1965 Hubcap issues

[LB Chef]

My front hubcaps won’t stay on my 65 Thunderbird. They roll off when I turn the wheel. 1st time occurred on the freeway. I successfully recovered them. But now I keep them off. Problem only with the two front ones. Options?

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[tbird]

Added model year to subject as required.

 

[Terry Burt]

My front hubcaps won’t stay on my 65 Thunderbird. They roll off when I turn the wheel. 1st time occurred on the freeway. I successfully recovered them. But now I keep them off. Problem only with the two front ones. Options?

Not sure about 65s but my 1955 threw front hubcaps before I learned that they needed a part (can’t recall name) that secures the outer wheel cover to the wheel rim itself. Haven’t gotten those parts yet and am just running the small center caps by themselves.

 

[Gary Tayman]

Are they the original wheels? This can make a difference. The original wheels for this car are solid, remembering that this is one heavy car. Sometimes over the years the wheels get swapped, and wheels for most cars are slotted. Slotted wheels are going to flex more, and it manifests itself in hubcaps that won't stay in place. They have been known to "walk", meaning creep slowly around the wheel until it cuts the stem, or they can simply fall off. No matter how tight you make them, they just keep falling off.

The original wheels, especially the front, are unique for the 1965-66 Birds. Not only are they solid, but they are welded together rather than riveted. The 64 wheels are riveted. Those riveted wheels won't fit around the disk brake calipers. A Thunderbird parts supplier should have them if you need them; most likely used, but should be fine.

 

[Buck]

My front hubcaps won’t stay on my 65 Thunderbird. They roll off when I turn the wheel. 1st time occurred on the freeway. I successfully recovered them. But now I keep them off. Problem only with the two front ones. Options?

The hubcap metal shaped strips that engage against the wheels wear down over time. I have had this problem on both my 61 (now my daughter's) and my 65. I used pliers and bent the contact metal edges outward to engage the rims more firmly. It's a bit of trial and error. You have to keep checking them by putting them up to the rim and checking for engagement. I have also found that they wear unevenly which needs to be corrected with the adjustment. The hubcaps go on harder but they will stay on assuming that you have the correct wheels.

 

[jj_sharp]

My wife's car suffered the same fate. Kathy went decided to try a ring of duct tape. The hub caps have not fallen off since adding the duct tape, but she has maybe 30 miles on the duct tape - so the jury is still out on the tape. The theory is to give the cap something to grip into.

When asked on this forum how to deal with this, some other suggestions were made: See the link below.

1965 Wheel Covers (hub caps) fall off - how to fix

Greetings one and all, My wife's car was going down the road and the rear 2 hub caps came off (separate incidents). In one case, the fender-skirt-attachment came as well (both went bouncing down the street). What is a good way to deal with this? She just sanded and painted the rims. How can...

forums.fordthunderbirdforum.com

I hope this helps. Jody

 

[seeker2736]

My front hubcaps won’t stay on my 65 Thunderbird. They roll off when I turn the wheel. 1st time occurred on the freeway. I successfully recovered them. But now I keep them off. Problem only with the two front ones. Options?

I had this problem with another car I have. I put some gasket maker around the rim and seem to do the trick in keeping the hub cap on. I haven't try to take them off since so don't know how difficult to take hubcap off