Thread: Noisy trim rings

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I have stainless trim rings and pickup truck hubcaps on my 15" wheels and I like the look, but I can't get the rings to stop making noise. When I hit a bump, they sound like cymbals crashing, and even at a slow crawl, I can hear them creaking. If you hit any wheel with your hand when the car is sitting, you can hear the them ring. I've tried re-seating them, moved them from wheel to wheel, and adjusted the keepers to no avail.

I'm reluctant to take them off because I do like their appearance, but also because I'd have to paint the scrape marks, which would mean repainting the entire wheel. As an experiment, I removed them and the car is much quieter.

Does anyone else have any experience with these? I can't imagine the manufacturer would sell more than the first set if everyone had the same problem I do.

Very strange, we are running them on two cars and they stick like glue and make no noise whatsoever. Even getting them off takes some real prying. What brand? We are running Wheel Vintiques from Coker. My one set is 20 years old and still fit and look good.

Only thing I can think of is that the wheels you are running are not made for this size trim ring. Post up some pictures of what you have. The ones in the picture below are the 20 year old ones.

Don

Ran a lot of trim rings and never had that problem. The only thing i can think of that would make them creak is if the wheels are flexing. If thats the case, you have bigger problems than creaking trim rings.

Originally Posted by 61bone

Ran a lot of trim rings and never had that problem. The only thing i can think of that would make them creak is if the wheels are flexing. If thats the case, you have bigger problems than creaking trim rings.

How does that explain the ringing sound they make when I smack the tire with the car standing still?

I've attached three photos that depict 1) the trim ring in place, 2) the ring off the wheel and also showing the scratches it makes on the rim, and 3) a detail shot of the teeth that hold the ring in place. I have no other experience with these, so I'm assuming that this is the customary way rings are attached. I notice from Itoldyouso's photos that those rings fit much closer than mine, and no matter how I try, I can't get a tight fit all the way around. There always seems to be one spot that's a little looser than the rest of the ring. Maybe that's the real problem.

I don't know the manufacturer, because they were on the wheels when I bought them back in '92. The hub caps are from Bob Drake.

Had the same problem with the trim rings on my '77 Corvette's rally wheels ........... never could get it to stop totally ......... but by spraying the rim lightly with WD-40 before putting on the rings, they wouldn't squeak for a couple of months ....... when it dried out, the squeak would return

I think it is a mismatch between the trim rings and wheels. To me it looks like your wheels are very flat in the area where the ring lays. Whose wheels are those?

Here is the profile of my rims without trim rings on them. These are by Wheel Vintiques, but my 46 Merc rims look similar.

Don

Now I see what you mean. My rims (unknown manufacturer) don't seem to have the roll (for want of a better term) that provides a hook for the trim ring. I can see why you have to pry yours off, while mine slide on and off with only a little effort.

Are the teeth on my rings customary, or are yours attached some other way? What I'm getting at is that if all rings attach similarly, I'll remove mine and live without them. Hello, eBay?

Yep, teeth are customary. I hate to put them on and scratch nicely painted wheels, but I do like the look with them on,

Don

although the set ups are different, maybe you could give it a try.
in about 2005, the ford taurus had a steel 16 inch steel rim with plastic hubcaps. we would get complaints of noise while driving...bumps, turns, etc. ford has a tsb out for this. the fix was to pull the hubcap and clean the outer edge with alcohol or an equivalent. our dealer has an "anti-rattle and squeak" kit, im sure they all do. all it was, was a small tackle box type thing filled with various size and density foam/rubber pieces with adhesive on one side. wed take 8 fairly dense pieces about half inch by an inch and space them evenly around the rim. re-install the hubcaps and ship it. took care of every car with no complaints....unless the surface wasnt clean enough and they fell off.
now, these were plastic full hubcaps that were attached with the plastic lug nut caps. i know its a different monster but maybe its worth a shot??

bob

One way to stop the ringing is to put a blob of RTV on the back side of the trim ring in several locations...make the blob big enough so that it contacts the wheel. Put a blob at 90 deg or 45 deg intervals....should damp the ringing but probably not the creaking.