Eeyore

So, 14 years with Goodyear Eagle F1's on my 2008 Chicane/Black, and it's time for new tires.
They only have about 9-10k miles on them, but they are old - fronts are OK but the rears are kinda shot.
Went with Conti ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus's, (from 'The Rack) - I think I'll be happy with them.
Getting them mounted / balanced tomorrow if all goes well.

Here's the question part of my post - I want to bring just the old wheels and tires to the place putting the new tires on, I don't really need them messing with the actual car if I don't need them to.
I still have my factory 2008 wheels, so I dragged them out, made sure they were up to 32 psi, and went to put them on the car, just as temps. I don't have enough jacks / jack stands at the ready.

Now is when it gets interesting. I started with the fronts, and when I got it on, right away it seemed like the wheel did not want to sit right up against the rotor.
As I started to tighten the lugs (star pattern), it got better, but still didn't seem 100% right. I'm familiar with putting on / taking off wheels (Blizzaks on steelies every year, etc).
I got the fronts on and went to do the rears, and they were even worse, a couple / several millimeter gap between the back surface of the wheel and the rotor.
This is even after getting 80 lbs ft on each lug with my torque wrench.

Now, when I put on my Volk TE37's,14 years ago, I simply removed the factory wheels and put on the Volks, I did NOT notice a gap like this, but then again, I wasn't looking for it.
Since then, the factory wheels have just sat, and have not been back on the car until now.
The Volks do not seem to have this 'problem', btw.

Anyone??? Part of me only cares so much about this, since the Volks are going right back on when I get the new tires mounted, and I don't really ever plan on running the factory wheels again, unless I sell some day, which I'm also not really planning on.
but I'm just curious what the hell is going on, if anything. The Volks did not use any centering rings that were stuck on the hubs, or anything like that, that I can tell.
I also don't really want to test drive it with the factory wheels on - to do so I think may be curiosity killed the cat. I'm just letting it sit in the garage overnight.
They must be unbalanced (or perhaps unsafe) after sitting for 14 years, and the TPMS system will probably freak out anyway.

Anyone? Thanks in advance! Bit of an odd post, I know!!

Save the Manual Wagons!

Wheels don't go bad. Are you SURE you didn't have centering rings on your other wheels? That's exactly what this sounds like. They're often small, black plastic, and easy to miss. All I can say is - take the wheel off and see what's causing the interference. Did you install a big brake kit you forgot about?

Oh, and since you have an '08, read this if you haven't already: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-un...2A%2A-1060900/

hoangjet68

Sometimes hub-centric rings are made of aluminum and blend in so well with the hub that it’s nearly indistinguishable. I’d pry around the hub to see if there is a ring installed. Chances are they’re just stuck as mentioned.

B serious

There's a lot of words up there, but I think I followed along.

Most likely issues...

You tried to put stock rear wheels on the front.

Or you left the hub centering rings on from your aftermarket wheels.

Tires don't come out of balance over time. Unless the wheel weights fall off.

Eeyore

B - I'm positive I have fronts on the front and rears on the rear. :-)

B serious

Hub centering rings?

Pics of the wheel mounting surfaces and car's hubs will help.

Maybe the hubs have a ton of corrosion from driving in winter.

Eeyore

Well - my anti-climactic update to my original post (apologies it was so long), is, I ended up finally finding a piece of a broken plastic centering ring on one of the front hubs, but still none on the rear.
Either they got so fused to the hub, they are truly indistinguishable, as someone else pointed out, or there was something else going on.

In any event, new tires are on, test driven up to 80+ to check for vibration or other badness ... everything's good. TPMS happy so far.

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

Save the Manual Wagons!

If you torque a wheel down onto a plastic centering ring, you'll probably destroy the ring. So there might not be much left. Glad you got it sorted.