Anybody have opinion on plastic vs metal? Im looking for some now, and they are damn cheap on ebay, but the quality of ebay stuff scares me.

 

metal FTW.
plastic ones melt, get stuck and crack when u use them on track. some of us dont bother with hubcentric rings

 

Well im autocorssing so I dont think there would be too much heat involved.

But I found the size I need, now its just finding them.

 

I don't use hubcentric rings for any of my wheels, I never have, and have never had an issue. The lugs center the wheels good enough as long as you don't torque them 100% on the first shot.

Just my opinion, lots of people will disagree with me.

I use metal hubcentric rings for my 2-piece rotors. I tried without, but they wobble in place way too much and would have hit the caliper. I hate those rings, I wish I could have gotten rid of them, I have two sets of rotors that need two different rings, what a pain.

-Chris

 

Something just spooks me about it. I raced with my Buddyclubs without hubcentric rings with no issues. Its my dd, and want to prevent everything possible.

But I have found aluminum rings, it was on a site I was looking at yesterday. Just didnt look at the description, just the picture of rubber rings and said screw it.

For future reference or anyone else looking:

http://www.1010tires.com/hubri...1a03g

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris F &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't use hubcentric rings for any of my wheels, I never have, and have never had an issue.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Ditto.

Waste of time and money. Worry about something more important.

 

too bad your not local. i'd give you mine. i dont use them

 

Too late already have some on order.

 

My plastic ones have cracked from heat, but they still fit in the wheel and I still use them. I think it's easier to evenly tighten the wheel when it's already centered, rather than lug nuts loosening when others are tightened.

 

I'm surprised with some people's answers on here. Something so cheap and inexpensive is worth it to use. Sort of like people saying it takes too much time to put a seat belt when driving on the street on or whine about putting a helmet on for autocross.

Some of you guys are the ones who say "Don't drive a car with a roll bar everyday without a helmet"

The time you don't use it is the time you get into an accident.

Personally I got a set of aluminum hub centric rings off Ebay since my plastic one melted from a track day.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CivicSiRacer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm surprised with some people's answers on here. Something so cheap and inexpensive is worth it to use. Sort of like people saying it takes too much time to put a seat belt when driving on the street on or whine about putting a helmet on for autocross.

Some of you guys are the ones who say "Don't drive a car with a roll bar everyday without a helmet"

The time you don't use it is the time you get into an accident.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Mike, that's about the most bogus analogy I've ever heard.

Nobody is going to break their neck or smash their head by not using hubcentric rings on their wheels. Good grief They're used to center the wheel on the hub when the wheel has a larger center bore. This really doesn't serve any purpose, since all multi-lug wheels are lugcentric and will be centered when you torque down all of the lugs.

Painting hubcentric rings as some sort of safety feature is just nuts.

 

I have seen a video (back in 1998 or so) of a wheel without a hub centric ring vibrate bad enough that the lugs sheered themselves off the wheel. Car was on a dyno is all I remember.

Personally I would be at peace of mind using those $1 pieces of plastic than to have my wheel vibrate that bad.

Sorry to lazy to look it up but I think even Tire Rack mentions that hub centric rings are used to center the wheel on the hub but also you should never rely on the lugs to center the wheel on the hub. Without the hub centric ring the wheel/tire can vibrate while driving.

 

in the last 7 years of daily driving on a set of wheels that should have hub rings and didn't, i haven't had a single problem nor have i had to re-torque the wheel after the first time.. atleast 80k miles if not more!

i say not needed. but that is just me..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CivicSiRacer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sorry to lazy to look it up but I think even Tire Rack mentions that hub centric rings are used to center the wheel on the hub but also you should never rely on the lugs to center the wheel on the hub. Without the hub centric ring the wheel/tire can vibrate while driving.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep, there's a few credible sources on the internet that say that.

On the other hand, Tire Rack <u>sells</u> hubcentric rings too.

 

tire rack also gave me some.

i bought a set of 14x6 wheels and Kumho tires from them and specifically discussed during the call that this was for scca racing and discussed contingencies, etc.

the wheels arrived with plastic rings as part of the package.

when these got all distorted and goofed (fronts only), i called them and said i was disappointed since this wheel / tire combo was specifically for racing and they sent me some metal ones free within a couple of days.

non-confrontational on my part, i just explained the background on the purchase and they were apologetic. they have very good customer service. tire rack has been very fair to me for tires over the years and if you cannot get tires from Phil's Tire Service, then i recommend Tire Rack.

Tire Rack also has a small autocross track that is free (as i was told by a Porche club member) to various clubs and is booked most weekends.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris F &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">On the other hand, Tire Rack <u>sells</u> hubcentric rings too. </TD></TR></TABLE>

No, they don't. They give them away for free with wheel purchases, and you can't buy them separately.

My opinion on this - I've known a lot of people who haven't used rings and haven't had problems, and I've also known a lot of people who haven't used rings and have had ongoing problems with vibrations, even when doing all the right techniques when mounting their wheels. If you want to use them, feel free; there's really no harm in doing so (although I would use the metal ones if it's for track use). If you want to omit them, again, feel free, but if you encounter vibrations, that may be why.

I use stock wheels (even on the track) so it's really not an issue I have to worry about for my own use.