Do you have wobbly aftermarket rims?

[jesteratc]

I figured id post this because i like posting when i work on cars. It makes me feel better about myself.

So getting into the reason you opened this Post.

I recently bought and painted these.


I love them, there bigger, wider, and have more grip then the stock festiva rims.

But there is a down side. Because the inside locating ring in the rim isn't very close to diameter of the wheel hub it means there is slop in mounting the rim, there is also slop in each of the lug bolt holes. Not to mention the thin walls of the bolt holes which makes it difficult to us anything but a deep 14m socket to loosen and tighten the rims.

So here's what i'm working on.

Below is a picture of the stock festiva hub showing the Dimension of the larger ring closes to the mounting flange.


Here is a picture of the Rim im trying to mount


This means there is .506" of slop in the center mounting ring. :nono:

I will be making this at work


Excuse the crude drawing, i drew it on my phone.

After i use this to mount the rim, i should be lined up center to center, then just put the lug bolts in and be good to go. Less chance of wobble = better driving experience.

I imagine ill use some bar stock steel lying around the shop. Ill keep this updated as i get further.




I know they make these, and normally sell them on higher end rims for there specified application. But i am cheap, and i have access to free stock and machines.

Thanks for reading.

Andrew

[25Horseplay]

They sell rings like that in various sizes. That will help.

[Festiva_Fred]

They are called "hub centric rings"

[jesteratc]

wow there cheap lol. Ill probably still end up making my own. But thanks for the Correct wording.

[navdoc101]

Put in studs & use regular nug nuts. Several how to's on this fourm, just do a search. Studs & lug nuts make it much easier to mount wheels imho.

[Bert]

Don't bother trying to re-invent the wheel. Do as 25Horseplay and Festiva_Fred suggest.
You may still want to adapt a long bolt, with the head cut off, and same threads as the wheel bolts, to use as an 'alignment dowel' in order to get the wheel bolts started. The reason I know about this stuff is I adapted VW rims a few years ago and had to get rings to take up the slack but it was always a bastard to get that first wheel bolt lined up and started. Now in your case you're gonna want to get fairly snug hub rings because the 'sloppy' holes you describe are not condusive to a smooth ride, nor provide any margin of safety.
Festys and Aspires use 'cone-seat' wheel bolts whereas numerous other cars use 'ball-seat' bolts. Well worth being aware of their existence and then checking to see what your aftermarket rims are set up for. VW/Audi and even current Kia are among the manufacturers that use the same metric thread pitch as Festys, bolts are long enough and happen to be 'ball-seat'. What ever you do don't buy these new; U-pulls are a great place to scavenge stuff like that, cheap.

[Flyin4stroke]

Do you have wobbly aftermarket rims?

I have converted to studs all around. It was the 2nd thing I did after the swap. If you are going to be taking your wheels on and off often with a bigger wheel you need to go to a stud. I have more than twice had lug bolts come out on me and almost loose a wheel. I had to use thread lock to keep the wheel tight on the drivers side. I don't trust 100 mph speeds with Locktite.

Also I have spacers so with the bigger wheels the original lugs it wouldnt work on the back anyway. I spin the wheel while putting it back on and that gets them pretty straight. The lug nuts are tapered so they spin till they are tight.

[rbrown]

Wouldn't putting all the bolts in and snugging down center the wheel? Especially if they are cone shaped?

[Flyin4stroke]

Do you have wobbly aftermarket rims?

Yes in theory. Everything works in theory.

[rbrown]

Yes in theory. Everything works in theory.

lol Yeah.

I've just never had a problem putting any type of wheel on any of my cars. And I have (and have had) a bunch of cars.
I guess when I start swapping on this little car I will see.

[jesteratc]

Just ordered these for my car.

Turns out we don't have any material that size at my work, and at this price i didn't mind paying for them.



The size isn't "Exactly what i measured" but in the end it should only be off by .002" Which i can smash to fit depending.

When i get them in the mail ill put them on as soon as i can; and update then.

[Safety Guy]

Be very careful with the plastic hub rings. I got a set for my Estrella wheels to mount onto Aspire hubs and if you don't get them exactly lined up they'll crack and break on you. I eventually just put on one of my Estrellas without a hub ring and it went on fine because when I put on the wheel, I only tightened the lug bolts a bit, then spun the tire around to each opposite side as I further tightened the bolts. If you're careful and do it that way it'll go on "lugcentric" and won't give you any problems.

The first time I put on my VW alloys after my first suspension swap I went and had steel hubrings custom made. They cost me just over $110!

Karl

[jesteratc]

Good to know, thanks for the advice

[jesteratc]

So ive had my hubcentric rings on for over a week now. Just wanted to give an update.

Up to 55mph they make all the difference in the world. I used to have a shaking thru the front of the car but now its gone completely.

Unfortunately there is still a wobble at 60 and up. It never really settles out either. up to 75 plus it still shakes. It could be many things. But ive got my new brake pads and rotors to install. Its possible one of those was out of balance. But i don't want to keep chasing problems down. Ill just drive it the way it is. I know that i was in an accident in one point in its life although the orig owner says it never was. It was hit on the right front corner.

Anywho. The hubcentric rings are fantastic.

[drddan]

Hubcentric's FTW!

But DO balance your tires! Most shaking/wobbly problems are from unbalanced tires, and from your description, it sounds out of balance.

Balancing your tires will make them wear better, and last longer. Not to mention, a smoother ride.