what are "hubcentric" wheel spacers?

jayfrigginjones · August 22nd, 2007, 13:33

for pete's sake. $80 for a set of 10mm hubcentric wheel spacers; what's the difference between these and the ones you can get from PepBoys for $20?

DPM · August 22nd, 2007, 13:47

The hubcentric spigot and recess that have to be machined for the particular hole sze?

VwPodRacer · August 22nd, 2007, 14:18

hubcentric wheel spacers are proper spacers that were machined for your hub on your car.... which you rim normally is seated on.... when you upgrade to different rims that are not OEM you normally have to by hubcentris rings to go into the wheels hubs to center the wheels on the cars hubs.... so hubcentric wheel spacers are machined to be centered correctly on the vehicles hubs... if you dont buy proper hubcentric rings or dont use centric rings when you upgrade your wheels or put spacers in you normally while throw out wheel bearings and ball joints alot faster due to the play that is now aloud in the wheels due to not being properly seated on the hubs

jayfrigginjones · August 22nd, 2007, 14:41

Seems like the wheel studs would align everything correctly...

VwPodRacer · August 22nd, 2007, 15:07

vw doesnt use wheel studs they use bolts.... and even when the bolts are in there and seated on the seats for the bolts in the rim the wheels still move up and down a bit... even if you dont see it... it is still there and that is what the centric rings stop

jayfrigginjones · August 22nd, 2007, 15:23

Makes since. At $80/pair, maybe i should get into the wheel spacer business!

thermopylaetech · August 22nd, 2007, 16:56

Wow thats a pounding. The set I got from the tire rack for the BMW's snow rims were all of 15 for the set. Granted they were precession plastic and not machine billet but I only needed to take up a few mm.

Who is it thats trying to take you out for a walk on this one?

codeblue · August 22nd, 2007, 18:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayfrigginjones

for pete's sake. $80 for a set of 10mm hubcentric wheel spacers; what's the difference between these and the ones you can get from PepBoys for $20?

I think you are getting confused with "Spacers" and "Hubcentric rings"

Spacers are for spacing your wheels out for a flush look in the wheel well. They are usually CNC machined and thats why they cost more. Think of it as another way of lowering offset. $80 is not a bad price for that.

Hubcentric rings don't space out your wheels. They are just for centering the wheel on the hub for your wheel bolts. And those are the ones that are $20 at pepboys. They are just plastic rings.

jayfrigginjones · August 23rd, 2007, 11:42

This is from the H&Rsprings website:

Quote:

TRAK+ wheel spacers are made from a proprietary aluminum/magnesium alloy which is not only incredibly strong, but also very light weight (up to 70% lighter than a comparable steel product). TRAK+ wheel spacers are then hard anodized to ensure a tough, durable finish that is resistant to chipping, scratching and oxidation. Hub centric for the highest level of accuracy, TRAK+ wheel spacers are 100% made in Germany under ISO 9001 Quality Assurance standards, and meet the rigid safety criteria of the German TÜV.

and here is the 10mm hubcentric spacers (2). Edit: The spacer in the photo looks thicker than 1cm....

thermopylaetech · August 23rd, 2007, 16:26

Yeah the spacers should be hubcentric as well but there is a big difference between what we're talking about. A hub spacer or "giant shim" is designed to carry all the torsional and axial loads that the hub normaly would but becasue it is located further way from the intended moment of inertia, the forces are much higher and as such the spacer often times must be able to handle these better than the stock hub. Making them from aluminum or some various alloy is so they have low rotational mass.

Personaly I don't like them becasue far too many of them are pure crap and can lead to bad trouble but a select few are highly well made. The TUV cert is an important thing.