Lug centric tool to help center wheel

[posulli]

I recently installed a set of Wheel Vintiques 14 series wheels on my LJ and am getting a some vibrations from them. The new wheels and tires were road forced balanced so I don't believe the its balancing thats causing this. I just dropped the jeep off at edge 4x4 in Denver this morning to help solve a driveline vibration turned which out to be U joints and balancing (those guys are great by the way). They called out my wheel issue as being the lug centric wheels are not actually centered on the hub. I have read a bunch of threads about proper way to tighten the wheels which I will be doing tonight to see if that solves my issue. If not there doesn't appear to be any hub centric rings that fit my wheel bore (3.125") for the hub bore (71.5mm), and with the wheels being steel with a thin flange I don't know if I could use them anyway.

I am thinking about making a tool that is essentially a ring thats the same wheel bore OD (3.125") and Hub Bore ID (71.5mm) and just using that as a spacer to help me line up the wheels when mounting. You would remove the spacer when done installing the wheels. Am I over thinking this?

The Wheel vintiques accept a 60 conical lug nut and I believe that is what our factory lug nuts are which I am using...

 

[Steel City 06]

There are companies that will make custom hub rings. They can be left installed.
https://www.uswheeladapters.com/aluminum-hub-rings/https://www.motorsport-tech.com/hub_rings.htmlhttps://customwheelaccessories.com/hub-centric-rings/custom-made-hub-centric-rings

 

[Jerry Bransford]

All you need for lug-centric wheels to perfectly self-center are 1/2x13 tapered base lug nuts. I've never run anything but lug-centric aftermarket wheels.

 

[posulli]

Just ordered these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O06KF4/?tag=wranglerorg-20

They show up on Saturday, hoping to install them using this method from andy29847:

1. Jack car up and secure it with a jackstand (Safety First )
2. Loosen all lug nuts and either put on rim, rotate or whatever the hell you need to do.
3. Thread on all the lug nuts, but DO NOT tighten to where you can not move em.
4. Rotate the tire/rim until one of the 5 lugs is at the 12 o clock position.
5. Tighten lug nut with thumb and forefinger to the point that you can not do it anymore.
6. Rotate the tire clockwise, skipping one lug nut.
7. After skipping the one nut, put the 3rd nut in the 12 o clock position. Tighten this one the same as Step 5
8. Skip one more nut, and repeat Step 5. This last nut will be right next to the first one.
9. Let the truck down to where the tires barely touch the ground. Use a wrench and tighten all bolts with about 25% of your strength. Just enough to grab.
10. I then let the truck down all the way and torqued the bolts to 90.
11. Repeat all steps above for the rest of the truck and throw a couple of beers in there

 

[Lou]

Don't over think it. Just bring the lugs down evenly. Don't turn one till its tight and then move to the next. go around till they are all seated then torque them. It shouldn't take a couple beers to torque your wheels down.

 

[hosejockey61]

It shouldn't take a couple beers to torque your wheels down.

But it sure tastes good on a hot day!

 

[Lou]

But it sure tastes good on a hot day!

Yeah no kidding!

 

[pagrey]

My guess is that one of your steel wheels is just out of round or bent or wobbles. No matter how long you spend tightening a screwed up wheel it's still going to be screwed up.

 

[posulli]

Pagrey you might be right. I have never had this issue with any other after market wheel I have had. Also have never had to think this much about installing a wheel lol. I will try and reinstall and if I am still having issues take it back to the shop that road forced balanced the wheels. The thing that sucks is I painted these wheels myself so I don't know how the wheel company will handle that with returning a wheel...

 

[pagrey]

Never had problems myself but I've read about it a few times. I hope yours is an easy fix.

 

[Steel City 06]

Pagrey you might be right. I have never had this issue with any other after market wheel I have had. Also have never had to think this much about installing a wheel lol. I will try and reinstall and if I am still having issues take it back to the shop that road forced balanced the wheels. The thing that sucks is I painted these wheels myself so I don't know how the wheel company will handle that with returning a wheel...

Pop up all four wheels on jackstands and put in in 4WD. Let the wheels spin at idle or low RPM in a high gear and see if you can see any wobble. Make sure you remove any active balancers like the Centramatics first.

 

[jjvw]

Don't over think it. Just bring the lugs down evenly. Don't turn one till its tight and then move to the next. go around till they are all seated then torque them. It shouldn't take a couple beers to torque your wheels down.

Agreed. All I ever do is get the lugs snug in a star pattern, then I work my way around in the same star pattern 2-3 times until tight. I often don't even use a torque wrench.

 

[scottgraham]

I put hub-centric spacers on front on my Tacoma, shimmy. Take them off, no shimmy. Rotate them, re-install, shimmy.

 

[posulli]

Yea Edge 4x4 had it off the ground and running and they could see the wheels moving up and down. But they thought it was the wheel not being properly centered on the axle. I am taking it to where I got them road force balanced tomorrow to have them check the wheels. I will report back. Thanks everyone for the feedback. Like I said I have hand quite a few after market wheels in my life and have never dealt with this issue.

 

[posulli]

Took it back to the tire shop this morning. They re-balanced, went to drive it and it was sooooooooo much worse hahah. Took it immediately back. They said they didn't want to put weights on the outside of the wheels because they were painted, had them put weights on the outside. It now drives like its suppose to. That was a process but finally got it dialed.

 

[Goatman]

Odds of NEEDING hub-centric rims is low. But there are some vehicles that needed them to lose a vibe. 99% of the time it will be a balance issue. But then there is always that 1%....
Glad you got it straightened out. I can't help but wonder why if the new it needed weights to balance why didn't they alert you first, instead of just taking your cash a d bolting them on?