Hub centric versus lug centric
- Thread starter Eddie Greenlee
- Start date
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Wombat
TJ Enthusiast
All too often for a multitude of reasons wheel nuts come loose and that's when you are glad that you went to the trubble of fitting rings, you are less likely to damage the studs.
Sidenote: you can detect loose wheel nuts as it's happening, on the gas = no vibration, back off = vibration. If you ever detect that behavior pullover and check your nut's lol
Not in Australia, all OEM wheels are hub centric
Wombat
TJ Enthusiast
Haven’t seen this before…
lub/hug centric?
There could possibly be an issue or 2 here but I admire the get ‘er done attitude
Nearly every aftermarket wheel made, especially for our Wranglers, is lug centric. Does that tell anyone anything about whether hub centric is all that important or have a significant benefit over hub centric?
Yeti08
Member
Ive had a weird problem with my jeep, i wondered about hub centric wheels.
The lug wrench or a socket on a bar Rubs on the rim when trying to tighten the lugnuts. To the point of it being hard to get them to all tighten with the wheel off the ground before the final torque on the ground.
The lug wrench or a socket on a bar Rubs on the rim when trying to tighten the lugnuts. To the point of it being hard to get them to all tighten with the wheel off the ground before the final torque on the ground.
If you own a toyota product in a nut shell if the wheels are not balanced using something like the Haweka hub centric adapter you will never get them balanced correctly as toyoya factory wheel/axles are built to be hub centric. Id imagine others may be in the same boat with factory wheels. That being said I guess 99% fof all aftermarket wheels are made with large enough center hole to fit any vehicle application with its given lug pattern and you'll not always find wheels for any jeep that allow the center hole to be an interference fit over the axle to dub them "hub centric". Id say if the center hole is exact making a wheel hub centric for balancing or axle centering and then the lugs are not 100% spot on you need to stop buying shit wheels from china that likley also have half the load rating as factory ones. Just saying case nobody ever looks at anything but bling factor.
Been looking at these if I decide to go with 12.5" wide tires. Seems fairly inexpensive for a decent wheel, and they're hub centric.
https://www.extremeterrain.com/mammoth-boulder-charcoal-15-8-J100612.html
Never really paid attention when messing with them, but I think the factory wheels I have (ravines) are hub centric.
https://www.extremeterrain.com/mammoth-boulder-charcoal-15-8-J100612.html
Never really paid attention when messing with them, but I think the factory wheels I have (ravines) are hub centric.
I've had a few vehicles that were/are hub centric. You can, and I have many times, rolled the rig with one lug and you don't sweat it. I've driven on two. It's better in every way, don't drink the "it isn't important" cool-aid. Hub centric is better, it's just more expensive and aftermarket wheel companies really don't like machining different size holes. Sure you don't need it but giving it up is no plus in my book. When everything is working perfect and your lugs are torqued obviously it makes no difference, when things go wrong it matters.
>50 years of driving with lots of aftermarket lug centric wheels and never a problem with them. If you can't be conscientious enough to make sure the lug nuts are installed safely you aren't conscientious enough to be driving.
And if lug centric wheels caused safety issues the DOT would have disapproved their use years ago.
Claims of legitimate safety issues with lug centric wheels are pure bullshit.
They are fine, I think I said pretty clearly they are perfectly fine but that isn't the same as saying hub centric doesn't have advantages. You can't simply wave away running wheels with one or two lugs by saying you're fine for 50 years. It's a real thing, a real advantage that anybody can test in a few seconds. I can easily roll my rig with four nuts total and if you aren't hub centric you can't without some drama. When things aren't working like they should hub centric is better, did I say that, I think I did.
also, just a quick walk around looking for streaking on the wheels, sometimes outside easy to see… other times can be seen on the rotor hats and usually thought to be bearing grease…
Vtx531
TJ Addict
OEM wheels are nearly all hub centric because it's the best way to get the wheel precisely centered on the bearing axis for the smoothest ride.
It's not really about the guy who is bolting the wheel onto the hub, it's about the realities of manufacturing. There is a higher chance for tolerance issues and runout with lug centric.
Compare the precise alignment of two lathed center holes (one being the hub, one being the wheel) vs. 10 offcenter holes that are either drilled or stamped (five on the wheel and five on the hub) + five pressed in wheel studs (of which the studs have their own tolerances and them being pressed in adds another layer).
It is easy to see which method would give the most consistent and precise results.
Aftermarket wheels have oversize center bore to fit a variety of different vehicles as said in the post above. No doubt that is a compromise when going to aftermarket wheels.
It's not really about the guy who is bolting the wheel onto the hub, it's about the realities of manufacturing. There is a higher chance for tolerance issues and runout with lug centric.
Compare the precise alignment of two lathed center holes (one being the hub, one being the wheel) vs. 10 offcenter holes that are either drilled or stamped (five on the wheel and five on the hub) + five pressed in wheel studs (of which the studs have their own tolerances and them being pressed in adds another layer).
It is easy to see which method would give the most consistent and precise results.
Aftermarket wheels have oversize center bore to fit a variety of different vehicles as said in the post above. No doubt that is a compromise when going to aftermarket wheels.