Hey all quick Q. I want to put my rims back on because the weather is much better, but I forgot my hubcentric rings at home. (im away at school) I was jsut wondering if it's safe to run the wheels without the rings? Or if it's fine to just bolt the wheels up.

bumpo

It's safe, but you might notice a bit of vibration at highway speeds. As long as your lugs are torqued, they're not gonna fall off.

Have your parents mail you the rings, they're small enough to toss in an envelope.

Also, most aftermarket lug nuts are what is called "lugcentric" which means they center the rim on the studs rather than the hub. If your lugnuts taper down at a 45 degree angle where the threads start, you shouldnt even have any vibration. I have only ever used hub rings once, and there was no noticable difference.

Hope that helps.

Dustin

Nt sure what lugs I have (gorilla tuner lugs)

Im just gonna get my folks to mail them up here, dont want to risk anything

What Dustin was saying is that if the lugnuts have a 45 degree shoulder, they'll be fine. Odds are, they are.

U ll be fine i have gorrlia lugs on mine with no hub centric rings. I have no vibration just make sure u tighten the lugs up by hand first and center the rim then tighten them up all the way.

Ian, Im not understanding what you guys are saying. 45 deg shoulder? How do i see if my lugs have that?

http://www.tirerack.com/images/wheels/tech/lug_nut.jpg
See how the tapered tip sort of locks into the wheel? That will hold the wheel centered on the lug. A flat lug nut will not have that same centering method.
If that's the case, then the hub rings aren't really necessary.

Oh, I got ya now, thanks for the clear up man. I will check later today to see, but Im pretty sure they have that tapered or ball shoulder, not flat.

Most aftermarket wheels use the tapered seat/shoulder. You're running Konigs, right?

Just look at the lugnuts you use. That should be a good indication. Stock xB wheels use a tapered seat too. I've seen some aftermarkets (Kazera) that use a flat seat, and I wanna say that Hondas use a ball seat on their stockies.

yep, my konigs have a tapered seat, and the lugs are currently on my steelies so I gotta check later

Thanks again man

No problem, Marlon.

Good reference picture man! haha.

^ Yea, I thought so.

I have a question. If you do use them how often do they need to be replaced? I have metal ones and they aren't cracked or anything but i'm wondering how they wear over time. Do they warp with change in temp? I've had them on for about 20-25k miles. I usually leave them on the hub when rotating tires.

no crack they are fine..check them when you rotate tires

cool. now i can't remember what size i got for my work cr kai's. the number wore off.