- Joined
- Nov 9, 2015
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Sorry guys...ranting again
Ah man...I so much want to love my car but it just doesn't want to love me!
My tyre man called me on Friday to get my wheels swapped over while he was quiet...I thought, today is going to be a good day, I'll pop by the care home and drop a treat in for my mum on the way, as we can't see each other during lockdown, then revel in the glory of admiring my sparkling wheels on my S3.
Let's just check the oil before we go...as the dipstick comes out, so do some plastic fragments from the top of it and fly off. Luckily, I think, the bits flew off as the stick was out of the tube so fingers crossed on that one. Need to order one of those now. That just sums it up...DIPSTICK!
Anyway, got to my tyre man and he swapped over the tyres and wheels, torqued them up and it's just the centre caps to pop on. As you can see from the picture above, they fit nice and flush, after I had to cut back some plastic tabs on the rear of them. You would push them in until they stop leaving a small gap then you just had to 'whack' them with the palm of your hand and they clicked into place...easy.
Well, that's what we thought until we realised, after severe bruising to the palm of my hand, that with the hubcentric spacers on, the centre caps would not 'click' into place and just kept popping out again, and again.
ARRGGGHHHH!!!
Left there with the centre caps banished to the boot, feeling totally deflated. After a couple of hours stewing and mentally writing out 'FOR SALE' adverts in my head, I felt brave enough to face the car alone in my garage, just the two of us, man to man!
I managed to find some thin double sided tape and stuck some to the inner wheel and back of the centre cap and pressed firmly. I had to remove the metal 'o' ring that locates behind the wheel for the caps to fit flush. Certainly not ideal and not sure what will happen after a few heat/wash cycles.
Got some hi-temp double sided on the way, should be here June...
...2023 and thinking about maybe magnets, bonded to the back of the cap, something like these...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/small-large-NEODYMIUM-MAGNETS-1mm-2mm-3mm-thick-Round-Rings-Cylinder-Discs/132012556278?_trkparms=aid=111001&algo=REC.SEED&ao=1&asc=20160811114145&meid=7ea6a59ec8f24bfcb055c847637973b8&pid=100667&rk=4&rkt=8&mehot=pp&sd=172812195870&itm=132012556278&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2334524&brand=Unbranded&_trksid=p2334524.c100667.m2042
Not sure of strength, size, etc. so research needed there. That's what bugs me about my S3, it always seems to bite me. I rarely look back at my car when I leave it and we all know that we do when we love them. I really thought that with these spacers and refurbished wheels on the car, it would make me want to look back and feel good. Instead if I look back, it will be to check how many centre caps are still on the car.
I've driven 30 miles or so and they're still there. At least I've added a fair bit to my S3's scrap value now, as they're not perfect, but a vast improvement regardless.
Here's the results...
Ah man...I so much want to love my car but it just doesn't want to love me!
My tyre man called me on Friday to get my wheels swapped over while he was quiet...I thought, today is going to be a good day, I'll pop by the care home and drop a treat in for my mum on the way, as we can't see each other during lockdown, then revel in the glory of admiring my sparkling wheels on my S3.
Let's just check the oil before we go...as the dipstick comes out, so do some plastic fragments from the top of it and fly off. Luckily, I think, the bits flew off as the stick was out of the tube so fingers crossed on that one. Need to order one of those now. That just sums it up...DIPSTICK!
Anyway, got to my tyre man and he swapped over the tyres and wheels, torqued them up and it's just the centre caps to pop on. As you can see from the picture above, they fit nice and flush, after I had to cut back some plastic tabs on the rear of them. You would push them in until they stop leaving a small gap then you just had to 'whack' them with the palm of your hand and they clicked into place...easy.
Well, that's what we thought until we realised, after severe bruising to the palm of my hand, that with the hubcentric spacers on, the centre caps would not 'click' into place and just kept popping out again, and again.
ARRGGGHHHH!!!
Left there with the centre caps banished to the boot, feeling totally deflated. After a couple of hours stewing and mentally writing out 'FOR SALE' adverts in my head, I felt brave enough to face the car alone in my garage, just the two of us, man to man!
I managed to find some thin double sided tape and stuck some to the inner wheel and back of the centre cap and pressed firmly. I had to remove the metal 'o' ring that locates behind the wheel for the caps to fit flush. Certainly not ideal and not sure what will happen after a few heat/wash cycles.
Got some hi-temp double sided on the way, should be here June...
...2023 and thinking about maybe magnets, bonded to the back of the cap, something like these...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/small-large-NEODYMIUM-MAGNETS-1mm-2mm-3mm-thick-Round-Rings-Cylinder-Discs/132012556278?_trkparms=aid=111001&algo=REC.SEED&ao=1&asc=20160811114145&meid=7ea6a59ec8f24bfcb055c847637973b8&pid=100667&rk=4&rkt=8&mehot=pp&sd=172812195870&itm=132012556278&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2334524&brand=Unbranded&_trksid=p2334524.c100667.m2042
Not sure of strength, size, etc. so research needed there. That's what bugs me about my S3, it always seems to bite me. I rarely look back at my car when I leave it and we all know that we do when we love them. I really thought that with these spacers and refurbished wheels on the car, it would make me want to look back and feel good. Instead if I look back, it will be to check how many centre caps are still on the car.
I've driven 30 miles or so and they're still there. At least I've added a fair bit to my S3's scrap value now, as they're not perfect, but a vast improvement regardless.
Here's the results...