Aluminum Hub Centering Rings
 

Aftermarket wheels, unless custom made for your car, typically require hub centering rings (sometimes also referred to as "hub centric rings") to properly fit each the wheel to its hub. Wheels generally come with centering rings to fit the car for which they are purchased. They are typically made from aluminum or (I believe) plastic.

You may need replacement rings from time to time. They may be lost, broken or worn out. Or perhaps you are moving the wheels to a different car with hubs of a different size. In my case, I bought Volk Racing wheels that came with (what seems to be) plastic rings. I don’t want plastic rings because I think that metal rings will probably do a better job of centering the wheel, and of handling abuse from heat, pressure, abrasion, weather, etc.

If you want to obtain replacement aluminum centering rings, I suggest that you start with the wheel dealer and/or manufacturer. If that doesn’t work, here are at least two sources that you can try:

1. Discount Tire Direct (http://discounttiredirect.com). These guys sell on eBay, and you can also just contact them directly. Currently, the price for a set of four rings should be about $12 shipped. I ordered from here. (thank daviddeep for finding these guys)

2. 1010tires.com (http://www.1010tires.com/hubrings.asp). The link takes you directly to their ordering page. I’m not sure of their pricing and have not seen their product. (AMRAAM4 found these guys)

When you order, they should need to know:
1. specific make & model wheel, including size,
2. wheel centerbore diameter (67.06 mm or 67.1 mm will work for a FD), and
3. hub diameter.

Of course, the difference between 2 and 3 is the space that the centering ring needs to fill. If you’re measuring this directly, instead of using manufacturer’s specs, measure carefully with calipers. Your second grader’s choke-proof lollipop ruler isn’t going to cut it.

Finally, for entertainment purposes only, here are some comparison pictures of a plastic ring I received from Volk Racing, an aluminum ring from the wheel distributor, and an aluminum ring from discounttiredirect. Note that the Volk and discounttiredirect rings have a beveled lip. This matches a beveled section of the wheel’s centerbore (I have no idea whether other wheels use a similar bevel). Aside from “centering” the centering ring in the centerbore, I believe that this will prevent the ring from tilting inside the centerbore, which seems possible with the distributor’s ring. Also note that the discounttiredirect ring is machined to size, engraved with its dimensions, and anodized. The distributor’s ring appears simply to be a segment cut from a piece of aluminum pipe of the proper inside & outside diameter. Want to guess which rings I’m going to use? :)

L to R: distributor aluminum, Volk plastic, discounttiredirect aluminum

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...postid=2690343


T to B: Volk plastic, distributor aluminum, discounttiredirect aluminum

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...postid=2690344

Yeah, the bevelled flange is a good design. The Discount Tire ring looks great. May use those to fit 10.5 wide x 18 SSR Comps in back. The 10.5 wide x 18, 43--mm offset, 5 on 4.5, SSR Comps require 79.5 to 67.1 mm hubcentric rings.--according to herblenny.

Great info. Thanks for posting!

Art, Manni, you guys hit it on the head. As an example, many of the lightest race wheels are not hubcentric (WTF), so for my race car I have ordered the wheels slightly less backspacing than what I need. Then I am using these spacers to make the wheels hub, and lug centric. I have three other sourses for high quality spacers/adapters, I will dig them up and post them. Following that we should sticky this under "adapter, and spacer suppliers."

Re: Aluminum Hub Centering Rings
 

Damnit! That should say that the 67.06/67.1 mm measurement is for the FD hub diameter. Wheel centerbore diameter is 73.00 mm for my Volk SE37As and CE28Ns (both 18x9.5). Sorry, it's been too long for me to edit my original post. Grrrr...

That's why I bought five sets :)

That would be great information Carl. People are always looking for spacers.

OK, so why didn't I receive centering rings with my Volk TE37s? I wasn't aware that they were necessary because the wheels are lug-centric, aren't they?

Why do you want them? See this link (I think that SleepR1 already posted this, but here it is again anyway):

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/centerb.htm

Why didn't you get them? I'll bet they thought that you would machine your own ;)

Here is a quick list of few places that offer wheel adapters. There are many more.

Crow Automotive
www.crowautomotive.com
Cost was about $80 for a set (2).

Motorsports Technology
www.motorsport-tech.com
They were high quality well, but I had a problem with one set they gave me (I received them with a couple of studs loose). They remedied the problem, and even fixed one of the studs I had broken by accident for free.

