Wheel nut covers / caps.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Need to go and change the tyre on the Focus this evening, car is parked away from home with the better half.

Those nut covers / caps... do they need to be removed prior to using the tyre iron?? I was checking pressured a few weeks ago and remember trying to pull one off with my fingers.. they were lose, but very much stuck. Do I need to take pliers / special tool?

Cheers,

Jason

[Russ]

I don't have the caps on my wheel nuts but I had them on another car a few years back. They should be easily removed by prying them up with a straight blade screwdriver at the base, if you try to grab them with pliers or the like you'll most likely crack them :(

[svo supporter]

Probably a bit late, but you can use a flat bladed screw driver in the indentation of the plastic cap to remove them.

You can also use long nose pliers to remove them too....This is my favoured way to remove them, as there is no change of marking the rim by leavering the caps off with a screw driver.

[marg99]

The caps on my LT wheel nuts are pressed on steel and not easy to get off and even harder to get back on the nut if they come off.

[rand0mn00b]

they should be removed but don't need to be

if you don't remove them you'll probably need to go 1mm up from standard (which from memory is 18 or 19mm)

however if you don't remove them and undo the nut then it will be harder to remove next time

i removed all of mine and left them off because they're a nuisance

[Yellow_Festiva]

Thanks for the replies, not too late svo, car is in the basement of world square so we are just sitting back having dinner will worry bout the tyre a little later ;)

Good thing is that seemed to get flat after parking, tyre looks repairable. Will show pics a little later of a work friends flat....

Thanks guys.

[Franco Cozzo]

Be careful with the factory wheel nuts, I butchered one trying to undo it with a cross brace, they're not very strong. Those little caps fall off all the time too.

This was after a mechanic decided to do them up to what seemed like everything his 1/2" air impact gun could muster.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Didn't happen.... seems that Ford torqued them to bloody high heaven last service, then made sure they added locktite 'just in case'.......

Will go back tomorrow with a length of pipe slip on the end of the brace for leverage and some pliers for the caps as they wouldn't budge either.

The 3/4 inch end of the brace seemed to be the right fit with the caps, (there was a bit of play, but I think it was the caps moving on the nut) the next smallest size is 11/16 so I guess if I get the caps off that is the size to use... Or is it metric and I'm gonna bugger things up if I use 11/16ths?

Bugger, should have got the manual from the glove box.

Can anyone please confirm this if possible if the info is known to them?

A few month back a female staff member pulled me aside in the morning and said 'I think there could be something wrong with my tyre'.... I walked out the the car park to find this....





She drove 20m from home and sensed that something was wrong. She didn't stop to get her husband or her 28yr old son because 'they were sleeping and it was dark'..

So, naturally what does one do? Drive the 15km to work like normal......

[Franco Cozzo]

Holy FU?

Give 19mm a shot, I think they're M12 nuts.

I've got no idea on imperial tools, I'm metric only

Do you have any 1/2" drive breaker bars? 1/2" is the stuff to use on wheels and other stuff that tends to be FT. Long 1/2" drive breaker bar with a 19mm 6 point socket, and bobs your aunty mary, on real tight stuff 12 point tends to slip and round off nuts.

What would have happened is, the same thing with my car, they do up the wheels with their impact guns, until the wheel nuts stop moving, then car goes down and off the hoist, then some poor bastard on the side of the road with that poor excuse for a wrench is getting a hernia trying to undo something tightened to 300nm+.

[DeKa]

If you get the chance, buy the replacement chrome wheel nuts from eBay referenced in this thread.
http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthr...ght=wheel+nuts
My wheel nut covers used to rattle a lot - my car is a lot quieter on the road now I've replaced them.

[kevino]

Use your feet and leg/buttocks power like I did the other Saturday afternoon, tyre puncture, used leg power to lever undo the wheel nuts, arms unable to move them.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by kevino

Use your feet and leg/buttocks power like I did the other Saturday afternoon, tyre puncture, used leg power to lever undo the wheel nuts, arms unable to move them.

Tried that once and the bouncing action bent the brace believe it or not.

Don't worry... the only bit of pipe I could find was a spare leg to a desk.



Worked a treat.

Also remembered I had free road service with the car anyway... would only use them if I couldn't budge the nuts.

[XR5-Boy]

Guys, i had a similar issue with the nuts on my Focus. Basically the stock factory ones have the stupid pressed ALUMINIUM caps on them (Not steel. I basically stuck a screw driver through one to take the cap off to get to the actual nut). Rattle guns smooth out the caps and, as a result, you can't turn them or even put another socket on them.

Do yourselves a favour and get some quality nuts (McGard in the US have excellent products).

[NO2]

The standard wheel brace with the vehicle fits onto the chrome cover and generally the wheel nuts come loose. Removing those caps first means you have to go down to a 17mm socket.
Found out when tyre work was done and if they're over tightened using air torque wrench the little tykes drop off.