I have a few questions after going a little "googling" on the subject.

With the advent of tapered lug nuts, which essentially center the wheel on the lugs as you tighten them, is there really a requirement for hubcentric rings?

Yes, people say that the lugs can't support the weight of the car. Are you sure? I mean, these lugs are taking forces of acceleration, braking, turning.....and they can't support 700 lbs of car? Maybe if you're tracking, or autocrossing, but for every day driving?

The reason I bring this subject up, is for one, I'm shopping for aftermarket wheels in the spring, and I'd like to know if I should worry about these rings. Second, I'm using 98 honda prelude steel rims for my winter tires. The front centre bore of 70mm fits perfect, but the rear hubs are 64mm, so there's a small gap. Visually, the wheel is centred on the hub, and there's absolutly no vibration. I obviously don't drive the car aggressively in the winter, so the lugs aren't being exposed to the forces they would be during summer driving.

Should I worry? I don't think I should be.....

 

Our cars (and almost all modern day cars) have bevelled lug nuts. These keep the rim centered if you put them on in the proper fashion and sequence. I have winter rims that came with the hub rings. Never used them and after 4 winters (in my 5th now), nothing untoward has happened. I have seen in another thread where this was discussed at length and the general concensus was that the rings are not essential for this car. This might go out the window if, for some goofy reason, you got lug nuts that are not bevelled.

 

That's my opinion as well. I do tighten the lug nuts in proper sequence, and there is no vibration at all during driving. I am using the stock, bevelled lug nuts

 

There is no way you can center a wheel on 5 points. No matter what kind of lugs are used. On top of the fact that a factory Prelude wheel does not have enough load capacity. It is not a good wheel on the car.
I would not recommend it.

 

Jim

I definately appreciate your input given your field of work. But can you explain why a wheel designed for a heavier car (3000 lbs) doesn't have enough load capacity for a 2800 lbs car?

Thanks

 

I have an MR2 which was made with straight bolts which allow the wheel some play until tightened and hubcentric wheels. I bought some Gram Light wheels which do not fit the hub but have conical nuts. Both wheels work equally well, I have taken the car to high speed without any vibration. I believe that the wheel is held in place more by friction between the wheel and the face of the hub then by the actual nuts themselves. If this were not true my stock wheels with straight nuts would rotate about 10 degrees little under heavy braking. I never tighten my conical nuts with the full weight of the car on them for fear of tweaking something or having something tightened down off center.

 

Factory wheels are hubcentric (ie S2000) or lugcentric (ie F-150). After market wheels are generic. The wheels need a hubcentering ring for proper fitment on a vehicle specific basis. The S2000 has 2 different hub diameters where most cars are identical front and rear...

Charles

 

Sorry to pull up an older thread but I just put on some after market wheels that have a tampered/tuner style head (not oem acorn shape). Do I need hubcentric rings?

Also this is the way I put on the wheels, not sure if this is right. I had the car jacked up. Put the wheel on and put the lugs on (untightened). Then I hand tightened the lugs in a star pattern. Put the car down and tightened the lugs in a star pattern with the tool twice.

 

I have work wheels and I as well have not ran any hub centric rings on this set of wheels. On my previous wheels I did and I didnt have any problems nor have I had problems now. Anyways heres a link to a Ebay auction selling some rings.. I am not sure if it will fit the work meister s2r's.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...sspagename=WDVW

 

Don't confuse the shape of the lug nut head with the seat. It's the seat that's important in securing the wheel to the hub. The S2000 comes with spherical (ball-shaped) seats and most aftermarket wheel come with conical (tapered) seats. It is very important to use the correct lug nut for your particular wheel. Head shape is irrelevent proper seating on the wheel.

With respect to hub-centric vs. lug-centric wheels: It is certainly possible to successfully run cars without centering rings, but I choose to use wheels that are hub-centric if for no other reason than that ensures centricilty.