how do you keep the plastic nuts on centercaps snug

[johnandchrisinmo]

This is probaly a trivial problem bu is rather annoying to me. I have a 2002 GMC 2500 hd that looks great all original i am having trouble keeping the plastic nuts snug enough to keep the centercaps on. Chevydealser rotates tires and now some of the nuts look stripped is there an easy fix for this ?

[gmtech4]

This is probaly a trivial problem bu is rather annoying to me. I have a 2002 GMC 2500 hd that looks great all original i am having trouble keeping the plastic nuts snug enough to keep the centercaps on. Chevydealser rotates tires and now some of the nuts look stripped is there an easy fix for this ?

New ones

[Doug_Scott]

Best way is to replace just the nuts plastic cap. They come out of the covers. If you don't want to replace them, a little dab of silicone on the end of the wheel stud will keep the plastic nut from falling off. Do not go use too much, it will just get messy, and will not work the next year. You just need enough to touch the inside of the cap.

 

If you do replace them, don't have the dealer put them back on. These only need to be hand tight. If you have normal man hand strength, use a long socket that fits the plastic nut, and tighten by using just the socket and your bare hand. If you are not sure of your grip, put a plastic glove on(not the powdered one, or the one your doctor uses once every two years) and it will give you a bit more grip.

[georg]

The way to avoid issues with the plastic nuts is to take off the centre caps before you take the truck in for service, that way the flat raters at the dealership do not get to use their impact guns on the plastic nuts. All the 24 nuts are in good condition on my truck since I am the only one who has handled them since the truck left the GM factory eight years ago.

[gmtech4]

The way to avoid issues with the plastic nuts is to take off the centre caps before you take the truck in for service, that way the flat raters at the dealership do not get to use their impact guns on the plastic nuts. All the 24 nuts are in good condition on my truck since I am the only one who has handled them since the truck left the GM factory eight years ago.

Lol, good idea , I never used an impact on hub caps ...................

 

Flat rate IS a bitch , let me tell ya ........⛳️⛳️

[Doug_Scott]

Lol, good idea , I never used an impact on hub caps ...................

 

Flat rate IS a bitch , let me tell ya ........⛳️⛳️

 

Even doing them by hand it is very easy to tighten them past the point of being tight. This is one of the stupid cost things that manufacturers do not think all the way through. They are a lot better than the nuts with the stainless cover over them that GM used to use in the 70's, 80's and 90's though.

 

There are so many little cost saving measures that manufacturer make without thinking them all the way through. You could likely take the top 10 irritating items that appeared due to cost cutting that may have saved GM $100 per vehicle. Sure they saved themselves $10 million by making the changes, but what would have happened if they left the stuff alone, and raised the price of the truck by $200? We would have 10 real annoying things not ever happen, and GM would have increased their profit by $10 million. Consumer would see a base price of $34,199 instead of $33,999. Maybe this is just too simple.

 

I used to like flat rate on CP jobs, but, warranty flat rate usually sucked, unless it was a wiring issue. There was one exception though, reseal intake manifold on 318 or 360 paid 3.5h CP, and 4.2h warranty time.

[gmtech4]

Even doing them by hand it is very easy to tighten them past the point of being tight. This is one of the stupid cost things that manufacturers do not think all the way through. They are a lot better than the nuts with the stainless cover over them that GM used to use in the 70's, 80's and 90's though.

 

There are so many little cost saving measures that manufacturer make without thinking them all the way through. You could likely take the top 10 irritating items that appeared due to cost cutting that may have saved GM $100 per vehicle. Sure they saved themselves $10 million by making the changes, but what would have happened if they left the stuff alone, and raised the price of the truck by $200? We would have 10 real annoying things not ever happen, and GM would have increased their profit by $10 million. Consumer would see a base price of $34,199 instead of $33,999. Maybe this is just too simple.

 

I used to like flat rate on CP jobs, but, warranty flat rate usually sucked, unless it was a wiring issue. There was one exception though, reseal intake manifold on 318 or 360 paid 3.5h CP, and 4.2h warranty time.

