E30s on 16s - post yours

[LJ851]

^ They aren't necessary, but they do make a difference which is why wheels are made that way.

Can you have smooth running without them ? Sure, but not as often as with them.

[Jand3rson]

I'm not saying not to use them. My point is that the main reason everyone thinks they need them is just plain wrong.

[ParsedOut]

I'm not saying not to use them. My point is that the main reason everyone thinks they need them is just plain wrong.

They are used to center the wheel on the hub, not to take the weight off the lugs or make it easier to mount it... There is a reason and they should be used unless you like a pretty heavy 70mph vibration.

[Jand3rson]

They are used to center the wheel on the hub, not to take the weight off the lugs or make it easier to mount it... There is a reason and they should be used unless you like a pretty heavy 70mph vibration.

Yes, they are used to center wheel on the hub. DURING MOUNTING. Once clamping force is applied when the wheels are properly torqued, they do NOTHING. If it was possible, you could remove them after torquing the wheels down and see NO difference. As I stated before, I've ran without them on 2 sets of wheels, and had no vibrations. One set with E30 centerbore, and one without. Both times, the center part of the hub was not in contact with the centerbore of the wheel. According to your argument, the hubcentric rings are what's keeping your wheel from moving around on the hub face after you've applied 80 or so lb. ft. of torque to each bolt/nut? Not possible.

[AwakenNoMore]

Yes, they are used to center wheel on the hub. DURING MOUNTING. Once clamping force is applied when the wheels are properly torqued, they do NOTHING.

This was more or less the reason for my retort. I've required hubcentrics on the E30 due to getting vibration without using them to perfectly center the wheels. I never had this problem with cars using studs and nuts as opposed to lug bolts.

[ParsedOut]

Yes, they are used to center wheel on the hub. DURING MOUNTING. Once clamping force is applied when the wheels are properly torqued, they do NOTHING. If it was possible, you could remove them after torquing the wheels down and see NO difference. As I stated before, I've ran without them on 2 sets of wheels, and had no vibrations. One set with E30 centerbore, and one without. Both times, the center part of the hub was not in contact with the centerbore of the wheel. According to your argument, the hubcentric rings are what's keeping your wheel from moving around on the hub face after you've applied 80 or so lb. ft. of torque to each bolt/nut? Not possible.

I see why you think that, but simply clamping the lug bolts down doesn't perfectly center the wheel on the hub. There is a very small amount of wiggle room within the lug bores and the rings keep it centered while they are torqued down. I'm happy you had no issues without running them, there are thousands of people (including myself) that have not been so lucky. They are in existence for an actual reason...

[Neil1138]

Equation wise, hubcentric rings do not carry load (otherwise they would be tapered and/or press fit). Once the wheels are torqued down, the clamping force translates into a static friction force between the wheel face and the hub. This static friction force is what reacts against the weight of the car on the road (or any force the wheel experiences).

It is true that studs/bolts are not intended to take shear loading (due to the smaller cross sectional area). However, assuming that there is even 60 thou. of diametric clearance between the OD. of the hub-centric spacer and the ID. of the wheel, that may be enough clearance to locally yield the studs in shear and therefore not make hub-centric spacers useful in transferring/taking load.

Vibrations experienced by people without hub-centric spacers/rings are the result of a wheel that isn't properly concentric with the hub (an installation fault). It has nothing to do with the wheel moving around on the hub while the car is moving. That shouldn't be possible (assuming the wheel nuts/bolts are torqued down properly).

I'm not pumping out the equations now. But if anyone wants, I'll do it.

[markseven]

He's absolutely right. The clamping force of the lug hardware holding the wheel face to the hub is all that's needed to keep the wheels centered. I had my Apexs mounted to the rear hubs with 10mm spacers that left no measurable length of the centerbore going into the wheel hub, and my wheels were perfectly centered. Not a single vibration or anything, tested up to 90 mph. Same with my current wheels.

You will get people trying to tell you that the hubcentric rings are intended to take the load off of the lug hardware and onto the hub center. If this were true, hubcentric rings made of plastic would be less than useless. The entire weight of your car is NOT resting on the lug hardware. Their intention is to fill in the extra space around the hub and the centerbore to ensure that when you bolt up your wheels, they are in the perfect position.

I think you would feel it if it were on the front.

[george graves]

Urrrr....

[lambo]

Urrrr....

[bigsliks]

xxr 002 205 45 16 et0

[akorcovelos]

FYI, I've been tracking 10mm non-hubcentric spacers on my front wheels for over two years now with zero vibrations at speeds well above 80mph. They are for locating the wheel, period, which is why some are just plastic as was already mentioned.

to stay on topic, 16x8.25 et0 XXR 527, 215/40/16 front, 245/35/16 rear.

[HarryPotter]

[DaveDel82]

e38 style 5's , 205/45 r16

[natesimon]

http://imgur.com/a/6fUon