So I ordered a set of wheels and tires, niche targa m130's, 19" x 8.5" +35 offset. I mounted the wheels with the included hub centric rings and lug nuts, everything seemed fine. However, after a little driving i noticed the front end felt loose, almost like there was play in the steering wheel. I took it to my mechanic and asked him to look at them. He took a wheel off, looked, then told me he would put the wheel back on for me but would not touch anything regarding the wheel setup because of how dangerous it was and suggested i put the stock wheels back on immediately. I went home and put the stock wheels back on and there was a night and day difference between the wheels, all the front end play was gone. What my mechanic told me is that the hub centric rings were the wrong size and had play between the hub on the car and the wheel hub, he said it should be a snug/tight fit. Now for the lug nuts, he said they were cheap aluminum 19mm lug nuts and said they should be 21mm steel lugs like oem. He said the really dangerous part was that there was almost no thread engagement with the lug nuts, they were only grabbing two or three threads a piece. He also showed me how it looked like they were already starting to strip themselves out. Everything about the car itself like the hubs and studs are completely stock.

Overall I really like the wheels themselves. Obviously there are plenty of people that run aftermarket wheels on g37's so i know it can be done correctly. What I'm hoping is that someone can provide some insight or help with the wheel setup and mounting situation to see if I can run these wheels at all. Do I need different hub centric rings? im not the sure of the exact size required. Are there some better lug nuts i can use? Can i use mag style like OEM or do i have to have conical lug nuts for aftermarket wheels. Any help you guys can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

Looks like you need hubcentric rings that are 72.60 to 66.1.

 

The proper hub rings might solve the shakiness but doesn't answer the question about why his studs aren't long enough for his nuts. That needs more investigation. Probably should take it to a wheel shop...a REAL wheel shop, not pepboys.

 

I Did not see the question about the studs not being long enough.Wheel should be hub centric (hub spacers) or lug centric (correct lug nuts ,shank style as the mechanic mentioned) which he had neither. Wheels are held on by clamping force so the material should not matter. The wieght of his wheels where being placed on his studs and not aligned therefore the lug nuts weren't screwed in all the way. If he where to pick up on the wheel just a bit while screwing in I'm sure he could of caught more threads as it would of gone in into the actual hole and not caught the lip. The shakiness is probably where the wheel was actually going in where it should of been seated properly and coming back out where he placed the lug nuts.

 

All you had to do was just go to the manufacturers website.

http://www.nicheroadwheels.com/wheel...hID=257&lugs=5 5th one down under 19 inches.

 

Did you order them from CarID? I got the same rims, and they sent me hub rings, as well as lugs. Been running it for 2 years now and no issue. Are you sure you put the hub ring on properly? Also, are your plastic or metal hub rings?

 

The OD of the rings i had were 72.6 but there was still a slight bit of movement between them and the wheel and im not for sure but i think the ID was 65.06 and there was a decent amount of play between the hub on the car.

 

Ya i did order from carid, wishing i wouldnt have now, but the rings and lugs they sent were wrong. They did send the plastic rings though, do you happen to know the exact sizes of the rings and lugs?

 

I ordered them from there also, and they sent me the plastic ring and lugs. That is why I'm saying that is it weird how you are having an issue. The ring I have is 66.1 to 72.56, and I'm still running the chrome lug nuts that CarID sent. As far as ring play you will have some small movements which are normal. But, make sure you are torquing your lugs to 80-100 ft-lb.

 

To be 100% fair though hub centric rings are absolutely not necessary if you tighten the wheels properly. I have run without them for several years and never once experienced an issue because of it. In fact right now on my 3000gt there are no rings and no issues. The wheels on my Lancer are literally the first ones I've ever used rings on and I only did it because they were free. I actually didn't even use them for the first few weeks because I misplaced them because they arrived before the wheels. There was literally no change from no rings to rings.

All rings do is make it slightly easier to center the wheels.

 

Can you take off a lug and post a pic of the lug seat as well as the wheel lug hole? Something sounds very fishy and I really wish your mechanic gave you some specifics on the actual issue at hand.
For the record, a 19mm aluminum lug and a 21mm steel lug should both provide adequate torque for securing a wheel as long as the tapered seat is wide enough to fit in the seat of the wheel. As well, a plastic hub centering ring is just fine, although there should be no play between the wheel and hub with the ring installed.

 

My experience is that with new lugs and wheels the lugs will loosen up some within the first 100 miles so you need to check them every time you arrive at a destination until you are sure they are staying torqued. Then after 100 miles loosen and re tighten to torque again. Give a few more checks to be sure they are good.

 

Here are a few pictures of the lug nuts, the wheel seat and the ring package.

 

Here are some pictures of the lug nuts, wheel seats and the hub ring package.

 

Wheel holes look mint, lugs look good as well, so not sure what the issue is there, lol. Can you get the lug nut size off the side stamping? Maybe it’s the wrong size lug nuts…pretty sure ours are m12x1.25, but your lug taper looks good, and even without centering rings the wheels can be installed safely as long as the studs are slowly tightened evenly to center the wheel on the studs. Maybe the lugs are just not a very good quality aluminum and are too soft to hold the torque?