So i am installing my new rims and tires tonight and the back 2 went off without a hitch but when i got to the front to the middle piece for my new rims popped out because of a silver piece coming out of the hub. i tried unscrewing it unsuccessfully i was wondering if someone could tell me what is under the cap and if it is removable because if not i am going to have to paint it black to match the rims and i would like to avoid that if possible considering how much i just spent on these.

 

99 times out of 100 there's a castle nut under there that holds the hub to the spindle. It also covers the bearing to stop dirt from getting into the grease. You could just hammer a dent into it so your new wheel caps will fit properly. Definitely wouldn't suggest leaving it off.

 

And just to clarify, chuk means to hammer a dent in the silver cap on the hub, not the center caps to your new wheels lol

 

Lol the only thing is I don't think hammering it in would give me enough space. It protrudes pretty far out wouldn't the cap for the center of the rim do the same job protecting from debris that the current silver piece is doing now or no?

 

No, the cap is a "seal" to prevent dirt/dust/contaminants from entering the wheel bearing. You could use a wheel spacer to push the wheel out more but then the tire will stick out of the wheel well some. The best way is to change the wheel to one with a different backset with a spacer.

 

I would suggest going to the auto parts store and see if you can find a dust cover in a lower profile. BTW, is that an SRT-6 wheel on your C32??

 

You could try 10mm hubcentric spacers on the front.

 

Its an srt not an slk lol but yea im gonna get some 10mm from rob. The clearance off of the bolt from the suspension was too close for comfort anyways. Now I have another question when I pulled it out of my garage this morning there was some rubbing. Im assuming it is the rear lugs on the parking brake but when you guys ground yours down how did you make sure the thread wasn't mangled so it could still feed back into the hole?

 

Use a cut off wheel and just make ur cut as straight as possible. It will mess with u visually into thinking u are cutting crooked cuz of the threads. In relation to the threads, if it looks like ur cutting crooked that means ur actually cutting straight lol. Cuttinf a straight edge will ensure that the lead off thread will find its way into the hole. I have 15mm spacers in the rear and purchase 55mm extended lugs to go with them. When i put my drag radials on with the early 90's mercedes rims, the lugs were hitting something in rotation. Ended up having to cut them down to 50mm in length. So yea it all depends on the offset of each wheel. It seems as though the rule of thumb (for srt6 oem wheels) that 10mm spacers require 50mm lugs, and 15mm spacers require 55mm lugs. But like i said different rims have different offsets so ur gonna have to do the math. Sorry if that was confusing.

 

It ain't rocket science.
Any thread extending past the hub is extra, cut it off so that when the bolts are tight, they are even with the rear of the hub.
If the thread doesn't reach the rear of the hub, the bolt is not long enough.

( I KNOW that was easy to say, not so easy to measure )

 

My experience.. With too long of lugs on the rear you will get a "click-click" as each stud rotates around hitting the brakes. There was no "rub" sound. I put mine in a vise and used a grinder to remove about 1/4 inch and then ground the ends at about a 45 deg. taper.

 

The click click is exactly how I would describe it. At first I thought it was just my new tires sticking to the ground but as I went faster realized there was no way unless I had snow tires on

 

Just under 3/4" protrusion from the wheels mounting face allowed mine to clear. I think 5/8" is the dimension on protrusion with OEM wheel and lugs.

 

Alright sweet I'll take a look when I get home hopefully all goes well

 

Had the same noise when I installed the 20" rims...problem...lugs too long...Carl

 

So I got my spacers overnighted by Rob(thanks again) and installed them and no more grinding. Where do you guys see how much is sticking out the back I looked and felt around and didn't see anything

 

You can't on the rears.. and probably real tricky to on the fronts. I was talking about the mounting face on the wheel.. how far the stud/lug pokes through.

 

Yea that's what I meant sorry I should have specified. I couldn't see or feel how far the lugs came out the back of the mounting surface

 

I think we're on two different pages here.. with the wheel removed from the car.. slide a lug through the wheel lug hole and measure what sticks out the back. Just under 3/4" protruding should just clear the brakes.

 

It can be tricky getting the correct size bolts but they are made in many configurations. I have 21 mm spacers on back, so finding bolts was tough but I found them. On the front I have 12 mm spacers and ended up needing to rig up some two piece bolts, probably the only ones on a Crossfire.