I'm trying to test fit my wheels on my car before I buy tires. I had to run a 5mm spacer in the front to clear the brakes and I am also using hubcentric rings for my wheels. My question is how do you install the wheels? Do I push the hubcentric ring into the wheel then mount them onto the studs with the spacer flush against the hub? When I do this it does not like nice at all. How do you keep the spacer in the center around the hub and the ring?

Another question...say I hand tightened my lug nuts on to my wheel studs. How many more turns would I get before the nuts are torqued to spec?

 

With the hub centric ring on the wheel...should the ring sit over the hub still (the circular metal lip), even with the spacers installed?

 

No. If you run a 5mm spacer, it is spacing the wheel out to where it will not center on the hub, might be 1-2mm still poking out past the spacer though. There is no point to run a hubcentric ring because of this, although it shouldn't make anything worse because the ring should be flush with the wheel mounting pad. Hopefully that makes sense, you have basically eliminated a hubcentic fitment with the spacer. Some spacers have a new "hub" built in so you don't lose the hubcentric fitment but usually those are larger size like 20 or 25mm.

 

Damn that sucks. That's probably not good considering I am also concerned with the amount my lug nuts will be threading on.

 

Does the 5mm spacer need to be centered around the hub?

 

It doesn't have to be. Once the wheel is torqued down it shouldn't move around. You can get them in 70.1mm bore so it will perfectly center on the hub if that is a concern.

 

Hmm thanks for the info. Any insight into my second question about lug nut rotation?

 

Hard to say exactly, but in my experience if they are hand tight then not much, maybe another 1/2 to 1 turn? The thread pitch is 1.5mm, so you are losing 3.33 turns with a 5mm spacer.

 

Wow that's not much at all. I'm only getting like 4 Til hand tight.

 

That is why it generally isn't recommended to run a 5mm spacer on stock studs, although people do it. Would a 3mm give you enough clearance?