Rickson 19.5" wheel simulators

[DNelson]

For those of you with Rickson 19. 5" wheels with the chrome simulators, has anyone figured out how to get them properly centered on the wheel? There are four screws that hold them on to the wheel, and I can't seem to get them properly centered so that they don't look like they're "wobbling" as I drive down the road.

 

[15w40]

I have the wheel simulators on my 2500. It is a little tricky to get the clamps through the wheel holes and keep the simulator centered. What I have done is to loosely attach the simulator and then re-install in plastic hubcap. Using a flat bladed screwdriver, I can then "tweak" the simulator and tighten the hold down screws. After it is centered and tight, I never have to re-install it because of a tool I made to pop off the center cap. It is a 1/8" piece of piano wire that has a ¼" right angle bend at the tip. This will fit the narrow gap between the simulator and the cap. After inserting it and giving it a turn, it will get under the edge of the cap so I can pull it off.



Be careful when you re-install the hubcap. I have found that the metal holding it onto the lug nuts gets dented and will not always hold tightly. Rotate the cap to an un-dented position.

 

[WOT]

I have thought about modifying the mounting brackets, but just been a bit too lazy! Here's what I came up with. Forgive me for the crudeness of the sketch, but it's from memory and I haven't thought about it in a while!



Put a chunk of modeling clay (about 1/8 - 1/4" thick) on the outside face of the mounting brackets. Mount it to the rim as you would normally. The clay will squish down to the gap between the rim and the mounting bracket. Carefully remove the simulator. Add the thickness of the clay on the two opposing brackets together. Divide that by 2 and that should be the thickness of the metal spacer that you need to weld to each of the mounting brackets. Do this for all four brackets and it should center up when you install it. If you can get a good scale you will want to balance all four brackets by grinding some metal off the heavy ones until they all weigh what the lightest one did.



Like I said... Just a crude way to solve the problem - Once it gets warmer I will give it a try myself!