Has anyone ever hotlapped on wheels while using plastic hub centering rings? I'm wondering about any problems with the plastic melting due to heat.

I just got some aftermarket wheels but they didnt' come with rings and the only places around here sell plastic rings, not metal ones.

 

I have never done it....but if you are taking it on track I would suggest not using the plastic ones, for obvious reasons...

 

I had plastic and they melted and cracked after they cooled down. I bought some metal ones on ebay and never looked back, although they do have a tendency to get stuck on the hub and not stay on the back side of the rims!

 

lightly apply some grey never seez and they wont stick!

i may need to switch to metal ones

 

Some plastic ones definitely melt, others crack and a few hold up fine.

 

i've used plastic ones many times. Sure they melt a little and deform, but they still center them even when not perfectly straight. Worst that has happened is they stick to the hub and you just use a small screwdriver to get them off.

These are just my personal experiences. Others may not have the same things happen.

 

the solution is easy - use neither of them

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the solution is easy - use neither of them </TD></TR></TABLE>

thats definately not an option in my opinion. Doing that and when i spin my wheels when the car is off the ground you can see a lot of movement around the hub. Thats only at a few mph too. I've had very bad experiences with not using hub rings.

 

I have never used them and have never had a problem on track or on the street - and I have a very bad curb hopping habit Just torque the lugs properly and you're fine.

 

Even after my wheels are torqued properly they will still be off centered on the hub. I'll get video if you really don't believe.

Sure the wheels aren't going to fall off but they aren't going to be on there perfectly centered either.

 

Get 50-60 ft-lbs on them while they are in the air, then drop the car and do a final torque.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ryan12321 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Even after my wheels are torqued properly they will still be off centered on the hub. I'll get video if you really don't believe.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Are you using lug nuts with square seats?
Tapered lugs = the wheel will center its self.

---
Plastic rings = will melt and are not needed
Metal rings = pita to work with and are not needed

 

Metal rings all the way... I used plastic and they just melted like everything else near the front brakes. I got some aluminum ones off eBay and they have been great. They will sometimes stick to the rim, but it's no big deal at all... certainly much better than how the plastic ones would very stubbornly latch onto the hubs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ryan12321 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Even after my wheels are torqued properly they will still be off centered on the hub. I'll get video if you really don't believe.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Post it up

My opinion has always been that the rings are nothing more than a mild convenience. The first time the metal ring falls out of the wheel into the dirt, or I have to go find a screwdriver to pry a plastic one off the hub they've outlived their usefulness. I can't tell you how many times I've had to get a hammer to tap the metal rings in my SSR's back into place (because the retaining rings ALWAYS go flying across the garage the first time I remove the wheel).

I understand that some people really feel they need them. I just don't understand why. The hubcentric movement swept through H-T about two years ago and I'm still not exactly sure what started it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have never used them and have never had a problem on track or on the street - and I have a very bad curb hopping habit Just torque the lugs properly and you're fine.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Basically what he said. I used them...once. They melted, I punted. like 7 years later, never had a problem. I too "cinch them down" while the car is in the air.

 

I got metal centering rings from Discount Tire... I think $15 for the set.

 

Welcome to last week. And last month. And early this past spring, 18 months back, and a month of Sundays ago.

K

 

Ive never used them ever
and I have been known to hit the curbing at the bus stop at the glen and gotten 2 tires in the air BTCC style

I just hand tighten while in the air and rotate the tire till they center themselves
then hand tighten
and then torwue them up on the ground
never used them nor will I ever
I also dont use the hub covers on any rims to allow for hub heat dissipation

 

Interesting to read all this. I've been having problems with either crappy lug nuts or the wheel not being centered properly. I'm gonna try this torqueing to 50-60 ft/lbs in the air and move on from there. Seems easier than buying rings that may or may not do anything.

 

I have used plastic centering rings for years now with no problems whatsoever besides occasionally getting stuck to the hub. I've done 40 minute sessions at Pocono that left the brakes smoking after I made the long drive back to the garage area and I have never had any melting or distortion. I've even changed wheels and drove home with the same centering rings on the car. The Mustang Cobra next to me melted the center caps right out of his wheels though! When I had BBS wheels on my old Jetta, they used metal rings. I think they were aluminum. One was destroyed when the retaining clip popped out while installing the wheel and it ended up being torqed down with the clip between the hub and the aluminum ring. The ring lost.

 

so correct me if I'm wrong, but if i use tapered lug nuts, then i dont have to use hub ringS?

 

The intent of hubcentric wheels, or properly designed spacers, is to transfer the vertical load directly to the hub instead of through the lugs. Diamond makes their wheels with an open center so no hub support, but they use nuts with a 1" hex and a 45 degree taper for greater holding power.

On the other hand, I don't know of anyone who has had a failure attributable to not using the centering spacers, so they are probably overkill when all is said and done.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mohudsolo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The intent of hubcentric wheels, or properly designed spacers, is to transfer the vertical load directly to the hub instead of through the lugs. Diamond makes their wheels with an open center so no hub support, but they use nuts with a 1" hex and a 45 degree taper for greater holding power.

On the other hand, I don't know of anyone who has had a failure attributable to not using the centering spacers, so they are probably overkill when all is said and done.</TD></TR></TABLE>

uuhhhh, the lugs dont support anything. all they do is hold the wheel to the hub. the pressure of the wheel against the hub is what holds the wheel in place.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RyanR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">uuhhhh, the lugs dont support anything. all they do is hold the wheel to the hub. the pressure of the wheel against the hub is what holds the wheel in place.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Shear force...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by trutuner &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so correct me if I'm wrong, but if i use tapered lug nuts, then i dont have to use hub ringS?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Tapered (conical) or spherical - either one. I guess I never considered that someone in this day and age, with a metric car and alloy wheels, would end up with Model-T technology flat lug nuts. How does that happen?

Now, simply putting tapered lugs on wheels that aren't supposed to use them won't do you any good at all. Quite the opposite, in fact...

K