After some hard laps at Pocono yesterday my front brakes became extremely hot – no big deal. However, the small plastic centering rings used on my Kosi K-1’s melted onto the rim. What a mess! Has anyone ever had this same problem? Or, do you have any solutions? Like a METAL centering ring? TIA.

this is quite common on most cars. other than them flying off, that is another reason why people make you take them off when you go out and run. i know a friend with an nsx that had the same problem.

Ryan--

He's talking about hub centering rings. Not about center caps.

I think. :)

How could they fly off? Were you thinking about the center caps? I was talking about the plastic ring that sits on the "hat" of the brake rotor to increase it's diameter so the rim can sit on it properly. I don't think it's a good idea to remove it before racing.

Originally posted by SERprise In WV
Ryan--

He's talking about hub centering rings. Not about center caps.

I think. :)

nope, your right, those suckers melted away to nothing. I think he needs bigger brakes and some bigger than 15s on a classic, we all know 15s are WAY to small for a classic....especially one with 11" brakes!!!!

shucks. my bad. guess i should read the whole thing next time, ehh? ;)

I called The Tire Rack today and they said that other people have had the same problem. They also had aluminum ones but those tended to fuse to the hub. Their solution to my problem is to send me red centering rings (vs my current melted black ones). The red rings are made for higher temps. They cost me $5.00 each and I got them to throw in some free shipping! I hope these work.

Do you even need them?

I thought most of the wheels are lug nut centric (where the lugnuts are tappered on the inside), and they are centered on the hub by the lug nuts.

Am I wrong with the Kosi K-1s? Are they really hub centric?

Aaron

ok heres another question about the k1's i bought a set off of tire rack a whie back and i didnt even think about asking when i ordered thm, but i saw in one of their ads that you could get optional centers for them on some applications, is their one that will fit the se-r's ??

Originally posted by luminus
Do you even need them?

I thought most of the wheels are lug nut centric (where the lugnuts are tappered on the inside), and they are centered on the hub by the lug nuts.

Am I wrong with the Kosi K-1s? Are they really hub centric?

Aaron

All the Nissans to my knowledge are hubcentric. You can just not worry about the hubcentric piece and try to mount the wheel very carefully. You will know when you drive if they are centered. If they are off just redo to wheel that is off. The Key is to tighten the wheel a little at a time in the air. You need the lugs tight before you put alot of weight on the car.

Steve

Originally posted by 98sr20de


All the Nissans to my knowledge are hubcentric. You can just not worry about the hubcentric piece and try to mount the wheel very carefully. You will know when you drive if they are centered. If they are off just redo to wheel that is off. The Key is to tighten the wheel a little at a time in the air. You need the lugs tight before you put alot of weight on the car.

Steve

Well, it ultimately depends on the wheel, right? I have an old set of Boyds wheels on my car (91 sentra se-r), and they are certainly not hub centric, and there is no ring to center the wheel. The lug nuts do this because they are tapered and the stud holes on the wheel are tapered to match. So the lugnuts center the wheels. The stock 14" wheels are the exact same way.

Aaron

Oh yes, you definitely need them if you have the Kosei K1's. I didn't realize what they were for when I first got my Kosei's, so I put the wheels on without them. I was wondering why random lug nuts would literally lock in place and not come completely off when I tried to remove the new wheels to have them re-balanced (the stud threads were some how becoming crushed inside the lug nuts after driving the car). The only way to get the lug nuts off was to apply an extreme amount of force and snap the wheel studs. About 4 or 5 different wheel stud replacements later, I finally realized that the round plastic things were centering rings. I installed the wheels PROPERLY with the centering rings and I haven't had a problem with the lug nuts ever since (it's been over a year).

Originally posted by luminus
Do you even need them?

I thought most of the wheels are lug nut centric (where the lugnuts are tappered on the inside), and they are centered on the hub by the lug nuts.

Am I wrong with the Kosi K-1s? Are they really hub centric?

Aaron

Good to know, thanks! (I might end up with a new set of racing wheels sometime, those stock 14" ones are heavy!)

Aaron

Originally posted by Chris93SER
Oh yes, you definitely need them if you have the Kosei K1's.

No problem. :) I don't want anyone to have to go through the hassle I went through with the broken wheel studs. It was a huge PIA.

Originally posted by luminus
Good to know, thanks! (I might end up with a new set of racing wheels sometime, those stock 14" ones are heavy!)

Aaron