Hey, i was just out test fitting my new wheels. and i had a problem.

on the hub there is this round end cap, it sticks out to far for my new wheels. it wont allow me to push the wheels back flush against the hub. see pic one to see what im talking about.



now if i take that cap off the hub is only 1" long. as seen in this pic:



and it just so happends my wheels are 1" deep. as seen in this pic:



can i take off the end cap? if i can will i have any problems down the road? the wheels are DPE 19x8 with an offset of 32.

bumb, because we had a hell of a lot of locked posts that pushed this to page 2 lol. damn.. that 617.

Sure that comes off, it's the dust cap for the wheel bearings. Just work it out with a screwdriver and mallet. Unfortunately, the nut and spindle threads that's behind it sticks out almost as much as the cap and heck. Assuming you still want to lose this, after the grease gets good and dirty with brake dust and road grime the fun will begin as it grinds away at the bearings until they wear out. Then the only downside is uneven tire wear, grooves on the spindle and of course, the inner/outer wheel bearings which are not cheap as I believe the outer wheel bearing is pressed into the hub at the factory for MBs so you have to buy a new hub, new spindle and new tires.

you can remove it. I did. Just remove the silver part. Its just a reg cap. Dont try to remove the 2nd part. I spent 30mon knocking on that. Then i realized it wasnt suppose to come off. Remove the cap tip and your fine. I used a hammer and flat head. Thats all i had. . The first cap took me 30 mins to remove but the 2nd took me 10 mins. You just need to find your groove

your scaring me

You should be scared, and DPE should make wheels that fit the car...

The dust cap is necessary...take it off, and look at the bearings spin... imaging them locking up on you at 80 mph..

That's when you should have another car following you with a video camera.
How cool would a powerslide look on the highway @ 80mph!

I thought DPE's were "custom" made to fit properly. If you still need to "mod" part of the car, then what's the point?

If you were so lucky...

by the time it locks, the heat has stressed the hub to a point that makes these events very spectacular. bye bye wheel...

If using spacers or returning the DPEs is beyond question, you can smash the cap down a bit with a plastic hammer. However, if you deform the seal, than brake dust, road debris, and water will get into the bearing anyway...

aww. i had a feeling that would be a problem. im going to call DPE tommorrow. see what they have to say. i was thinking the wheels have a 1" deep spot, then a small lip, then the center cap. you dont think thats enough to keep water, dust, dirt, break dust, grime out of there? i understand the importance of the cap, but why would DPE make thier wheels like this if it will pose a problem?

Because DPE isn't up there with HRE

Why, I have no idea. Poor product management.

Nope, the wheel center cap will not. Don't let them tell you it will.

It would take a lot for the wheel to lock up. You will get a really nasty bearing noise way before that happens. Of course if you keep your stereo really loud you may not hear it. The best bet is spacers but a 1" spacer may look funny. The wheel manfacturer should have recomendations, you can't be the first person to buy this wheel. But the reason the wheel won't protect it is that it's not waterproof, dirty street water when it's raining will get in there if it's not water tight.

I would advise against removing the bearing cap to fit rims to the car. As mentioned in previous posts it is there to protect the bearing assembly from water and dirt. When (not if) dirt and water get into the bearing it will begin to wear, heat up, corrode and eventually fail.

If you are lucky you will be replacing wheel bearings every year or so. If you are unlucky (or a future member of the Darwin Awards) it will fail catastrophically, fly apart at highway speeds (or better) and throw the wheel and rim well into the ditch.

The more dirt and water that get into the bearing, the hotter it gets, the hotter it gets the more grease gets slung out of the housing and even more water gets sucked into the housing. You can see the pattern.

Maybe you can look for shorter bearing caps, usually there is some internal clearance.

Why not just use spacers and longer lug bolts? Simple solution, low cost and you get to use the wheels you already paid for.

Is it possible that the front and rear wheels are different, so the bearing cap can be cleared?

I had this same problem you face now with a Roller. I left off the plastic cap that came with the aluminum wheel, and had the bearing cap engraved with the "RR" trademark. They were then polished and chrome plated.

i would but i believe a 1" spacer (aprox 25mm) will make the wheels stick out past the fender. i also do not like the idea of having to use such a large spacer.

Also, i called DPE today. they said i had to take off the dust cap. when i mentioned the problems that could happen the guy on the phone said thats not a problem and will not happen, and once the dust cap is off the wheels will fit perfect as they should.

In any case im not going to remove the dust caps. My neighbor is a metal worker, im going to ask him to make me new caps that are flat. that should stop my problems. ill have to see what he can do. i want it as thin as possible. to where i wont need a spacer of any kind yet keep the wheel bearings in tact. ill see if he can use some 1mm or smaller steel.

Im a little dissapointed but i think i can make this happen. The wheels look bad ***. it would be a shame if i could not get them to work.

no the rear wheels are the same. and i would not put the rear in the front lol, i dont even think they will fit, the rear wheels are 19x10.

thats a cool idea with the dust cap to polish it. but it would stick out to far for my taste.

This is funny. BT, use a flathead screw driver to gently pry the cap loose, remove and inspect. Let us know what you think about removing the dust cap... see the ball bearings? Give the rotor a spin, watch the bearings move... now imagine small medium and large debris particles getting in there...

*****, my $102 ea. cheapy throw away wheels from edge racing fit properly. That's hysterical... DPE CARES about their customers rides and most importantly their customers safety... wow...

yea i understand the problems that will come up if i remove the dust cap. thats why i said this in my previous post :

unless there is a problem with making the dust cap flat?

i appreciate all the concern about problems i would have by taking off the dust caps. you guys look out for the little guy lol.

as for DPE saying to just remove the dust cap and ill be fine i dont know. I trust you guys more then the maker of the wheels lol. we got some brainiacs on here.

[QUOTE=Burnt Toast] the rear wheels are 19x10.

oops, I did not consider that the rear wheels were larger, would give your car that Toyota forklift appearence though.....

Ther is a company called Caplugs that makes plastic covers, and they might have a flat cover that would replace the dust cap.

www.caplugs.com