quote:Originally posted by 72red:
This second question is an important one isn't it, are all aftermarket wheels for the Pantera hub centric? This casts some doubt on my present wheel plans, I will go out and measure some to the best of my ability with the tools I have.
red,
Wheels can either be 'hub centric', or 'lug centric'.
Wheels that are hub centric will have the center hole on the rim fit fairly tight, or snug around the hub. Not tight as in hard to get on and off, but tight as in precision fit. The load of the wheel is then borne by the hub.
Lug centric wheels will have the center hole on the rim larger than the hub. When you put this type of wheel on the car, it will move around a bit until you put the lug nuts on. The lugs and nuts are what keep the wheel centered and bear the load of the wheel.
A hub centric wheel will move a tiny bit too until you put a lug nut on, but only in a cirlce as it is already centered by the hub. A lug centric wheel will move up and down and all about within the confines of the bolt hole as it has not yet been centered by at least two lug nuts.
Accobra and I measured up a spare front hub that he has and this is what we came up with:
The diameter is 2.43" at the base.
The length is 2.25" to the end of the dust cap.
This information is consistent with measurements I got from 2 Pantera vendors as well.
My Kinesis wheel's center hole is 2.46". They didn't 'stick' coming off, so I'm not exactly sure if this wheel would be considered hub, or lug centric. If the wheels center hole is too tight around the hub, it may go on easily, but once dirt gets between the two and the wheel expands and contracts at a different rate than the hub, the wheel can 'stick', or even sieze onto the hub and need to be beaten off.
All wheel manufacturers make their wheels differently. I would suspect that they would make their center holes oversized to work with the most applications possible. Even if they did know the hub size for your application, it would be better to err on the side of caution and make them just a bit larger, rather than a bit smaller (where they might not go on). I for one don't want to be beating my very expensive wheels off with a rubber mallet!
Michael