The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 8 lug rims - too big around hub

I replaced my 8 lug 16" rims with some 16.5" that I got from the boneyard. The lug pattern is right but, when I put 'em on today, they're loose around the hubs. Not by a lot but in comparison, the 16" fit nice and snug around the hubs and was nicely centered before putting lug nuts on.
I'm hoping the acorn lug nuts will center everything. Anyone dealt with this before?

mugsy,

I have 1 1/4 inch wheel spacers on the front hubs of my truck. The spacer is flat and wide enough that the rim does not touch the hub at any point. The only thing centering the rim is the lug nuts and the taper on them.

I hope you get other responses, but I think the lug nuts would be enough to center the wheel.

Anyone else running wheels centered on just the bolts and lug nuts?

Chevy, Fnord and Dodge have the same 8 lug bolt circle diameter. The hub diameter is different on each. If I remember correctly, the FNord has the largest, the Dodge a little smaller and the Chevy the smallest. That means Fnord will fit all three, Dodge on Chevy and Chevy on Chevy only.
Atermarket wheels have a larger hole to fit ALL and is called lug-centric. The factory wheels are made to fit the hub and are hub-centric. Much stronger but generally ignored by the aftermarket because the consumer price considerations.

My 51 1 Ton had split rims and the hub on the front was much smaller than the wheel. The back hub was much closer. I for one do not believe that the hub and rim center has any part in carrying the load or centering. However they do offer some support when putting the wheel on.

If your wheels have countersunk holes for beveled lug nuts than they do not need the wheel to fit tight on the hub.

If the wheel has no beveled holes than it has to fit tight on the hub.

It may be that some original wheels fit both ways?

As to the Chevy ford and dodge thing, I have used ford wheels on my Chevy just fine. Ford and Chevy wheels will not fit over all dodge hubs. So Dodge has the largest hole, and can't always use other wheels on a dodge, chevy and ford are smaller, in no perticular order.

The aftermarket wheels that I put on my truck has countersunk holes and they didn't fit tightly against the hub. The lug nuts hod the wheel in place and it works just fine. The stock wheels were the same way. As the lug nuts are tightened down, the wheel will center itself on the hub. Just my $0.02.

Drew

I work in a tire shop and see this quite a lot. Most aftermarket rims are made to fit mutiple vehicles and use a "concentric ring" to make them fit tight to hub. On smaller cars they are needed to prevent vibration. Trucks aren't as sensative to this, although some do use the rings. As long as the wheel centers up ok and you torque the nut to the spec,you will be fine.

Rock 'n' roll. Thanks everybody. I was a little worried but, feeling better now. I'm putting everything back together right now and hopefully will go for a drive on Tuesday or Wed. to check out the wheels.
-David