Im looking into buying wheel spacers for my 2000 xterra. Can anyone explain the difference in hub centric v.s lug centric? I came across these synergy suspension wheel spacers that look pretty good. Does anyone have experience with these, or know a better brand to buy? any help would be appreciated.
Alright, first the difference between hub and lug centric...
Lug centric spacers are centered by the torque on the lugs while hub centric spacers are centered on the center bore of the wheel. Which one is better? I would say a "good" hub centric spacer is going to be better because the load on the hub is balanced on the center hub rather than on the actual lugs. The problem with lug centric is that as the wheels turn the torque shifts, and so something that is lug centric will actually move while it's in motion. Most aftermarket wheels are like this too, not just spacers. The problem is when you combine after market lug centric wheels with lug centric spacers you now have a torque shift taking place on top of a torque shift which can equate to some serious vibration.
Hub centric that fits the center bore properly will fit snugly on the hub ring and not allow any movement. This is better for the wear on components, but the problem is different cars have different sized hub rings. Stock wheels are designed to fit these hub rings fine, but how do you know if your spacers or aftermarket wheels are going to fit the hub ring the same way?
Really they don't... They're all designed to basically fit the largest hub ring so they can be "one size fits all" so to say. Now some companies do make hub rings specifically to fill in the gap between the hub ring on your car and the bore space of the hub/wheel, and that's probably the closest you're going to get without being really lucky.
When I installed spacers on my 240SX my big concern was strength and rigidity. I didn't want spacers that were going to be a cheap alloy and crack or break under stress. I went with H&M because their magnesium allow spacers looked to have the highest strength to weight ratio of the ones available for my car at the time.
I'm afraid I don't know anything about that brand. They've got a few good reviews though which is a good thing.
Without having a set in hand to try out it's a little difficult to compare. Basically what you'll want to make sure of is that when you fit a spacer on your hub that there is no play in the resting position of the spacer at all.
6061 is good material, and 4wheelparts generally stocks quality stuff. They do indeed make those sound good.
One quick thing before you dive in on them is that once you add spacers to your vehicle, tire stores will generally not want to touch your truck ever again. When you want a tire rotation, or to change out tires, you basically have to take the wheels off yourself and get them to the shop off the vehicle. Liability concerns that the stores don't want to deal with and all that.
A Buddy of mine runs them on all four corners of his Cherokee and really likes them.
But be aware of the 12x1.5 thread pitch. The stardard Nissan pitch is 12x1.25.
Those look very similar to the wheel adapters I was running before I bought new wheels. Hub Centric is alot better if you can find some.
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