CX Wheel Cover Nuts
tgwright
04-28-2009, 12:32 PM
Our 2003 CX has the standard plastic wheel covers which are held on with plastic nuts which screw over the wheel lug nuts. As soon as two years old these started to crack, become loose, and I have replaced about eight of them. Now it seems that I need to replace many more, maybe even some of those I replaced earlier. Is there any alternative to using these plastic nuts, or has anyone experienced the same problem and come up with a fix? Thanks.
TopherS
04-29-2009, 06:41 PM
We have the same wheel covers on our 03' Rendezvous. We have only had to replace a couple of the fake lug nuts, because my dear lovely wife (...in case she reads this :rofl:) hit a curb and deformed one of the wheel covers, stressing/cracking the fake lug nuts in the cover. We've been lucky that this is the only casualty that we've had with ours in the 4 years we've owned it.
However, we had a 1996 Buick Regal with plastic wheel covers and those fake lug nuts would break if you even looked at them funny. I tried replacing them with new ones from the dealer...but they, too, would break. We finally bought some nice wire wheel covers from a hubcap store and replaced the plastic covers (which I still have in my garage and don't know why).
We also had a 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera with the nicer chrome wheel covers that also bolted onto the lug nuts (seems to be a thing with GM). The fake lug nuts were chrome on those covers and seemed to be more durable (only one casualty from overtightening). But our Rendezvous covers are plain-jane gray and the chrome fake lug nuts on the plain gray covers may not exactly look right.
Unfortunately, the wheel covers are designed to fit on the wheel, but the only way to keep them there is with these fake lug nuts. I don't think there is any other way to keep the covers on the wheel. You can consider replacing the wheel covers with some conventional "snap on" or "clip on" covers. The Regal had 15" wheel covers and the wire wheel covers we found seemed to suit the car well. The Rendezvous has 16" wheels, so wheel cover options aren't as plentiful.
One thing that I do to protect them is I remove the covers whenever we are getting the wheels rotated/tires changed, etc. Some mechanics don't think before they take a air-wrench to the plastic fake lug nuts. We lost about 10 fake lug nuts on the Regal due to that at one time (but the shop reimbursed us for the replacements). After the work is done to the Rendezvous, I replace the wheel covers myself.
Hope this helps.
:cheers:
However, we had a 1996 Buick Regal with plastic wheel covers and those fake lug nuts would break if you even looked at them funny. I tried replacing them with new ones from the dealer...but they, too, would break. We finally bought some nice wire wheel covers from a hubcap store and replaced the plastic covers (which I still have in my garage and don't know why).
We also had a 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera with the nicer chrome wheel covers that also bolted onto the lug nuts (seems to be a thing with GM). The fake lug nuts were chrome on those covers and seemed to be more durable (only one casualty from overtightening). But our Rendezvous covers are plain-jane gray and the chrome fake lug nuts on the plain gray covers may not exactly look right.
Unfortunately, the wheel covers are designed to fit on the wheel, but the only way to keep them there is with these fake lug nuts. I don't think there is any other way to keep the covers on the wheel. You can consider replacing the wheel covers with some conventional "snap on" or "clip on" covers. The Regal had 15" wheel covers and the wire wheel covers we found seemed to suit the car well. The Rendezvous has 16" wheels, so wheel cover options aren't as plentiful.
One thing that I do to protect them is I remove the covers whenever we are getting the wheels rotated/tires changed, etc. Some mechanics don't think before they take a air-wrench to the plastic fake lug nuts. We lost about 10 fake lug nuts on the Regal due to that at one time (but the shop reimbursed us for the replacements). After the work is done to the Rendezvous, I replace the wheel covers myself.
Hope this helps.
:cheers:
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