10th Honda Civic Forum banner
Cancel

Help with Civic 2016 EX and Honda Element 2004 Center Caps

11342 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Vihsadas, 
V
2
Hi there!

Total car n00b here. Just bought my first car of my life a 2016 Civic Ex.

Context: I just bought winter tires and steel wheels. I want to spruce up the steelies. I did some reading and found out that the Honda Element 2003-2004 center caps shown below will fit the civic 2016. On one photo they are actually installed on what I think is a civic.

Problem: My dumbself bought generic steel wheels from canadian tire. They are installed on my civic already with some Blizzaks. They supplied me with some new lugnuts for the generic wheel install. I want to use the Elements Center Caps.

Do I need new lugnuts, or do the new lugnuts installed with the generic steel wheels need washers or something or will they work out of the box?
Pretty sure they have the same lugnut spacing as my honda alloy rims (they would have to wouldn't they? since they are currently installed on the civic and the alloys are in the closet).

but I don't know what type of lugnuts will work with the Generic rims + Element center caps.

Any help or insight would be appreciated!

Sry if this is a real noob question. Thanks!

Others have used these center caps on a civic here: (Sorry. Can't supply links yet due to post count. The threads are on "The temple of vtech forum" titles: "Steel wheels & my TSX", and, "putting away the summer tires? "

Attachments

See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
B
I'm pretty sure the lug nuts would work perfectly fine with them. I've never seen anyone use washers for the center caps or hub caps at all. Doesn't really sound to safe either lol. But the lug nuts should replicate what your oem lug nuts are for fitment reasons of course.
Reply
Save
Like
Cabeldude
You will need lug nuts with a groove for the plastic wheel cover retainers (washers) I don't know if you can get a generic brand or if you have to get honda, but I do know that you can use the "washers" from a garden hose, they are the exact same size and the cheap black hard plastic ones feel like the same material.
Reply
Save
Like
V
Just as a little update in case anyone else was wondering if this would work. I got the center caps and they fit great!


I haven't installed them yet and will eventually paint and clean up the rims, but I've put them over the lug nuts and they fit. They will need a retention washer as mentioned above.

These are Honda element 2003-2004 center caps on a civic ex 2016, with generic Canadian tire steel rims.

Pics attached.

Thanks for the help everybody!

Attachments

See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
Black Jackyl
I think it definitely looks acceptable as all heck for a winter changeover.
Reply
Save
Like
4
Looks a lot better than stock winter wheels, just so hard to make winter wheels look nice in any capacity.
Reply
Save
Like
5
4Tires said:
Looks a lot better than stock winter wheels, just so hard to make winter wheels look nice in any capacity.
Click to expand...
If your willing to spend a bit more it's not that hard. You can always buy alloy wheels for cheap whether that be used or brand new, preferably used since your options expand that much more when on a budget.
Reply
Save
Like
V
Hmmmm...turns out, they don't fit!! The lug nut spacing is perfect and it looks like they are going to fit, bit then the center caps are not "deep" enough. The tabs on the inside of the center caps are too long, so the lugnuts can't be tightened all the way because they don't come all the way through the holes. Anyone have any idea how to fix this?
Reply
Save
Like
V
Do I need some sort of a spacer? It's like the holes in the center caps for the lugnuts are about 1cm too far away from the spot the lugnuts tighten onto the steel wheels.

Do I need a spacer or something? Is that the garden hose washer that was mentioned above?
Reply
Save
Like
Cabeldude
Post a pic of the lugnuts your trying to use. Do they look like these? The black plastic washer is all that holds the center cap in place.http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-12x1-5-R...6923a4f1:g:fJQAAOSwMNxXah5N&vxp=mtr#vi-ilComp

Attachments

See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
V
Hey there,
Thanks for the reply.

Yes those are similar to the lugnuts installed on the car, although they do lack the washer. The problem is that when I put the center caps on the wheels to "fit test" The lug nut head does not come all the way through the hole.

If you check out the picture I posted above, the plastic holes on the center cap (i.e., the "landing spot" for the washer on the center caps) is not flush with the steel wheel. There is about .5-.75cm of space between the center cap and the underlying steel wheel where the lugnut screws in, and the center cap is supposed to sit.

I think this means that I need like a longer lugnut, or like a spacer or something that fits *between* the centercap and the steel wheel. This would be in addition to the washer which would fit between the lugnut head and the center cap.

Alternatively, the underlying problem may be that these are generic steel wheels, and if I had used OEM honda steel wheels then the recess on the steel wheel would have been slightly wider and deeper, allowing the center cap holes to sit flush with the steel wheel instead of there being a space.

Does that make any sense? I can draw a schematic if it's still not clear. thanks again for any solutions you might have to this problem.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
10th Honda Civic Forum
A forum community dedicated to Honda Civic owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, classifieds, modifications, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
10th Gen Civic General Discussion Forum 10th Gen Honda Civic News 2017+ Honda Civic Hatchback Turbo Forum New Member Introductions 10th Gen Civic Si And 2018 Civic Type R Forum
Top