The centering ring for my OZ Superlegerra wheels broke. does anyone in the area have 1? if so please call me at
847-778-3378

 

Steve- Just left you a voicemail. I don't think the centering ring is necessary to run the wheel. I thought center rings were just so that everything is mounted in place evenly. Otherwise, the lugnuts pretty much hold the wheel where it should be. Just take extra care when mounting the rims so that they are close to center.

 

Just got off the phone with Clark. He's going to try it without the center ring but is in need of a ball joint as well. If anyone in the area can help this long time member and nice guy please call the # above.

 

Pat,

Thanks for being so quick to respond.

1. You were completely right, the centering rings were not at all necessary. When I had the broken one, a piece of it must have caused an unseen interference that kept me from mounting the wheel perfectly flat.


2. The only place I could find a ball joint in time was on my 1st S2000 (project in waiting). It really sucks to drive from Grattan to Chicago and back for a used ball joint, but I was back on track by 1pm on Saturday, and I have a new favorite track for right now.

3. Make sure your front wheels are pointed perfectly straight when you land from the jump. If you get ahead of yourself and think about the turn-in before you land .... well you do what you think about and the front wheels land before the rears and if they're slightly turned you can loop before you know what hit you.

4. FYI, if you find yourself without a front clip, it doesn't seem to have any serious negative impact on car stability (or speed, though I wasn't running data acquisition so I only have lap times to go on).

 

Glad things worked out. That's some dedication to run home to get a ball joint. Grattan is my favorite track as well even though I've only run it twice (or was it 3 times?). It actually reminds me of the Nurburgring a bit with the weird sharp turns, elevation changes, and long straight (just multiply everything by 10 ).

 

Glad everything worked out for you Steve!

Something about the centering ring though, it all depends on the type of lug nut design holding the wheel that will determine how much play there will be between the hub and wheel. Most wheels, this isn't a problem. But slight variances at speed and the weight of the vehicle plus g-forces of turning can throw it off enough to seem like there is a balancing problem with the wheel. I've seen a lot of different nut types. For the most part, the flat ones are the type that I would think would most need a centering ring. Tapered nuts will pretty much center the wheel for you. It's still think it's a good idea to have a ring in place to take some of the static stress off the lug bolts, so they can be stronger for the rotational pressures. Not sure how much good it does, but I would think it's enough of a difference to have one in place. A short time without a ring would be fine, but I think if you went a long time without one, the effects would be more noticeable.

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Steve, if you still need a ring, I can see if the guy I take my car to for tires might have one...