The plastic hub rings that came with my wheels from tirerack.com have gotten beaten up from numerous installations/removals so I called tirerack.com and ordered a new set. They arrived today and to my surprise I see four metal rings and four half-circle pieces of wire.

I don't know what the wire is for. Are they some sort of shim? If so, should they be placed between the ring and the hub or the between the wheel and the ring?

 

got a pic of the half-circle pieces of wire? they might go between the ring and wheel hub to prevent the two pieces from rusting shut together (which happens to my metal hub rings)

 

Here are some pics.





The wires are round, not flat like a shim, and there is no groove on the rings (inside or out). Any ideas?

Also, to help avoid having the rings rust onto the hub can I use anti-seize or some other product?

 

I called The Tire Rack to ask about the wire bits but of the three people I talked with none knew what they are for. One guy even tried to tell me that the wire is the hub ring.

Bump!

 

it looks like those hub rings are not tapered. every hub ring (for japanese, italian, and german wheels. no experience with american) i've ever seen is tapered so that the ring doesnt slide through the wheel's center bore. i'm guessing you put the wire inside the wheel bore so it sits flat against the hub ring, which would prevent the hub ring from sliding outwards. kinda like a clip.

your profile says your wheels are SSR D5Rs. i got replacement hub rings from Tirerack for my SSR Professor SP1s. they were the original SSR rings, which do not look like yours (mine are metal, black, tapered, and no wire). my centerbore/ring size is 46mm.

 

The plastic rings that originally came with the wheels were tapered and you are correct that these new rings are not.

So you're saying hub -> ring -> wire -> wheel?