Do we need these for a '01 ES sedan? Or does it depend on the wheels?

 

You shouldn't need them for the factory wheels which are specifically designed for the car but they would probably be recommended for aftermarket wheels. I was told by the people at Discount Tire Direct that aftermarket wheels are designed to accomodate a variety of cars so the wheel may not match exactly even though the lug pattern is the same. They also said that some wheels are "Lug centering" but they still recommended the hubcentric rings. I'm not an expert but just passing info on that was given to me when I bought aftermarket wheels for another car. Good luck

 

While we're on the topic, what exactly is a hubcentric ring? Im assuming, from the looks of the prior conversation, that it is some sort of device which assures proper fitment of wheels. Thanks for any input.

 

hub rings are just these round plasticy rings that some tire places give you as part of the hardware to put on aftermarket wheels. I got some for mine and I dont know if I need to use them or not

But sounds like from LHBALESJR that I would need to. Thanks for the help!

 

I believe it depends on the wheels that you are buying. The product info should indicate if the wheel is hubcentric. If it is, then the vendor should sell you the hub rings to go with the wheels.

They're very easy to use really. When installing the new wheel, first put the hub ring onto the hub. What this does is "match" the smaller centerbore of your hub to the larger centerbore of your aftermarket wheels. This is necessary because those aftermarkets are made for use for a wide variety of cars, so you can think of the hub rings as application-specific "adaptors."

The purpose of the ring is to center the hubcentric wheel onto your hub. Without the ring, it's very difficult to tell if it is centered, even when you thread the lug nuts in. With the ring, it can only go in one way, ensuring that the wheel is centered on the hub. I also believe that once the wheel is correctly installed, the hub rings serve no purpose. (but you still need them of course)

So the bottom line is: for aftermarket wheels that are hubcentric and have a larger center bore, you should definitely use hub rings.

My friend bought a tire package from Discount Tire Direct that didn't include the rings and now he has to return them because he would experience vibration in the steering wheel from 50-70 mph, even though the wheels were properly balanced. Fortunately, DTD took the heat for it and is going to have his package remounted on a different set of rims for no extra labor or shipping charge.

Hope this helps.

-Drew

 

thanks for the info ounkny!

As it turned out, I didn't need the rings. Putting the rings on my aftermarket rims actually made them NOT fit :/

 

Really, that is weird. Where did you buy the rims from, and what kind of rims are they?

Have you had any problem with them, for example, when driving at highway speeds?

-Drew

 

They're Motegi FF6 17" that I got from a Discount Tire in Illinois. I had no problems driving on the highway. It has been a very smooth ride so far. Actually, the day after I put them on I took the car in for an alignment, and the mechanic didn't say anything were wrong with the wheels or that they need the hub rings except that the lug nuts were loose. But that was my fault