Question for anti-stance (hub-centric rings)

Are 73mm OD rings just more lazily-described 73.1mm OD rings? I've seen some for sale saying they fit both, and "73mm" OD rings are a lot harder to find, especially in aluminum.

Might be best to ask the seller.

Just toss them in the freezer and hammer them in. Its only 0.003" on the diameter, a light press fit. This way you dont lose a spacer.

That's what I was thinking, but since I'm looking at getting aluminum ones, with the potential for galvanic fusion I probably shouldn't push my luck further with an interference fit.

bump

GameboyRMH wrote: That's what I was thinking, but since I'm looking at getting aluminum ones, with the potential for galvanic fusion I probably shouldn't push my luck further with an interference fit.

Grease 'em.

Oh I'll definitely grease them in any case, but doesn't grease + interference fit = almost every molecule of grease perfectly squeezed out ~ no grease?

Just get plastic rings. I've had nothing but headaches from the aluminum ones.

What problems have you had? I've heard they like to galvanically fuse to things, I was planning to grease the rim and put anti-seize on the face of the ring that faces the hub to prevent this.

The plastic ones I've been using melt onto the hub and crack. They're still usable and I can free them with some prying, but it's not ideal.

FWIW, we use (and re-use) plastic ones on the saturn chumpcars.

What wheels and car?

I'm not the hub ring expert but I can ask the sales guys.

Only aluminum rings we have are TSW but we have a bunch of plastic rings that dance around the 73mm outer. Most are exactly 73mm.

I'd ratherr have to tap them in the wheel than have them loose. It does make a difference.

Anti-stance wrote: What wheels and car? I'm not the hub ring expert but I can ask the sales guys.

AE92 corolla, the wheels are...some 15x7 4x100/4x114 dual-pattern PCWs that are out of production, sorry I don't know. If you could take a micrometer to some 73mm and 73.1mm rings that would be helpful.

Now I'm thinking I'll get the 73.1mm aluminum (since I'm looking at going to 15x8 Kosei K4Rs in the future, which are definitely 73.1mm) and both 73mm and 73.1mm plastic just in case they don't fit, or I find that the aluminum ones are a bigger PITA.

Okay, I mic'd the 73mm plastic ones we have and got 73.04mm. These are from a company called Topline. I believe your hubs are 54.1mm. I tried to reference it in our TSW catalog but it doesn't go back that far. But everything from that era seem to be 54.1 hubs if on passenger cars. Topline does have a 54.1 to 73 just so you know.

According to my boss, who is pretty damn knowledgable, the only sizes close to 73mm are 72.6mm and 73.8mm. That's all I see in our hub ring room also.

Huh so you're saying you haven't heard of the 73.1? In online product listings those seem to be the more common description. So maybe it's the 73.1 that's "not a real size."

BTW any thoughts on aluminum vs. plastic?

why does everyone get all worked up over hub centric rings? you have tapered lug nuts, do you not?

I do, I haven't had any problems with centering but the hub rings are supposed to help transfer forces between the wheel on the car, without them it all has to go through the lug bolts.

and you think some soft aluminum or plastic does this when the wheel is properly clamped in place with tapered lug nuts?

Interesting....

novaderrik wrote: why does everyone get all worked up over hub centric rings? you have tapered lug nuts, do you not?

Screwing with non hub centric aftermarket wheels and hub centric factory wheels and also having to high speed balance them on the car, I can assure you there is a difference.

I used to believe tapered lugs would center the wheels properly before I worked here also. I would still buy into that theory if I didn't see wheel hop and have to recenter wheels on a daily basis. When I get a ticket for some luxury car with factory wheels getting a high speed I know it's gonna be easy.

As far as plastic vs aluminum, any time I have used aluminum it has been with a wheel that it was designed for and worked great. I have definently had problems with plastic hub rings but that's because of salesmen being lazy and giving me the wrong E36 M3.

Thanks Anti-stance. I'm going to get a few sets of plastic, they'll cost less than one set of aluminum and I figure peeling them off the hub or replacing cracked ones is better than having an aluminum one get fused to something.

We clean the hubs and put anti seize on for aluminum rings.

i've had a lot of non hub centric wheels and have only ever had one of them that had any sort of a wobble or vibration- it was a 15X9 Ansen slot with a 275/60 tire on with the old school slotted unilug mounting holes that was on the back of my 74 Monte Carlo... the slots were a little bit wallowed out from something that happened in the first 3 decades of their existence and would wobble a bit and cause a funky oscillating vibration at 60mph if you just slammed them on the car and screwed the nuts in, but if i was careful when i put the lug nuts on and got it centered, it rode as smooth as any Caddy ever built. those wheels were on the car for 5 years..

Plastic centering rings melt if you take 'em to the track. At least, they did for me.

novaderrik wrote: if you just slammed them on the car and screwed the nuts in,

95% of people we sell hub rings to do not remove their wheels or work on their cars themselves. So when they go to a shop/dealer to have work done on their cars, the tech does exactly what I just quoted from you. Having hub rings will center them up, if they don't, their car is most likely gonna vibe. Especially when you are talking about 20" or 22" wheels with a 40 profile or smaller.

I can center up non hub centric wheels as well, since I am forced to do it often. But when it come to balancing them on the car it absolutely makes a difference. You can see the wheel physically hopping if you didn't center it up perfectly.

I hate to break it to you, but it's not snake oil.

codrus wrote: Plastic centering rings melt if you take 'em to the track. At least, they did for me.

I've had the surface that touches the brake disc get stuck to it but the whole ring hasn't deformed.