Design Deluxe
www.wheeladapter.com
While I have never purchased anything from this guy, I spoke with him on the phone and he seemed very knowledgable. Some of the other local guys run his adapters.


With the correct offset you do not need to run wheels adapters (or wheel spacers). I would recommend that whenever possible, get the right offset wheels and avoid wheel adapters altogether. However, for those occasions when getting the right offset is not an option, wheel adapters make for a durable, and inexpensive solution.

In addition, Real Racing(available from R&S Racing, and Wilwood(widely available) also make spacers, and some of these guys will make hubcentric adapters.

Hope this helps, Remember, you do not have to settle for lugcentric...;)

I got a set of those plastic hub centering rings with my Kosei wheels and they appeared to be of the same construction as those in the pictures posted by artowar. I thought they looked crummy and brittle, and noticed that I could chip the edge of the flanged part with my fingernail.

The dealer told me that the plastic ones are designed to resist heat and that aluminum rings can react with aluminum wheels and cause corrosion, but since they are of similar materials, this sounds like hokum. I much prefer the quality of the Discount Tire Direct aluminum rings.

Does anyone know whether there are drawbacks to using aluminum vs. plastic?

P.S. - The centerbore size for an FC is 59.61 or 59.6 mm.

I don't know about aluminum reacting with aluminum, but you can definitely get some reaction between different metals.

I'm going to coat the rings with antiseize before mounting the wheels. That should alleviate any worries about sticking to the hub or the wheel too tightly or permanently. I take the wheels on and off a lot (I'm sure that I'm not the only one here that does that :) ) when working on the car, so it should be easy to check the rings and replace any that are developing problems.

Regarding the plastic rings, I'm sure that they are designed to resist heat to a point, but what is that point? I'm not willing to experiment to find out, nor do I want to clean up any leftover mess. I'm also sure that whatever alloy the aluminum rings are made from will withstand the heat from any street or light track duty that I'll throw at them.

after working at a wheel shop for over 2 years here is my basic knowledge of hubcentric rings. the only reason that you would want to put them on is to prevent the wheels from vibrating. on german made cars hub rings are a must due to their sensitivitey to "Road Feel" as the germans like to put it! the thing to remember is that the holes drilled for the lug nuts are not always centered and sometimes are off very slightly, which in turn will cause shaking/ vibrating in the steering wheel. the hub rings will fix this problem by insuring that the wheel is centered around the hub.

Re: Aluminum Hub Centering Rings
 

I just checked my receipt, and the Discount Tire Direct deal was better than I remembered. It was only $8 shipped per set.

Apparently this German need for road feel has become an expectation of high quality aftermarket wheels LOL :)

I got a set of the nice aluminum beveled rings from 5zigen. They cost 60 for the set of 4. They are 60mm if I remember correctly.

So 5zigen is another source to add to the list.
www.5zigenusa.com

I'll vouch for the ones from Discount Tire Direct. Paying via paypal they were on my doorstep in less than 48 hours. Coat them with a thin layer of anti-seize as Artowar suggests and you shouldn't have any corrosion probs. They're anodized too.

Great thread! Sticky! Sticky!

-Max

Shit. Something else I have to buy. :D

Can you make your own with your mill?

Regarding corrosion between metals, I recall that aluminum and copper don't get along well, which suggests using antiseize without copper content...

does this mean that the hub is 67.06 but the ring is 67.1? I don't understand the two different numbers?

And I don't mean .04 ;) but why would one get a ring that is 67.1 versus 67.06.

thanks
Rip

It means that a ring spec'd at 67.06 or at 67.1 should fit.

This has no specific connection to plastic hub rings, but I once melted my front pair of those little plastic valve stem caps during an open track session. The side that was facing the brake rotor had melted away during the session, leaving the other half mostly intact.

-Max

so if i get wheel adapters, not hubcentric rings, that will make the rims hubcentric and lugcentric??? or do i have to buy some rings also??? thanks in advance

I would presume that a hub plate adapter would make the wheels hub- and lugcentric. However, it would a very rare wheel that would have a high enough offset to work on an FD with any kind of spacer/adapter. With a simple, effective, and inexpensive aluminum centering ring, the wheel will be lug- and hubcentric and the offset won't be changed.