[ilangop]

Originally Posted by Rama Naveen

Guys I got installed 14 inch Neo alloy wheels for my TataBolt. ...

Same night I happened to read about the hub centric ring article in the team BHP site and I was surprised.
This morning I went to Ashoka wheels and one of the guys from the shop by name Amir suggested that 14 inch alloy wouldn't require hub centric rings and he even showed that there was only 1 or 2mm inch gap and ring thickness to 1 or 2 mm wouldnt last long and the Car should ride fine.
Please can someone suggest is that 1 or 2 mm gap absolutely fine?

Hi Rama Naveen,
The answer to your question, 2 mm is way tooooo much. All that is allowable is 0.2mm more than the hub dia on the car. Tata cars stick to a hub size of 65mm. Hence your alloy wheel hub centre can be up to 65.2mm only. Anything more than this is a safety concern. No wonder your new wheels were wobbling at high speeds.

Why?
The hub centre is the point where the load on the vehicle is transferred to the wheels. With 1-2mm gap, there is not contact maintained between the alloy wheel and the wheel hub. Hence all vertical loads and shocks will come to the wheel bolts or studs. Why your alloy wheel guy didn't install a ring in your case is that you cannot machine a nylon or aluminium or steel ring this thin. The proper way to do it was to enlarge the hub centre in your alloy wheel to 69 or 71mm at least and then use a hub ring 2-3mm thick. If you have purchased a set of 5 alloy wheels, could you look into the inner side of the wheel and share the specifications stamped on it. Your should see numbers like 5.5J 14 or 6.0J 14, ET xx, 108 - 4, etc.

[Rama Naveen]

Hi Ilangop,
Wherever I have taken my car for hub centric issue in hyderabad, they all suggested me to speak to Ashoka wheels minister road hyderabad and I did.

Few observations, the car rides effortlessly and acceleration is awesome but still I'm worried as suggested by you.
Do you think 2mm thickness hub ring will stay fine? The car accessory guy who sold me the alloys is not aware of this situation and he heard for first time.
All I can do is go for 1.5 to 2mm thick hub ring done lathe machine and fill the gap.
I'm not sure if they will increase the bore size of alloy to fit the standard ring? May be a bad thought, please suggest my friend

[sAP]

I am the original poster of how hub centric rings helped solve my centering issue on my then Opel Corsa. Now I own 2 BMW's and personally I would not run my cars without centering my wheels on the hub -- that is if I were to buy aftermarket wheels (I use original BMW wheels so that I do not have to deal with centering issues).

That being said, I have driven non European cars without hub rings that had no centering issues (no wheel vibrations at any speed). This leads me to believe that not all vehicle types need centering rings.

If you are not having a vibration issue, it is possible that your car centers its wheel on its lugs. If you have a European car (that uses lug bolts instead of lug nuts), chances are that you absolutely need centering rings. But if not, I'd say you are probably good to go without them.

-sAP

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by Rama Naveen

Few observations, the car rides effortlessly and acceleration is awesome but still I'm worried as suggested by you.

Do you still have steering vibrations at higher speeds (>100kmph)? Just do a small test as suggested by thread starter to me years back.

Originally Posted by sAP

If I were you, I'd first try the following on one wheel at a time -- remove all 4 wheel lugs, hold the wheel against the hub, turn the wheel on it, move it about and look for any *play* in the centering.

If you find play in centering, please add hub rings as suggested.

Do you think 2mm thickness hub ring will stay fine?

Yes, if they properly fabricated.

The car accessory guy who sold me the alloys is not aware of this situation and he heard for first time.

Not surprised, most are not aware of PCD or even offset. They only look for matching number of holes in wheel.

Originally Posted by ilangop

If you have purchased a set of 5 alloy wheels, could you look into the inner side of the wheel and share the specifications stamped on it. Your should see numbers like 5.5J 14 or 6.0J 14, ET xx, 108 - 4, etc.

Most alloys don't stamp all information, offset, PCD, bore dia et al seen on wheel packing box.

[sAP]

Rama

To really know more, I suggest going through the entire thread. This thread has historical information that will help you effectively make a good decision.

I am curious though about what your mechanic did differently when you took your car back a second time to make your existing vibration disappear. Do you have more information you can post on that?

-sAP

[Rama Naveen]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the involvement.

When I took back the car he re-balanced the wheels and also I doubted if the bolts were bolted correctly. But the guy looked confident , as if he solved some kind of problem, but was not telling me and kept saying even if you reach 160 speech, you steering would not wobble going forward. He guaranteed if I had wobbling again, he would not charge me for next wheel balancing cycle.

I took my car 5 days continuously for 60 kms( each day) at high speed and wow, I could easily overtake, Verna , Ford which are already above 120 speed and I can easily overtake them. As I was enjoying this speed , I would also try to notice any unusual sound or jerks but nothing, looks smooth.
Ritz guy , I20 very fast and I can easily overtake him.
I felt alloys are coool , awesome and definitely make a difference.

This guy from Ashoka Wheels, I called him stated even 2mm difference is dangerous, he says - Sir as per my experience it shouldn't be a problem. Drive your car for 4000 kms and get the car to workshop, then we would see.


I need to understand the difference between lug nut and lug bolts, soon, will post the pictures.
But really thanks guys,
I will post an update soon.

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by Rama Naveen

I need to understand the difference between lug nut and lug bolts, soon, will post the pictures.

Post 10(Page 1) of this thread has couple of links for hub centric & lug centric design, sharing those again here. As 'sAP' has suggested, please go through this thread (first few pages at least).

http://www.miata.net/garage/hubcentric.html
http://www.leadfreewheels.org/101.shtml

[sAP]

Pics of

(i) A hub that uses lug bolts to secure the wheel to the hub




(ii) A hub that accepts lug nuts instead

[Rama Naveen]

Hi SAP,
Really appreciate for initiating this topic otherwise I would have been breaking my head for searching answers and many others.


I think my car has got lug nuts. Please see the pictures and provide your feedback, as in one of your post you said if it's lug nuts then not to worry.

[Rama Naveen]

Took some pictures at Ashoka and they confirm hub rings not required for 2mm gap. Metal rings would break anyways

I doubt if plastic or rubber ring can withstand such temperature