Why hub centric rings?
 

I purchased a set of Wheel Vintique rally rims this past August, used from another site member. He stated that they may need balancing as he had not been able to get a shake out of the rims and tires.
I striped the weights off the rims and had them balanced, no run out issues with the rims or the tires. I mounted them up and there was the shake and vibration. I came back home and rotated the tires and noted the rims are not hub centric, searched this issue on the forum and saw most others just depended on the lug nuts to center the rim to the hub.
With winter here, I checked the tires again on the balancer and no issues no bent rims, no lost weights, so I measured the hub OD it's 65.1 MM and the Wheel Vintique Rally ID it's 67.1 MM
I searched E-Bay and located a set for $20.00 made from aircraft aluminum, and these cured the shutter and shake at 55 to 65 mph.
pic 1 I measured a set of spare Timken bearing hubs I have, they are 65.1 mm where the wheel sits and 67.1 mm where the brake rotor sits so the rotors are hub centric and in the last picture the rims are now also hub centric

I added these rings as I have had issues with aluminum wheels in the past and hub centric rings solved the issue of vibrations at highway speeds

So far I have not had any vibration but I'm going to do the same to mine. Great info thank you :thumb:

Interesting - I've used them with and without the rings and it made no difference at all.

When I bought my aftermarket wheels they sold me a set - saying they were necessary to center the wheels. When I got the car home, I pulled each wheel to detail them, and found the rings were made of plastic - PLASTIC!! I used them for one winter season, then left them off for subsequent seasons. No difference noted at all.

My thought is that if they solve a problem, the wheels themselves might be the problem with slightly miss-located holes for the studs. ???????

Had this issue on my former S-10, when I added American Racing Nitros. (non hub-centric)

Re-balanced many times @ local tire shop, finally then they sent me to a custom wheel shop that used a Hunter "Road Force Balancer"..

Smooth as glass after that, I won't get rubber mounted on ANY other balancer ever again..

As I stated , these worked for me in the past and these rings work for me now, I don't believe the stud holes are off center. I do see that the hub is off center in the 3 rd picture from the top and the hub is centered in the last picture with the rings.
I do not state that this is a cure all for any body else , just that the rings cured my issue with these Wheel Vintique rally rims.
Some of the companies offering ABS plastic rings were more money than these aluminum rings.
I checked with the shop that re-balanced the tires they only have Hunter Road Force balancers, so that shoots that down as a resolution, IMHO and experience.
I wanted to pass this along to anyone who has the same rims and possible issues.

Yup, good info there Oldblue. Interesting thread. :)

My guess is maybe the wheel vintiques had bolt holes just a little bit off, the centering rings corrected it. Improper installation in the past can also mess up the bolt holes. Many people have good luck with just the studs holding all the weight, but some don't. Better safe than sorry, the hubs are supposed to take the full weight of the car.

I agree the hubs take the weight not the studs, they are to clamp the wheel to the hub.
I inspected the bolt holes in the wheel they are not elongated but are a little larger than the stock 18 hole steelies, as you can see in the third and fifth pictures from the top.

Pic #3 seems to show an off center condition. Maybe a perspective thing. Correct tightening sequence and perhaps multi-stage torquing comes to mind as a difference.

I did try that Donbrew, lift the wheel and tire up to locate almost centre then tighten lugs with 3/4 inch socket in a five point star pattern and 1/2 drive ratchet then torqued to 50 ft/lbs ,then 75 then 100 ft/lbs, but still had the vibration, the hub looked centered in the wheel center hole, but I think it might have enough room to be out enough to cause vibration, anyway the rings did cure my issue!!