I just swapped out the OEM center caps for carbon fiber floating center caps and figured I would share my experience on removing the center caps in case anyone was wondering or seeking out how best to do it. Searching the forums and Googling possible answers was pretty straightforward but I did see a mix of answers/options, so I thought I'd just drop some notes real quick to save others time.
How difficult is it to remove the center caps? Not difficult at all unless you get one that's being a bit stubborn for some odd reason. One a scale of 1-10, this is a .5. It should take you less than 5 minutes to complete everything.
When searching online for methods to remove the center caps you will namely come across these options:
- Gently wedging with a screw driver/small knife/etc
- Remove the wheels and pop them out from the inside
- Pull off with duct tape
- Use a suction cup lifter/puller
I'll start off and tell you, do not even think about #1. Just move on. For #2 -- this is surely a solid method, but unless your wheels are already off the car or coming off for some other reason, it would be absurd to take your wheels of for this task given the ease of the next two options. This brings us to #3 and #4. Our clash of the titans. These are two solid options you should look at. However, there is one clear victor, so read on...
The contenders:
This is a battle of duct tape vs a 2-1/4 in. Suction Cup Lifter. I hope you are familiar with duct tap. I'm not going to bother with brand, a link to buy, or anything like that. You probably have some already and if you don't it's like $3-5 at your local hardware store for 50 yards of it. As for the Suction Cup Lifter, it's only $1.99 at Harbor Freight. I found the size from a video posted on one of these forums that shows a similar one being used to pop up the center caps from a Telsa.
Here's the one I used (pictured above):
https://www.harborfreight.com/2-14-i...-lb-57498.html
I set out to see which of these two methods worked and was the easiest. This is not the most scientific of methods, but I'll detail how it went down. First -- wipe the center caps down to make sure they are clean before attempting anything.
Round 1
Driver-side Rear - Used the suction puller and on the first try it popped right out.
Round 2
Driver-side Front - Used the suction cup several times. Nothing budged. Took a single piece of duct tape, pressed it down a good bit. Nothing. We'll come back soon...
Round 3
Passenger Rear - Used the suction puller. Had to readjust 5-6 times. Finally popped out.
Round 4
Passenger Front - Used two pieces of duct tape to ensure coverage over the center cap. Pressed it down firmly around the cap.. pulled.. great success. Super quick.
Round 5
Driver Front -- Returning to the driver side with my vast experience and wisdom of 3 minutes of other intense work on the passenger side. This time I now used two pieces of duct tape against and pressed it around firmly all around the cap.. pulled.. popped out without issues.
The Winner
In the end I would say the winner is
Duct Tape. It's super easy and very consistent. You just need to make sure you have good coverage over the center cap and make sure it's firmly pressed down / nicely adhering to the center cap and just yank. You could probably rock all of the center caps off in like 30 seconds or less if you did a speed run. The suction cup puller is not consistent enough and ran into issues with a stubborn center cap. There you have it!
This is as straightforward as it gets but if you have questions let me know. I'd be glad to make use my vast experience and expertise on this matter to assist.