I was installing my wheel spacers last night and when I looked at the stock hub ring I noticed a black (plastic?) ring on the outside of the stock metal hub ring. This black ring was preventing the hubcentric ring from lying flat against the hub, and ultimately, the wheel flat against the hub spacer. I have tried to find pictures of stock hubs to see if this ring is something that comes OEM or something that someone has put on the hub down the line (bought the car used)

I black ring was on there tight as all hell, and I wasnt sure if it was able to be removed or not.

I ended up being able to tighten the wheel down to a point where it appeared visually flush against the spacer, however I noticed that when driving, there is visually some play in the wheel.

So basically I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered this before or have any idea how to remove this black plastic ring?

I know pictures would help, but i've misplaced my camera, hopefully I've been able to describe it effectively enough.

 

THe ring is designed to properly fit aftermarket wheels. I do not recall a ring with OEM wheels.

 

Jerk the brake rotor toward yourself and that will cause the hub ring to slide off a little. Then you can get a screwdriver, putty knife or something else behind it to work it off that way. They can fit tight, especially if rust has built up around them and the hub.

 

Yeah, just use a little flathead screwdriver to pry it off. OEM wheels do not need this ring. If you have aftermarket wheels, put the ring on the spacer before you mount your wheels.

 

excellent, thanks for the information. I do have aftermarket wheels, so this is probably why this is there. I'll try to see if I can work it off somehow.

good thing I came back to check this, I was about to dremel the hell out of it, lol.

 

I wouldnt be driving around like that - its a good way to ruin your bearings or worse, have 1 or more wheels separate from the car.
Both the spacer and the wheel are not making proper contact with the hub and rotor, and the plastic centering ring will deform adding more play.

Not a good thing to have your wheels wobbling around like that, especially at speed.

 

Since you have aftermarket wheels, you'll have to pull the hub rings off, install the spacers then use the hubrings on the spacers before you put the wheels on again.

 

yeah, this is what I ended up doing. Was instantly able to tell a difference when putting the wheels back on.

I ended up using a very small screwdriver and a rubber mallet to get the ring off the hub initially. worked like a charm.

thanks for the help all

 

thats fire dept. mentality..lol.. if it dont come loose..break it or cut it off...not a good thing when it comes to cars

 

lol, yeah, usually things are there for a reason. Good thing it didnt escalate to that point

 

Once you take the hub rings out, sand down hubs a little, so next time you'll be able to remove the rings more easily.

EDIT: Don't the wheel spacers already have hub centric rings?

 

If they are hubcentric spacers, they will be flush with the hub on the car, and would probably be centric to factory wheels, but since he is apparently using aftermarket wheels, they would not be hubcentric on the wheel side.

...or wheelcentric I guess might be the term.

 

yeah, the spacers came with the hub centric rings, which were metal, then there was the black plastic ring that was on the hub. davidv posted a picture of it. this ring goes around the hubcentric ring when using aftermarket wheels.

 

Ah, would have been no big deal - they're only 6 or 8 bucks to replace.

 

good lookin out, its too bad too, I was really looking forward to dremeling