guess is that the wheel/tire dynamics with the radials are different than with the bias plys. That is, there is a little more acceleration and jerk caused by the different tire construction. I'm going to try bending the tabs on my hubcaps and see if it helps stop the hubcap rotation.
Do you have Radials or Bias ply tires? I'm curions.
-Mike

Not an uncommon problem when changing to radials on cars built before their introduction; more commonly seen on cars with lighter-constructed wheels, especially Chevrolet and Studebaker. It's indicative of how much additional load and stress you place on the suspension and wheels by having a greater tire contact area on the road.

Couple of guys I know just switched to solid metal valve stems for the same problem. Now the valve stem acts as a stop to keep the hub cap from turning.

fern51, the problem I had with the wheel covers rotating was on a 1973 Datsun 240Z. It was equipped with radial tires from the factory. I replaced the steel wheels and covers with period correct alloy wheels.