So I was having my routine maintenance done by a well respected forum member on a different board & I told him how both of my rear wheel bearings almost instantly went out after throwing on a set of Enkei RPF1's in 17x9 +45 offset. He recommended that I purchase a set of hub centric rings or else I would have a slight gap which greatly decreases the life of the wheel bearings.

So I'm wondering is there any truth to this? I've seen a good amount of people on this forum running my exact set up & have yet to see that hub centric rings are needed. I've just had both the rear hubs+wheel bearings replaced which cost me around $450 & I wouldn't want to repeat this same process again anytime soon. Thx!

 

if the bore of the rims isnt specifically made for your car you will need the rings to make up for any difference in size between the two

 

Centering ring center the rim on the hub. Many run without them, as I once did. It is best to have them, but the lugs should be enough to hold the rim centered once they are toqured to spec. Replace the bearing and hub, and buy the centering. Cheap insurance that will insure your rims are centered on the hub.

 

IMO it is the 5 x 114.3 pattern, with the OEM spherical nut & seat that centres the wheel to the hub.

The rings just make it easier to mount wheels.
Without rings or a proper fit between hub & wheel you need to be carefull mounting wheels, tighten them in the right sequence and in small steps and some mechanical "feelling" but the end result will be the same as with rings / proper fit.