In my usual state of lost thought during my commute, I came across this question:

Why do wheels have a hole in the center, where the center cap goes?

As I'm too busy at work right now to search/research this, I thought I'd pose the question to the masses. Is the center cap hole merely there to accommodate the center cap? Or maybe the hole is part of the manufacturing process?

Why aren't wheels manufactured hole-less?

And why is this question making me crave donutholes?

 

They use it when balancing the wheels. Also probably has something to do with the hubs on the car. You can check the hub without removing the entire wheel.

 

This is correct. Although you can balance wheels without a balance machine it is far more accurate than other methods.

 

Plus, you can re torque the rear axle nut with the tire on

 

I believe it is there for manufacturing purposes. I'm no expert, but what other way would they be able to spin the wheel to make sure that it runs true regardless of the balancing?

 

Speaking as one who worked in a tire shop for 6 years, unfortunately you will never find a wheel that is perfectly balanced. Which is one of the reasons you need wheel weights.

But I believe you are correct, as we'll as needing the hole in the center to balance the wheel/tire assembly.

 

The hole is for the centre cap to go in

 

8 year old thread is 8 years old.