Lug Centric to Hub Centric spacers?

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Jul 31, 2006
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Colorado
I've searched to no avail.

I'm trying to run some later model 3 spoke 16x7 rims on my 1984 truck. I need spacers, but cannot find any that will transition from lug centric on the 84 to the new hub centric wheels.

It's clear that the lugnuts on the hub centric wheels do not perfectly center the wheel so I need a work around.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Adam
 
I have a 97 runner with try spoke wheels and I'm sure they are lug centric, they use a shouldered lug nut similar to the old style mag lugs nut a typical acorn lug nut. I have to run spacers for tire clearance on the upper control arm, I run just standard 1 inch trail gear spacers. Hope that helps.

Sent from my detachment from reality.
 
Do you need the spacers because of width or do you need them because of transition from one wheel type to another?

If it is for width, sadly I don't think you are going to find them. And the reason why is that Toyota hubs and such are almost all identical, so the variation in diameter 1.5" from the rotor face is fractions of an inch and cannot be machined. On the rear of a SF axle, such as our trucks, a spidertrax type spacer would work I think, but on the front and on FF rears they won't.

I have a set of late 90's triple doubles off a 4runner on my 1990 pickup and they are hub centric and bolted right on, centered right up on the hub.

I have read about people using a couple acorn style nuts to get the wheel centered on the spacer and then installing the shouldered lugs to torque it down and then replacing the acorns with shoulders to finish it out.

There are several threads about spacers over in the 80 section, just advance search for wheel spacer in the 80 series forum and you will find more info then you want to sort thru.

Edit: to clarify, the hub centric wheel is centered by the hub itself and the lug nuts just hold them on, more or less. Lug centric is the acorn style lugs to center the wheel on the lug nuts themselves. A Toyota Solid axle front hub body is around 100-102 mm and tapers only a mm or 2 as it comes away from the rotor face meaning that at 1.5" away it is most likely only down to 97-98 mm. That means that the ring to center the wheels at that point would be 1-2 mm thick and that type of tolerance on a mass produced piece is near impossible, not to mention that it would probably get damaged in shipping. That is why you don't see a true hub centric spacer for early models.
The rear SF has only the raised center so a spacer can be made to fit over that and also contain the correct lip for the hub centric wheel.
 
Last edited:
Jynx,

You are correct on all accounts. I spent way too much time noodling this one before coming to the same conclusion. My goals where cheap 16 inch wheels so I could run a 235/85/16 snow tire, but still have a decent stance.

I ended up ordering some Discount tire MB 72's and will call it good. As such, I have a set of 16 inch tri-spokes for sale locally.

I posted the same question over on Pirate and the best idea over there was to use some beer can shims to help center the wheel. A steel press-on ring would do the same as well. They can be machined thin, as I just put some steel piston liners in my Isuzu diesel engine that are at most 2mm thick. Press a centering ring over the SFA hub and you are done.


Adam
 
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