For the early 80s rear wheel drive Cadillacs, were the wire wheel covers (hubcaps) meant to fit on the same wheels as cars that had the standard non-wire hubcaps? My car is an 81 Fleetwood Brougham that came with the vane wheel covers. I'm looking at some wire wheel covers to replace them, or to at least have another option. I have one wire wheel cover that does not appear to fit my wheels.
Photos below are of the wheels that came on my car, and the single wire wheel cover that I have, which doesn't fit.
I would have to see a side shot of the wire one but at first glance I wonder if that wire cover is for an Eldo/Seville? I remember being able to swap covers on my 83 Fleetwood so I don't think the rims were different.
Quote from: TJ Hopland on July 13, 2025, 12:41:43 PMI would have to see a side shot of the wire one but at first glance I wonder if that wire cover is for an Eldo/Seville? I remember being able to swap covers on my 83 Fleetwood so I don't think the rims were different.
It might be for a FWD, though my recollection is that the wire wheels for the FWD cars had more of a bulge in them.
The 79-85 (and 85+ for that matter) didn't stick out like the 66/67-78's did.
If they are 15-inch rims, they should fit. I kept the wire caps from my RWD '85 Fleetwood that was totaled in a wreck and put them on my '76 Fleetwood.
Tim
Our 79 has the wires and hubcaps that interchange.
Those wire wheel covers should fit the wheels on the car. They can be stubborn to get mounted.
FWD covers cars will also fit RWD wheels (of the same size) but RWD wheel covers will not mount to FWD wheels.
I don't remember ever really having trouble installing the style that grips on the flat area, its always been the early 70's style that gripped right in the bead lip that seem to be more temperamental.
They will fit. Make sure you have the locking retainer for the wire caps.
This cover isn't locking type.
When did they get rid of that? Was it '80?
Not exactly certain when wire wheel covers first gained locks. I know it was definitely available in 1980. For the first couple years of this cover, ie 76-77 or possibly 76-78, I don't believe any did. The earlier locks were a pair of J-hooks mounted to the rear of the cover. A key was used to twist a pair of lock "cylinders" in the cover securing the hooks on the backside of the cover into the slots in the rims. They were always very hard to turn making locking/unlocking difficult.
In 1981, a new locking system appeared which had hub brackets mounted to the wheels under the lug nuts. The crest on the center of the cover was removed to access the lock (bolt) that screwed directly into the bracket. These were a lot easier to lock/unlock but it came at the expense of rattling crests because the clips used to hold them on were loose, allowing the crests to move around when you drove.
Were locking covers an option? Thought that was just something that came standard with wires. I don't think I ever saw any that didn't have em before. Sure missing and broken but they were there at one point.
Those J hook ones were quite the design. Maybe they worked OK when new but by the time I had to deal with them they were all bent and chewed up and the little dot or notch that told you where the hook was pointed wasn't easy to see. I remember reading about how much weight they shaved off the 425 block and being impressed then when I finally got the covers off I found out where they put it all, those were stupid heavy and could not have been that well balanced, I bet they needed the locks just to stay on.
I have two sets w/o locks and seen many others including the one shown in the OP above so they obviously didn't all have locks. In the Optional Equipment section of the 1980 brochure, it states "Wire Wheel Covers with locking device". Not stated in 1977 literature. Will have to check 78-79 lit to determine when. I've been told if you lost a cover and needed a replacement from parts, it would not have the locks. In 1981, the redesigned system didn't have locks built-in to the covers. The replacement simply used the lock bolt you had already. If that was also lost, you could get another.
The Wire Wheel Covers from 76-85 (RWD) had teeth so strong, they almost never fell off- with or without locks. In 1986 on the RWD Fleetwood Brougham (and other models), the covers were now almost featherweight and had almost nothing by way of fastening tabs. With those covers, the locks MUST be used or they WILL fall off before you back out of the garage. Same pretty much applies to all wire wheel covers with the new dark red center medallion.
In the NYC area, these were never seen without locks-that is to say you either had locks or you didn't see your wheel covers! I only knew of two styles, the kind with the offset key bolt/hook, and the newer one with the center retainer. I do think that the OP has a locking cover pictured though (the kind retained with the center bolt that you pry the medallion off to get to, hence the hole in the middle. I didn't know GM made non locking wire caps at this time.
Very true on the weight reduction for the later red center wire caps. In the early Brougham years they were also paired with super light aluminum wheels. Those wheels had a slightly smaller inside diameter and you couldn't use anything other than those red center wire caps on them. Eventually they went back to steelies.
Can we vote to keep the turbines?
The cover shown in the OP doesn't have J-hooks and there is no hole in the center on the back. If there's no hole, there's no way for the center lock bolt to be used. The crest would also need to be clip-on type in order to access the lock.