Hub Centric Rings

[95XL883]

I'm having to replace the stock rims on my Ranger. The hubs are, supposedly, 70.6 mm. The centerbore of the new rims is 81.5 mm, supposedly. To fill the gap I need a hub centric ring. The closest standard size that is readily available is 78 x 70.6. That would leave a gap of 1.75 mm (one-half of 81.5 minus 78). Is that still too large a gap? I can have rings custom made for twice the price ($25 vs $50). While I would like these quick I really want the right answer, so I suppose I should just bite the bullet and wait for the custom rings. The only other question on custom rings is plastic/composite versus aluminum. Does anyone have any experience that they can share. Thanks in advance.

 

[95XL883]

The back story to the rim replacement is I have a 2002 Ford Ranger, supercab, 4WD XLT. The stock aluminum rims are 16x7 with a 12 mm offset and the tires are 245/75-16. The aluminum rims have been corroding to the point that one has failed and despite attempted sealing leaks air slowly. (Apparently corroding rims and failure to hold air is a common problem to early 2000 Fords.) The other three can't be far behind as all are corroding. The cost of new replacement rims was as much as or more than some aftermarket rims so that opened the door to seriously looking at aftermarket rims. I needed new tires anyway (my current Michelins have 80,000 miles) so I started looking a little larger.

I wound up choosing some Ultra Wheels Xtreme X109 in 17x8.5 with a 1mm offset. The blacked out look will really change the appearance of my ride. (I just changed out the tail lights to blacked out units and about to install HID driving lights.) If I have done all my math right, they should fit. (Tirerack claims they will fit as well.) For tires, I have chosen another set of Michelins in 265/65 -17. The overall diameter should be very close to the stock size.

At this point, all I need are the hub centric rings and then I can install the rims and tires.

 

[JCByrd24]

Last I knew Fords do not need hub centric rings. Every one I've seen have tapered lugs and are lug centric. My Explorers never had stock wheels that fit the hub tightly.

 

[95XL883]

Tire Rack said I didn't need rings and I had noticed the tapered lug nuts so my plan was to have them installed and get rings if I needed them. That plan got stopped when Costco wouldn't install the tires without the rings. So the mounted tires and new rims are sitting in my garage right now. Thanks for the reply. I may just install them and see what happens.

 

[HHR]

If you are setup with tapered lugs, the rings are only used to make installation easier and do absolutely nothing once the wheel is installed. I have used mismatched hub sizes on multiple vehicles and never had an issue. The Ford dealership actually installed the last set and never mentioned the lack of rings.
That Costco policy is pretty lame.

 

[Tripp4010]

Tire Rack said I didn't need rings and I had noticed the tapered lug nuts so my plan was to have them installed and get rings if I needed them. That plan got stopped when Costco wouldn't install the tires without the rings. So the mounted tires and new rims are sitting in my garage right now. Thanks for the reply. I may just install them and see what happens.

You do have tapered lugs designed to work with your OE wheels, but most aftermarket wheels are not designed to work with OE tapered lugs. That's the reason for the hub rings. So your going to be buying new lugs as well. Your other option is to use ET style lugs for the aftermarket wheels, these help bring the wheel back to lug centric like the OE set up with tapered lugs. But don't expect the guy at Costco to know what they are. I would find a local tire wheel shop and go speak to them about getting them mounted.

 

[95XL883]

Thank you all for responding. After reading various experiences on the internet and thinking about this overnight, I am going to buy the rings. Whether needed or not, Costco is going to require them. Costco includes lifetime balancing, rotation and puncture repair with the tire purchase. I have used that multiple times on prior purchases with them and like having it. So I am either buying the rings and using Costco or going elsewhere and paying more money for different lug nuts, mounting the tires and future rotations and puncture repair. The policy maybe lame but it is cautious. In the meantime, I will probably carefully install the tires tonight and see how it rides until the rings come in.

As to the necessity of the rings, buried in the wheel installation instructions is verbage that stongly implies that rings are required. I am awaiting a response from Ultra Wheels. If they say the rings are required, what is lame that they don't clearly state that and the only reference is deep in the instructions.

From what I have read so far on the internet there is varying opinions about the rings. Some have HHR's experience not using the rings and not having a problem. Some had problems without the rings. I couldn't find anybody having a problem using the rings. Apparently it is a YMMV situation. For my situation, if I don't buy the rings, I will have to spend the money somewhere else for installation and different lug nuts. So I'm buying rings and realizing I should have talked to the installers rather than wheel sellers.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[adventure bob]

From a sanity perspective Id run a set of rings. I used to run tapered lugs on my jeep rims, but they always felt out of balance. I went to a custom wheel shop, not a big tire store, and they put a set of rings in and viola the vibe went away. Their put was that unless you center off the hub, you always have the possibility of being a little off. Add size to the tire and that gets magnified as road speed increases.

 

[downslope]

From a sanity perspective Id run a set of rings. I used to run tapered lugs on my jeep rims, but they always felt out of balance. I went to a custom wheel shop, not a big tire store, and they put a set of rings in and viola the vibe went away. Their put was that unless you center off the hub, you always have the possibility of being a little off. Add size to the tire and that gets magnified as road speed increases.

Also, if the wheel fits snuggly on the hub wouldn’t that also bear some of the vehicle load weight as well as keeping things centered? If the wheel center is larger than the hub then all the weight will be carried on the lugs alone.

Costco policies aside, if the truck was original with hub-centric I would want to keep it that way.

Thank you all for responding. After reading various experiences on the internet and thinking about this overnight, I am going to buy the rings. Whether needed or not, Costco is going to require them. Costco includes lifetime balancing, rotation and puncture repair with the tire purchase. I have used that multiple times on prior purchases with them and like having it. So I am either buying the rings and using Costco or going elsewhere and paying more money for different lug nuts, mounting the tires and future rotations and puncture repair. The policy maybe lame but it is cautious. In the meantime, I will probably carefully install the tires tonight and see how it rides until the rings come in.

As to the necessity of the rings, buried in the wheel installation instructions is verbage that stongly implies that rings are required. I am awaiting a response from Ultra Wheels. If they say the rings are required, what is lame that they don't clearly state that and the only reference is deep in the instructions.

From what I have read so far on the internet there is varying opinions about the rings. Some have HHR's experience not using the rings and not having a problem. Some had problems without the rings. I couldn't find anybody having a problem using the rings. Apparently it is a YMMV situation. For my situation, if I don't buy the rings, I will have to spend the money somewhere else for installation and different lug nuts. So I'm buying rings and realizing I should have talked to the installers rather than wheel sellers.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[HHR]

Also, if the wheel fits snuggly on the hub wouldn’t that also bear some of the vehicle load weight as well as keeping things centered? If the wheel center is larger than the hub then all the weight will be carried on the lugs alone. Costco policies aside, if the truck was original with hub-centric I would want to keep it that way.

The only time the lugs would ever carry any weight would be if the lugs were to loosen. The weight is carried by the wheel/hub mounting surface itself while the lugs maintain the clamping "friction."