Non-located wheels - safe?

I thik we just had a big argument recently over this. Studs are like all bolts, they are essentially big fat springs that hold the wheel on the hub with tremendous force. They do not take shear force and are not intended to do so. Instead, the weight of the car is actually being borne by the friction of the wheel to the hub. So, the upshot is that if the wheel is centered and the torque on all studs is correct, the hub takes no shear force at all, thus the forces on the wheel to hub are the same from a hubbed wheel as a non-hubbed wheel.

However, where all bets are off is this is only true as long as the studs are holding. If the nuts aren't torqued properly and loosen, the studs suddenly start taking shear force.

While this is a matter of taste, I personally think aftermarket wheels are a dumb idea. For starters they almost always require a much more expensive tire than stock wheels. Secondly, the wheel companies change designs every year, and they do this for a reason. They do it because if you run over a pothole, and the wheel bends or cracks, you can no longer buy 1 single wheel that matches the other 3. So unless you want the car to look really cornball, damage to a single wheel means you have to toss all of them and get a new set.

Ted

Umm... you have aftermarket wheels that are *heavier* than stock wheels? What's the point?

In any case, most decent aftermarket wheels you can get hubcentric rings for them to fit most common hubs.

nate

In my opinion, this is not a safe situation for road use. If it's off-road and you are willing to take the definite risk of the wheel coming off, that's on you.

There are two basic types of wheels, stud piloted and hub piloted and both are perfectly safe if they are quality items. The hub piloted wheels are the norm on heavier vehicles and stud piloted are common on lighter vehicles.

The cone seat on the lug nuts should properly center the stud piloted wheel as you tighten them. Wiggling the wheel as you hand tighten the lugs initially should help it center.

Pete C.

You may want to rethink this, I own 4 cars and 2 trucks that the wheels are located by the lugs, and not the hubs, from the factory...

SteveL

This is true, if you look at the rear hubs of a Porsche 914/4 there actually is no "hub" for the wheels to center on.

Of course, those rear wheels are notorious for going slightly off center and causing weird vibrations if you don't follow proper procedure for mounting/torquing...

nate

Or, consider the earlier Porsche 356 and similar VW that had an 8" or so bolt circle without a centering hub.

sure, if we want to take the thread that direction.... there's also the "wide five" racing wheels, or the old Pontiac "8 lug" wheels...

nate

Have centering rings made.. A simple task for anyone with a metal lathe and some aluminum pipe/bar stock.. Go for a tight fit in the wheels, and stick them in with loctite. =20

I had aftermarket wheels on my 82 Toyota Supra that didn't center.=20 I had to have them balanced on-car, and if I removed a wheel for any reason, it had to be rebalanced. Even then, a hard bump would knock them off center again, sending me off for another $25 single wheel balancing job.. Never had any problem with studs coming loose or breaking though.,

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Tell it to a truck group. This is autos.

I want the benefit of wider low-profile tyres, which means i need a bigger wheel (stock was 15"x6, I have 17"x7 now). Of course I'd rather they were lighter as well :)

Thanks, I'll look into that.