Anyone Use Plastic Hub Centering Rings?

+1 for switching to a lug-centric setup if necessary, it'll save you frustration in the long run.

AngryCorvair wrote: no way the centering ring had any effect on the lug torque, unless they were too thick to allow the wheel to seat properly on the hub.

This.

I am annoyed that this thread seems to be propagating the myth that the rings are necessary. All they do is make center the wheel slightly easier.

AngryCorvair wrote:

wbjones wrote: not more than once .... melted and let the lugs NEARLY come off ... finished that run ... SLOWLY ... got back to the grid and when I saw the flopping tires I almost E36 M3 right there

i'm going to bet they were new wheels, and they had paint or powdercoat on the lug seats, and the paint/powdercoat plastically deformed under the force from the lugs, which allowed the lugs to lose torque, which led to the wobbly wheel(s). no way the centering ring had any effect on the lug torque, unless they were too thick to allow the wheel to seat properly on the hub.

AngryCorvair wrote:

wbjones wrote: not more than once .... melted and let the lugs NEARLY come off ... finished that run ... SLOWLY ... got back to the grid and when I saw the flopping tires I almost E36 M3 right there

i'm going to bet they were new wheels, and they had paint or powdercoat on the lug seats, and the paint/powdercoat plastically deformed under the force from the lugs, which allowed the lugs to lose torque, which led to the wobbly wheel(s). no way the centering ring had any effect on the lug torque, unless they were too thick to allow the wheel to seat properly on the hub.

Exactly what I ws going to say.

ProDarwin wrote:

AngryCorvair wrote: no way the centering ring had any effect on the lug torque, unless they were too thick to allow the wheel to seat properly on the hub.

This. I am annoyed that this thread seems to be propagating the myth that the rings are necessary. All they do is make center the wheel slightly easier.

As was said, you leave them out on a BMW at your own risk. If you have E39 wheels on an E38 you will get vibration unless you use the rings. Or if you have aftermarket wheels that will fit an E39 (such as M Parallel replicas or my own RPM R505s) and are using it on any other 5x120 BMW you will get vibration without the rings. Happens way too many times to mention on the BMW boards. The fix to the vibration is always to put the rings in. If it's a myth, it's a pretty physically repeatable one.