My 64 Wildcat wheels on my 64 Riviera are lug-centric. The mags I want to buy to replace them are also. I can't find anyone in my area that can balance them, or even knows what lug-centric means. If I buy a 1 or 2 inch thick hub-centric spacer, bolt it to the balancer machine, then bolt the wheel to that... would that allow them to balance the wheels and tires correctly? The idea is the spacer is balanced by the hub hole, and it in turn will balance the wheel by the lug holes. Good idea or dumb? Grasping at straws here, thoughts welcomed.
I don't think I've ever seen a lug-centric mounted wheel balancer anywhere. If it's a commercial mag wheel with modern machining, I can't imagine you'd have any issues in any case. Or with a vintage one for that matter. If you really want a lug-centric balance, find somebody who can do an on-car balance.
We never used to worry about that, and I still don't....I just balance wheels based off the hole in the middle. It's not perfect, but it's close enough, almost every time.
Lug-centric is the most accurate method of wheel mounting, so I would try to find a shop with a balance machine designed to provide this, vs using any additional adapters. The Hunter Road Force balancer is my choice, and used at our local Tire Rack. Hopefully you can find a shop with this or a similar machine within a reasonable distance.
There are adapters to use the lug holes to balance lug centric wheels. However I’m with Jim, we just balance off the center hole and have never had a problem Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Like squirrel said lug centric can be balanced through the Center hole with satisfactory results. Or find someone with these These have been around at least 15 years every shop I’ve ever worked at has them.
My Coates 1000 balancer has an adapter as you describe. I've never used it, don't know what lug pattern it accepts but I can take a look this morning and you can use it if it works for you. But like Squirrel said the center hole should be good enough.
That adaptor looks like a solution in search of a problem... Lug-centric wheels have been around since the '60s, long before these adaptors became available. From 'back in the day' I can only recall a few wheels that needed adaptors for mounting/balancing, but these were the early Ford 'wide five', the '60s Pontiac 8-lug, or the pre-'68 5-lug VWs; wheels that didn't have a 'center hub' at all. Everything else got treated the same, and I don't ever recall that being an issue. The OEMs like hub-centric where possible as it adds some additional strength/support to the wheel mounting on the vehicle. But the aftermarket ignored that almost from the beginning. With wheels like Uni-lugs or the newer 'multi-fit' wheels, the hub diameter had to be big enough to fit all the possible vehicles that wheel could be installed on. Even with specific bolt patterns, OEM changes in hub diameter were solved by machining the hub to the largest diameter; Ford used at least three different hub diameters on their 4.5-on-5 wheels from '49 through the early '70s, while Mopar used yet other hub sizes with the same pattern. I don't doubt that GM did the same. It would have been a logistical nightmare for the aftermarket wheel manufacturers to furnish hub-size-specific wheels for all the variations. They do make adaptors for at least some aftermarket wheels to make them 'hub centric' as I've seen them. Whether they make one for your Buick is hard to say. And truthfully, any wheel with enough difference in concentricity between the hub and the bolt pattern to make any visible difference in wheel runout when doing off-the-car balancing would make me extremely su****ious of the wheel quality. Much ado about nothing IMO...
It's fairly easy to improperly mount a wheel with a cone, even if the center is very solid and accurate, due to cone wear and faulty tightening. Some alloy wheels clearly state to only use lug-centric, one reason my company bought new Hunter balancers many years ago. So, why not just use the best method, regardless of the wheel, if the cost is the same? Win/Win IMO...
Johnny this statement rings true in everything we do. First shop I worked at had me look up torque specs for everything !!! Drove me nuts!! Lug nuts Valve covers Bellhousing bolts Seat bolts Everything for the first few weeks I worked there. One day I lost my **** and asked him why ? His answer was so I would k ow that most things to an insanely low amount of torque and “ Hamb *******” and twisting stuff down as tight as possible would cause more issues then it solves. Also a big thing when balancing wheels is making sure the hub and bolt flange is clean and the wheel is sitting flat against the balancer flange .
Here's a pic of the back of the buick road wheel. Oddly enough, the mags I want to get (kelsey hayes "stripper") looks exactly like that... an open web shape. I'm just being a stickler for perfection, looking to do it the best way.
There were lots of wheels like those in the '60s/'70s; besides the Buick, all the manufacturers offered similar 'styled' steel wheels (most of which were made by Motor Wheel) at some point. Even the aftermarket got into the mix; the Appliance stamped-steel 'Cragar' lookalikes were of that type. Not once did I ever hear the phrase 'lug centric' used in denoting any 'special' balancing requirements for them...
I had a camper with some aluminum wheels someone hogged out the centers to make them fit the camper hubs. The only way they could be balanced was lug centric. The owner of the tire shop went in the back room and found the never used correct adapter for his balancer. He then gathered all the employees around and used it for a teaching moment to show them how to lug centric balance a tire/wheel.
Something to remember as well. A full frame rwd vehicle does not transmit vibration the same as a unibody car. The suspension is isolated from the frame, the frame is isolated from the body and so on. Unless you are very finicky or the balance is way out you should not have an issue.
I've had a set of those all-steel Appliance "Crager lookalikes" on my Ranger for 30 years, and rarely had good tire balance until they were mounted lug-centric. I've heard the same results from several others with various brands of wheels, both OE and aftermarket. I used to have to specify lug-centric to a local tire shop after I retired, until I switched to Tire Rack. One big reason lug-centric was not popular in the past was the extra time involved preparing the mount for the wheel bolt circle. Just much faster throwing a cone in the center!. If you are happy with the cone, great! I'll stay with Road Force and lug-centric. I'll add that using the Road Force feature of the Hunter balancer allows more precise placement of the tire on the wheel, resulting in the least amount of balance weight and helps provide a better balance.
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