 

Why was warranty time higher than CP ?

 

I used to do rear extension housings on Allison trannies IN THE TRUCK , took 2 hrs , warranty paid 10 hrs , made for a real good day !!!!

[Doug_Scott]

Why was warranty time higher than CP ?

 

I used to do rear extension housings on Allison trannies IN THE TRUCK , took 2 hrs , warranty paid 10 hrs , made for a real good day !!!!

 

Warranty book time listed all the connected jobs as not being connected. For example, warranty paid .6h for replacing the gasket on the distributor to manifold connection, and another 1h for replacing rocker cover gaskets. Both these things had to be removed to get the intake manifold off. Chilton listed all those parts as being part of the job. I would imagine Chrysler has tightened up the warranty times since then. This was back in the late 70's, early 80's.

 

Went through a streak of bad cranks in the 318-360 engines back then as well, I was getting 2 or 3 a week on average for the entire winter in 78/79. Best flat rate winter I ever had, was making near 60 hours a week. Keep in mind that back then pay was about 1/3 door rate. Worked out to about $6.50 an hour. I was also doing 904/727 rebuilds at the same time. Those paid about 10 hours, and took about 6. The 904 transmissions had issues with front clutch seals blowing on days when the temp was colder than -25F. Where I was living then, the temp in Jan/Feb was not far off that. Then Chrysler did something that made me about the highest paid in the shop. They brought out the first lock-up torque convertor.

[gmtech4]

Warranty book time listed all the connected jobs as not being connected. For example, warranty paid .6h for replacing the gasket on the distributor to manifold connection, and another 1h for replacing rocker cover gaskets. Both these things had to be removed to get the intake manifold off. Chilton listed all those parts as being part of the job. I would imagine Chrysler has tightened up the warranty times since then. This was back in the late 70's, early 80's.

 

Went through a streak of bad cranks in the 318-360 engines back then as well, I was getting 2 or 3 a week on average for the entire winter in 78/79. Best flat rate winter I ever had, was making near 60 hours a week. Keep in mind that back then pay was about 1/3 door rate. Worked out to about $6.50 an hour. I was also doing 904/727 rebuilds at the same time. Those paid about 10 hours, and took about 6. The 904 transmissions had issues with front clutch seals blowing on days when the temp was colder than -25F. Where I was living then, the temp in Jan/Feb was not far off that. Then Chrysler did something that made me about the highest paid in the shop. They brought out the first lock-up torque convertor.

 

So I had an 83 k car wagon with the 2.6 from the FIL, and when I pulled the engine yrs later to do timing chain , the dodge techs that did the piston , rings, campaign ( I think ) left some good pipe wrench marks on the crankshaft end , it was a bitch to remove the engine with the crank pulley on lol,

 

I couldn't get it off in the hole lol

[grampadirt]

My dad had a K car wagon also,a POS.Helped save Iacoca's ass though.Remember the LeBaron lol

[sahls01gmc]

This is probaly a trivial problem bu is rather annoying to me. I have a 2002 GMC 2500 hd that looks great all original i am having trouble keeping the plastic nuts snug enough to keep the centercaps on. Chevydealser rotates tires and now some of the nuts look stripped is there an easy fix for this ?

Yeah, I'd go back to the dealer that screwed them up and tell them to fix it!

[Doug_Scott]

So I had an 83 k car wagon with the 2.6 from the FIL, and when I pulled the engine yrs later to do timing chain , the dodge techs that did the piston , rings, campaign ( I think ) left some good pipe wrench marks on the crankshaft end , it was a bitch to remove the engine with the crank pulley on lol,

 

I couldn't get it off in the hole lol

You had the "HEMI" engine. Near as I can recall, pretty sure I used to drop engine/trans/cradle as one assembly out the bottom. What did you think of the chain drive oil pump?

[gmtech4]

You had the "HEMI" engine. Near as I can recall, pretty sure I used to drop engine/trans/cradle as one assembly out the bottom. What did you think of the chain drive oil pump?

It was so long ago Doug I can't remember , I changed the timing chain and tossed back it in !!!!