Making T5 centre caps stay put

[jeep]

Having ended up with T5 trims, which tend to be cheaper and more available than caddy/T4 types I decided to see if I could get them to stay on.

Although T5 caps are designed for a slightly wider diameter 5 bolt placement, the real problem with them is that the clips only gain hold of a few mm of wheel bolt head.

Forum members reported that using the plastic bolt covers helped get a slightly tighter fit. My solution was to make my own extended bolt head covers. Cutting 20 X 25mm lengths of plastic overflow plumbing pipe with an internal diameter of 17mm. For the regular bolt heads I just made a single cut in the wall of the plastic tubes and for the four locking bolts cut out a section about 7mm wide.

These were then pushed onto the bolt heads, making a good tight and 'sprung' fit with the opening sides facing inwards towards the centre of the hub. The clips on the T5 covers fitted on to these and to make extra sure of a secure fitting i added a dab of silicone sealant to act as an adhesive between my new plastic bolt covers and the plastic clips of the covers.

The tyres and wheels came from Mytyres, so the length needed for home made bolt covers may need adjusting with other steel wheels.

Cheers,

JP

Edited 30 November, 2011 by jeep

[900000]

Excellent tip!!!!

I see you sprayed your trims silver too!!!!! Looks good. Any pictures of a whole car with them on?

[bilun777]

Really smart.I like those.

[jeep]

Excellent tip!!!!

I see you sprayed your trims silver too!!!!! Looks good. Any pictures of a whole car with them on?

Thank you

Yes I will post a shot of the car tomorrow, especially as I gave it a clean and polish over the weekend

I ordered the alloy badge caps you mentioned in your earlier post, only to find these did not completely cover the embossed VW logo, so ended up having to fill the impressions left with epoxy bumper filler, rather more work than I originally intended. If i was doing it again I'd find bigger badges.

So they then of course needed painting, luckily the Autoglm silver spray used on the wheels can also be used on plastic trims, and I liked the matching look.

JP

Edited 30 November, 2011 by jeep

[900000]

Thank you

Yes I will post a shot of the car tomorrow, especially as I gave it a clean and polish over the weekend

I ordered the alloy badge caps you mentioned in your earlier post, only to find these did not completely cover the embossed VW logo, so ended up having

to fill the impressions left with epoxy bumper filler, rather more work than I originally intended. If i was doing it again I'd find bigger badges.

So they then of course needed painting, luckily the Autoglm silver spray used on the wheels can also be used on plastic trims, and I liked the matching look.

JP

Ah yes..... the centre alloy badges that ejstubbs suggested (and that I used) are the perfect size for the Caddy caps with the five bolts. The VW logo on a T5 cap is quite a bit bigger. Your modified caps look very good.

[rockhopper]

Hmmmmm......Maybe for next year.

[jeep]

Taken this morning, my Yeti with winter wheels, you might also notice the Heko wind deflectors that keep rain water out and not in the window switch gear well.

I was really pleased with my colour choice, also being too mean to pay extra for an optional colour choice which always feels like a rip off.

I think the dark colours, Pacific Blue in my case help to unify the whole car, blending trims and pillars.

The wheel caps have sailed through the cattle grid test :-)

Edited 29 November, 2011 by jeep

[900000]

Taken this morning, my Yeti with winter wheels, you might also notice the Heko wind deflectors that keep rain water out and not in the window switch gear well.

I was really pleased with my colour choice, also being too mean to pay extra for an optional colour choice which always feels like a rip off.

I think the dark colours, Pacific Blue in my case help to unify the whole car, blending trims and pillars.

That looks good jeep.... I think the silver caps on silver wheels would work very well on the Octavias and Superbs with steel winter wheels too.

[jst_at_home]

That looks good jeep.... I think the silver caps on silver wheels would work very well on the Octavias and Superbs with steel winter wheels too.

Looks good. I'm with black rims and black Caddy centre trims.

John

[EZ_lo]

I think the silver caps on silver wheels would work very well on the Octavias and Superbs with steel winter wheels too.

Tsssk! Do not mention that aloud ... Unless you want this thread moved to general "Skoda wheel caps" section

(sorry for the OT - couldn't resist)

[norstar]

Brilliant. This will solve my problem fixing the T4s I've got. Cheers!

[norstar]

Jeep - do you remember where you got the pipe from? I've seen similar in Wickes etc, but they sell 15mm or 22mm external diameter pipe which sounds too big or too small...

[jeep]

Jeep - do you remember where you got the pipe from? I've seen similar in Wickes etc, but they sell 15mm or 22mm external diameter pipe which sounds too big or too small...

Hi, I got mine from a local hardware shop, It has a external diameter of 20mm and is stamped LG20 BS6099 425.

Cheers