wheel center cap fell off

I have a 2021 Tacoma TRD Sport and I have had Toyota emblems fall off of two wheels! One of them was laying beside the wheel that it fell off of in my driveway. The dealership found no evidence that anyone pulled them off and they replaced them under warranty. Probably the product of having a truck built during covid!

 

Yes, they fall off. I found one in my driveway and took all of them off.

 

When I got new tires at COSTCO, the write up notes included this: "Member should be aware that the new style Toyota center caps are going to get loose in wheel over time. The new cap have very small contact tabs that touch wheel and will more than likely fold over during repeated services. Caps will still stay retained but will fit loose in wheel." (?)

 

took my 2021 TRD sport dbcb to the dealer for 10k service, Told the service writer I was getting a clocking noise from my center caps at low speed. They rotated my tires and said I was all set on the center caps (in writing) 20 miles later I got home 3 caps gone and they won't cover it on warranty. Parts guy told me he had 40 in stock
so there must be an issue with the caps. AND they're $45 ea.

 

I don't know if they're exactly the same but the caps on my 4Runner don't need to come off when taking the wheels off. I popped them off the first time I rotated the tires and found it's a pretty fiddly connection. The next time I just took the wheels off with the caps still on. The socket is a tight fit and rubs against the cap but otherwise no issues.

I figure the less they are popped on/off the better.

 

Simple pro-active solution. Before you have tire work done at a dealer or shop......remove the center caps yourself. When the work is complete, reinstall at your convenience.