5CHN3LL

The center caps that came with my aftermarket wheels were looking a little tired, and I learned that replacement Porsche crests are slightly too small - they are loose in the center cap hole. The cap in this photo is a cheap Amazon knock-off. I later purchased a genuine set of caps and learned to my dismay that they too were the wrong size.

There are some hints online for how to address this issue. Most commonly, people recommend gooping up the inside of the center cap hole with RTV/silicone, and the runner-up solution recommends wrapping electrical tape around the prongs/tabs.

I didn't want to get adhesive on the wheel and caps, so I came up with this...um...budget solution.

Materials needed: 1 large soda from Jack in the Box (and the straw that comes with it) and a pair of angle cutters.



Push the straw over one of the tabs on the center cap and cut it to length:


Repeat twice more, so 3 of the 6 tabs are sheathed in plastic:


If your caps are still a little loose after covering three of the tabs, do the same to the remaining tabs. Mine fit PERFECTLY after covering three tabs on each center cap.

If you're a purist and you can't STAND the idea of using a straw for this task, I suspect that heat-shrink tubing used instead of the straw would also work perfectly.

kromdom

good tip, thanks for sharing

JayG

you clever bastard!

Did you use the coke to clean your battery terminals as well?

bal

He used it to top off his coolant.

RickMiller

Ingenious

mharrison

Now you can start selling the "Porsche loose wheel center cap correction kit" on eBay! I would expect the profit margin to be HUGE!

5CHN3LL

Except in New York - I don't think I can buy a large enough soda there to ensure receiving the correct straw.

Krater

Nice

Another quick and easy method that I've used on both my 996 and 986 is to apply a bit of heat to the tabs and flex them outward.

JayG

What did you use for adding heat?
Franks Red Hot or one of these?
http://www.hotsauceworld.com/hottest-hot-sauce.html

Krater

Red Hot is the best, but a small flame or heat gun works well for this job.

996pp

I can already see the next guy that takes their wheels off for the first time and posts a question here "IS THIS NORMAL TO HAVE THESE RED PLASTIC BITS ON MY WHEEL CAPS"

Cuda911

A good tip.

The other day I noticed that one of my center caps was loose on one of my 914s. I carefully bent the tabs out a bit and it fits snugly now. If it loosens again, I'll try this Jack in the Box mod.

By the way, the cheap Ebay center caps suck. I bought a set once for my 996, as a couple of the originals were faded, and I wanted the colored crest ones anyway. The Ebay Chinese ones are made of a brittle type of plastic, and the tabs easily break off. And, after the rotors got hot at an autocross, the heat caused the center caps to fall out.

So, I ended up buying a new OEM set.

5CHN3LL

Yeah, definitely an example of saving $50 to wind up spending $75.

mharrison

I learned about this one too. I always pull the center caps prior to autocross or track action for this very reason.

professorman

This is pretty cool. I wish I saw this before one of mine fell off 2 weeks ago