OK so im not the sharpest tool in the shed But..

Ean Austral · 23rd April 2015, 07:17 AM

Gday All,

So the must be a dozen or so threads on this forum about fitting of L/R rims on trailers/caravans/campers, and in nearly all of them the issue of the centre diameter of the rim Vs hub diameter seems to raise its head.

So I would like to settle it in my very low capacity brain once and for all.

I purchased some steel rims for my D3, the first noticeable difference between the originals and the steel rims is that the centre of the steel rim must be 20mm bigger than the alloy OEM rim, which my simple brain tells me that these are not going to be centred by the hub, they are going to be centred by the 5 x 14mm studs.

I have a camper trailer that has Toyota stud pattern, which would be lucky to be 12mm studs x 6 , it has steel rims, the centre hole of the rim sits no where near the hub diameter which means that the rim is centered by the studs.

My issue is I continually read that rims don't suit/wont fit/are illegal because they don't centre on the hub, and there is even talk of spigot rings to make it centre on the hub.

Please school my simple brain on which is correct , as technically my camper trailer rolled off the production line as an illegal trailer, and I have bought 5 rims that will also be illegal for the above reason.

OH my brain hurts just typing the thread.

Cheers Ean

**Rurover** · 23rd April 2015, 07:32 AM

Ean,

I agree. If the studs are not centering the rim on the hub, then there's something wrong with the design or manufacture of the rim!
On my daughters old VW beetle, the centre of the rim was nowhere near the hub.... It just bolted on the flat face of the brake drum.

Where a close match between the rim and hub IS useful is when you have to lift the heavy rim onto the hub. Makes it much easier to align the stud holes if you can just rest the rim on the hub and rotate it a bit to insert the studs.

So it's a convenience thing more than an engineering requirement IMHO.

Alan

**d2dave** · 23rd April 2015, 08:12 AM

Here is a quote from NSW's RTA.

Additional requirements for replacement wheels
When wheels and tyres outside the manufacturers recommended range are fitted to a vehicle the following
requirements must be met:
?
The wheel rim width must not be less than the minimum width fitted by the vehicle manufacturer for the
particular model.
?
The wheel and tyre must be contained within the body work or mudguards (including any flares) when the
wheels are in the straight ahead position.
?
The wheel and tyre must not foul any part of the body or suspension under all operating conditions.
?
All wheels and tyres fitted to an axle must be of the same carcass construction, diameter, offset, width and
mounting configuration (except for spare wheels used in an emergency situation).
?
The wheel must not prevent the wheel nuts from fully engaging their studs.
?
The wheel rim must not have a circumferential weld other than that which attaches the rim to the wheel
centre.
?
The wheel must be one designed for the particular hub/axle in respect to bolt pitch circle diameter and
wheel nut tapers. Wheels with slotted stud holes are not permitted.
?
Speedometer accuracy must be maintained for the selected tyre and rim combination.
?
The fitment of wheel spacers (or adaptors for dual wheel conversions) between the wheel mounting face
and the road wheel is not permitted unless fitted as original equipment by the vehicle manufacturer

As for old VW wheels, they definitely had no centering by the hub.

**Redback** · 23rd April 2015, 09:53 AM

Steel rims don't need to be hub centered, only alloy rims, been through this myself after I tried to fit the D3 alloys to my camper, centre hole is too small as they taper from back to the front of the rim,
So went with steel rims, they can be used as an emergency spare on the tow vehicle to get you out of trouble though, which I nearly had to do a couple of weekends ago, you can use D2 or P38a alloy rims on the trailer if you have the 120 x 5 PCD hubs, I had them on the camper for 4yrs without an issue when we had the D2.

Steel rims now on the camper

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