Rota Grid V rims wont fit front hubs!

[tymarbry]

Just got some Rota Grid V (15x8") and I tried to test fit just one rim to the car.

well i tried the fronts first and the rim wont sit flush to the mounting pad because the front hub is tapered I guess and may be to large at its base.

I did some research and the front bores are like 73mm and the Rota's are 73.1mm a close fit. but it should fit.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do or if anyone has had problems similar to this?

I was thinking of sanding the crap out of the bore to snug it up.

Link to the wheels i got->

http://www.ebay.com/itm/15X8-ROTA-GRID-V-WHEELS-4X114-3-RIM-0MM-SPORT-BRONZE-/370492344422?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item5643108866

Thankyou!!

[beermanpete]

First, make sure the hub is very clean and free from burrs, dents, and other irregularities. With a close fit burrs, dirt, or anything else that make the hub larger will cause interference.

If the wheel is actually too small you can use a thin wheel spacers to place the wheel out a little bit, over the tapered portion of the hub. This will need to be checked against the clearance with the fender to make sure you don't end up with a problem there.

Another option is to make the bore in the wheel larger, as you already said. If you do this a file will remove material faster than sand paper. You might be able to make a chamfer rather than open the entire bore. This will minimize the chance of seeing the missing finish from the wheel after it is installed.

[ktm]

well i tried the fronts first and the rim wont sit flush to the mounting pad because the front hub is tapered I guess and may be to large at its base.

Another option is to make the bore in the wheel larger, as you already said. If you do this a file will remove material faster than sand paper. You might be able to make a chamfer rather than open the entire bore. This will minimize the chance of seeing the missing finish from the wheel after it is installed.

My Rota Grid Offroads had the same issue. It is the small beveled edge at the base of the hub that is the problem. beermanpete describes what was done to my front wheels (I bought them from a member at Hybridz that already modified them): chamfer the inside of the bore to accomodate the beveled base. You'll have to do this to all 4 wheels if you want to rotate them in the future. Another option is to run a very small spacer (3 mm or so).

[tymarbry]

Thats exactly the problem I was having. Towards the base of the front hubs is this oval shape not really circular and the rim almost sits but wobbles from side to side. I think what im going to do is either grab different hubs/mounting pads or just grind the hub down. dont really want to mess with the wheel because i dont want any ballancing issues or blemishes.

Ill try and report back my progress in case anyone else has similar problems. thanks all

[beermanpete]

Thats exactly the problem I was having. Towards the base of the front hubs is this oval shape not really circular and the rim almost sits but wobbles from side to side. I think what im going to do is either grab different hubs/mounting pads or just grind the hub down. dont really want to mess with the wheel because i dont want any ballancing issues or blemishes.

Ill try and report back my progress in case anyone else has similar problems. thanks all

It might be better to remove the material from the wheel. The wheel is not stressed at the point you would remove material from it. The hub, however, is stressed at the point you will need to remove material from to make the wheels fit.

The balance is not likely to be a problem since it is so close to the center. If you remove a lot of material unevenly and upset the balance it will be easier to deal with if it is on the wheel. Having the wheel/tire balanced is easy and routine. Having the hub balanced is not routine and likely more expensive (but only needs to be done once).

[tymarbry]

Why would the hub be stressed though? I dont really get it. The hub's cast seems to be very large and has excess material. Would it really cause that much of problem to shave it down?

[beermanpete]

Why would the hub be stressed though? I dont really get it. The hub's cast seems to be very large and has excess material. Would it really cause that much of problem to shave it down?

Stress in the hub is normal and is generated from the weight of the car, braking forces, and corning forces. The corner radius where the wheel mounting plane (vertical) meets the wheel pilot (horizontal) is where the cornering load induced stress will be the highest.

There is a large saftey margin in most passenger car designs so it is reasonalbe to assume a small amout of material could be removed without decreasing the saftey margin to a dangerous level.

I suppose it really comes down to the resources available. If you have access to a machine shop turning the hubs down is easy and could be done nicely. If you are going to do it by hand with a file or die grinder (Dremel) it will be easier to chamfer the back side of the wheel and get a decent looking finish.

[tymarbry]

true enough, thanks

[cozye]

The hubs on the 280 are a bit thicker on the taper. I had the same issue with konig wheels and msa swears they should fit. I did my own research and dug up some discussion for grinding a little off the hubs. This is what I did. If I where to grind off the taper on the inside of the wheel, the center caps would not fit. The amount needed to grind off the hub was very small and I'm sure it's fine. Took 15 minutes.

[John Coffey]

Stress in the hub is normal and is generated from the weight of the car, braking forces, and corning forces. The corner radius where the wheel mounting plane (vertical) meets the wheel pilot (horizontal) is where the cornering load induced stress will be the highest.

I have never, ever seen a hub fail at the center. Not from curb impacts, not from lateral overload, not from stress risers and resulting fatigue failures. The failed hubs I've seen bend/fracture from the wheel stud hole out to the edge of the flange. That's on 240Z, 280Z, 350Z, BMW E36, and Porsche 944 hubs.

On a 240Z front hub the material at the flange is at its thickest at the hub center.

Has anyone else seen a failure from the hub center (honest question, not being sarcastic).

Edited November 12, 2011 by John Coffey

[roflwaffle]

FWIW, I had the same problem.

I bought 3mm spacers, but ended up with rubbing issues against my MSA type2 bumper.

my dust caps are pretty giant on my 280z. I looked for other options, and theres a set on fleabay that looks like a different design and even lower profile, I'm curious if that will work (or if they'll even fit.. or maybe they're same size, but they just look shorter in the photo).

annoying thing is, once you go the spacer route, or grinding down the wheel or dust cap, the wheel caps still wont fit

[ZeeNoEvil]

A small chamfer could be machined into the wheel using a router and a carbide chamfer tool with ball bearing guide taking a little at a time. I had a slight problem with the dust caps on my car. and found I could crush it almost a quarter inch. I used a short piece of exhaust tube to support the cap. It dimpled the cap inward after which I flattened back out with a hammer. This was on a '77 280.