Aftermarket hubcap is difficult to remove

[DaveJe]

I got my Model 3 (Highland) wrapped last week and they also put new hubcaps on my car. They forgot to put the foam strip on the new hub caps.
I want to take them off now and apply the foam strip to the hub caps but they are very difficult to remove and I'm afraid that I will break them if I apply too much force.

The OEM hubcaps were pretty easy to remove. Is there a trick to removing them? Are they more difficult to remove because the installer didn't put on the foam strip?

 

[DomDeWild]

The obvious answer is to take it back to the installer, or give them a call. Since they are aftermarket, they should be able to tell you how they come off.

 

[MikeRTX]

Foam strip?

 

[Birdsfan]

He had me at foam strip too...

 

[804son]

Some of the aftermarket caps, have a foam strip that goes around the inner ring of the cap, because they go all the way out over the lip of the rim. I have these on my Uberturbine style caps for my 18" winter set-up.

 

[Adam3]

Use more muscle

 

[mikego]

I had a similar problem with the Yeslak Arachnid wheel covers. The problem with those are the clips: instead of having the more springy metal clips that are on the Tesla wheel covers, these clips are plastic with very little give. What I did was to use automotive plastic pry tools to dislodge each clip individually. You need to dislodge enough clips to be able to pull the cover out. Don't use a metal pry tool because you might inadvertently scratch your wheels.
As an aside, I wouldn't recommend keeping those wheel covers. If you have a need to take a wheel off your car (i.e. a flat), there is no way you can remove it quickly.
Good luck!