Whether hub centric spacers is good or bad depends on who you believe: A) hub centric spacers is essential to the performance and stability of your vehicle, or B) hub centric spacers is a scam created by manufacturers to charge the customer more money, lug centric spacers are enough for daily driving. The truth is that hub-centric spacers are a better option for reliability as well as safety.
Hub-centric spacers are designed to help wheels stay centered on the vehicle. They usually come with a hub-centric ring that fits over the hub flange on the axle and over the center bore of the wheel, filling up any possible gap between the two surfaces. Most originally equipped wheels are hub-centric. The center hole of these wheels is perfectly fitting the vehicle hub. Hub-centric wheels can be properly mounted and accurately balanced. But most aftermarket wheels are actually lug-centric, which means the center hole will be made larger to fit over a variety of different vehicles. Lugs can be bent under force and provoke vibration if you keep the wheels unbalanced for a long time. For this reason, we recommend the use of hub-centric spacers or hub-centric rings.
There are a couple of reasons to use hub-centric spacers:
There is a hole in the center of the wheel that fits closely with the circular metal ring on the hub to center the wheel on the axle of the spindle and bear the vertical weight of the vehicle. The wheel bolts or studs are simply used to fix the wheel to the hub and are only loaded in tension, where they are strong. If the bolts or studs were required to absorb vertical forces, they would withstand a single shear force, which is the weakest arrangement of any fastener. That is why most originally equipped wheels are hub-centric design – to avoid the bolts or studs bearing vertical forces.
If you get lug-centric wheels installed, make sure you have hub-centric spacers or hub-centric rings to fill the space between the wheels and hub assembly. Without hub-centric spacers, the wheel cannot be centered on the axle, leading to annoying wheel vibrations while driving. Although it is possible to center the lug-centric wheels by proper installation technique, the wheel will be off center without hub-centric spacers, especially, after passing a bumpy road. Hub-centric spacers improve ride quality by holding the wheel centered while it is torqued down.
Hopefully, this article helps you learn better about whether hub-centric spacers are good or bad for your setup. If you’re considering purchasing a set of hub centric spacers for your wheels, here are some buying tips from the BONOSS tech guys:
- In addition to transforming lug-centric wheels to hub-centric wheels, hub-centric spacers will push your wheels out to a certain distance.
- Forged 6061-T6 or 7075-T6 Aluminum spacers are better for race cars and off-roading vehicles that get harder driving.
- BONOSS multi-stage hub-centric wheel spacers fit your existing wheel hub perfectly, further reducing the chance of high-speed vibration.
- Measuring the inner diameter of the center bore on the wheel and the outer diameter of the hub flange on the vehicle before purchasing.
- Check the size of each hub flange (front and rear, left and right). For several reasons, the sizes may vary on the same vehicle.
- Follow the guide of included instructions when installing these parts. These hub-centric wheel spacers need to be installed securely. At the final installation step, a torque wrench should be used to torque the lug nuts or wheel bolts to the appropriate tension.
Thousands of hub-centric spacers are listed on the BONOSS store, check them now!
