May 28, 200817 yr ...at the expense of myself. ever since i got my subaru it made this noise like metal being bounced around. it was driving me crazy. so last night i decided to fix it, whatever "it" was. got her up on some stands and took the front wheels off and proceeded to crawl underneath looking for something that might be loose. spent about 20 mins doing that when my foot hit the wheel that came off the right side. turned out the noise was from the chrome trim ring that was on the right side wheel. it was loose so i just took them all off before one of the others decided to do it too. that really made feel pretty stupid, and once again it reminded me to K.I.S.S.
May 28, 200817 yr My brother had a car that had mags. The center cap on the mags, about 1.75" diameter, on the left front was slightly loose and caused a weird rattling noise arounf hard rights. Only found out what it was when he sold the car. The most obvious place to check is often the last. This is probably because the most obvious place is the problem and once fixed you don't look anywhere else.
May 29, 200817 yr Author yep ain't that the truth? the centercaps on mine were loose also but i just ran a thin bead of silicone around the inside....problem solved...
May 29, 200817 yr Anyone that has ever had the pleasure of owning a 1973 to 1978 Chevrolet Nova with optional wheels has had the same delightful experience you describe. This was a painted steel wheel with six small "stainless" (some sort of GM Miracle metal) trim insets, and a chrome beauty ring. After years of use, the stainless insets would become loose in the wheel and slowly tumble back and forth as the wheel spun. I've never owned a Nova of that era, but I have seen countless sets of these wheels, and they all do it. With up to six of these little stainless pieces all in some degree of tumble as the wheel spins, they tend to make one hell of a racket, and have affectionately been named the Chevrolet "Rattle Rally" wheel. Kinda funny how stuff begins to fatigue over that many revolutions!
May 30, 200817 yr I had a Camaro that had the rattle things on the wheels. Not too bad when cruising, but in an alleyway was it annoying.
May 30, 200817 yr That's why I remove the hubcaps, rings, or center caps from all my cars. I can't stand the rattle from pebbles stuck in them, or the rattle from them being loose.
May 31, 200817 yr On my El Camino, I used to have Cragar SS mags, with spinner knock-offs. Man, when those knock-offs are loose....
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