Where to buy locator/spigot rings for 17" rims in Perth

[sschen]

Guys

To cut a long story short, I bought a set of 4x Lenso 17x7 (ET35, 73mm centrebore) SAGA rims a few weeks ago and it didn't come with locator/spigot rings. When I bought the rims, I was not asked what car the rims are going on. The sales condition stipulated that the buyer should do his own research etc. I don't have a problem with the seller as he was very eager to help when he found out about my issue.

I didn't know the existence of such rings till I had 4 new bridgestone potenza RE003 fitted at a local tyre place who also fitted the new 17" Lenso rims for me. What annoys me very much is the tyre place didn't even bother to call me to let me know that they are required until I was paying at the register. He casually said along the line of "by the way, the rims didn't come with any locator rings so you may feel some vibrations on the steering wheels". That is a gross understatement as I was feeling the vibration on the steering wheels even at low speed (<60 kph) all the way home. Now I have a shiny new set of 17" rims and bridgestone tyres but driving it sucks more than before on the stock 16" rims with worn out Continental tyres!!

I really want to name and shame this tyre place because they obviously don't care much about the quality of their workmanship. I said this because firstly although I told them to call me if there is any issue, they never did. Secondly when I called back to ask if they will re-fit the wheels for me after I got the required locator/spigot rings. He didn't seems too keen on the idea at all, citing he didn't want to spend/waste time mucking about as they are fidgety to do, all that kind of excuses. They also couldn't do wheel alignment for my car and he just said they can't do it without giving me a clear explanation.

The funny thing about this tyre place is I selected it using the Bridgestone website because it shows up on the website as a "Bridgestone Tyre Centre". But when I called the shop, it was answered as "XXX Tyres". When I turned up at the place, it has no display to indicate that it is a "Bridgstone" tyre centre at all. Surely this is harming the "Bridgestone" brand if they have shonky "tyre place" supposedly acting as their agents????

Anyway, enough of my rants.

Can anyone please suggest where I can get the suitable locator/spigot rings locally for my 17" rims? My VW Polo GTi was built in Nov 2007.

Thanks in advance

[Dam355]

Name and shame - too may dodgy business's in Perth thinking they can get away with poor service, crappy workmanship and high prices!! I'm over it!!

[kaanage]

73 57.1 | eBay

You don't need to go back to get them fitted - they'll just fit straight in if alloy or go in with a light tap if plastic

I prefer the alloy ones as the plastic ones can get stuck on the hubs or crack but then I'm tracking and always swapping rims.

I agree about the name and shame as just fitting the wheels without the rings in borderline criminal IMO

[sschen]

Name and shame - too may dodgy business's in Perth thinking they can get away with poor service, crappy workmanship and high prices!! I'm over it!!

I see you are based in Perth too. Let's just say that I live in Canning Vale, so even though there is a "Bridgestone Select" store in Canning Vale, I chose not to go there because they quoted me a much higher price (>$30 per tyre) for the Bridgestone tyre (Potenza Adrenalin RE003) I want. So I thought I will try out the next closest "Bridgestone Tyre Centre". Somehow I have formed an opinion in my head that it must be a "tyre specialty" store based on the keywords "Tyre Centres". I now know that it is a mis-guided perception!!

73 57.1 | eBay

You don't need to go back to get them fitted - they'll just fit straight in if alloy or go in with a light tap if plastic

I prefer the alloy ones as the plastic ones can get stuck on the hubs or crack but then I'm tracking and always swapping rims.

I agree about the name and shame as just fitting the wheels without the rings in borderline criminal IMO

I am definitely not going back since they can't even do the wheel alignment for me.

I will be taking the car to my trusted Tyre Power store (in Willetton) once I have the necessary locators/spigot rings.

I am just using the car for normal commute so I don't need the fancy alloy rings. The plastic ones will do me fine. Any idea where about I can go to buy them??

On another note, I have sent off an email to Lenso in Sydney to ask them.

[kaanage]

You just take off the wheel, put the ring in the centerbore hole (the lip on the ring will stop it going in further than the face) and bolt the wheel back on.

No shop needed

[sschen]

You just take off the wheel, put the ring in the centerbore hole (the lip on the ring will stop it going in further than the face) and bolt the wheel back on.

No shop needed

You misunderstood what I was asking.

I didn't get any locator rings with my rims hence the drama (bad vibrations on steering wheel) I am currently having.

The purpose of this thread is to find out where about I can go (preferably locally) to reliably get the right size locator rings for my wheel and my 2007 Polo GTi. I understand you are based in Melbourne, but perhaps you can suggest someone in Melbourne I can buy them from if Lenso in Sydney doesn't come to the party for me.

[kaanage]

That's why I put up the ebay search link

Edit: OK the original link seems to have expired so try this one - 73 57.1 ring | eBay
If it still expires, just ebay "73 57.1 ring" and restrict to Australia

[sschen]

That's why I put up the ebay search link

Edit: OK the original link seems to have expired so try this one - 73 57.1 ring | eBay
If it still expires, just ebay "73 57.1 ring" and restrict to Australia

Thanks, that is what I wanted.

Sorry if this sounds pedantic but I want to get this right if I end up making the purchase myself. It seems most of the australian ebay sellers have the 73.1 to 57.1 rings. But I found other international sellers that also have 73 to 57.1 rings. I guess it is only 0.1mm but does it matter? If it does matter, which one is best to get?

[kaanage]

The 0.1mm is within manufacturing tolerance + thermal expansion limits, especially for the plastic ones. You'll be fine with either (and WAY better off than you are right now)

[brad]

I am definitely not going back since they can't even do the wheel alignment for me.

I will be taking the car to my trusted Tyre Power store (in Willetton) once I have the necessary locators/spigot rings.

I am just using the car for normal commute so I don't need the fancy alloy rings. The plastic ones will do me fine. Any idea where about I can go to buy them??

On another note, I have sent off an email to Lenso in Sydney to ask them.

There's nothing fancy about alloy hub centric rings (this is the correct term for what you need).

You've been given a link on eBay where to buy them. Or you might try searching on google.

Here's another eBay for $27 a set in metal. bargain!

Tempe Tyres do mail order & will have them.
Ebay
Amazon
Aliexpress
1010 tyres
tirerack
Precision European Motorwerks
Autotechnik

You supplied the rims to the tyre shop didn't you?
Unless you specifically told them that they need to research & supply the hub rings for you then it's not their responsibility to supply hub rings. The vendor of the wheels should have supplied them as part of the wheel package.

They are easy to fit.

I also bet you could remove some of the wobble by loosening the wheel bolts & torquing them in sequence so that the chamfers seat properly. Go 90,100,110,120Nm on nuts 1,3,2,4

Has it occured to you that maybe they are just crap wheels?

edit: another point. Are your wheel bolts the correct type for the wheels? VW have angled chamfers bolts but some wheels are ball seat - just a thought.

[sschen]

There's nothing fancy about alloy hub centric rings (this is the correct term for what you need).

You've been given a link on eBay where to buy them. Or you might try searching on google.

Here's another eBay for $27 a set in metal. bargain!

Tempe Tyres do mail order & will have them.
Ebay
Amazon
Aliexpress
1010 tyres
tirerack
Precision European Motorwerks
Autotechnik

You supplied the rims to the tyre shop didn't you?
Unless you specifically told them that they need to research & supply the hub rings for you then it's not their responsibility to supply hub rings. The vendor of the wheels should have supplied them as part of the wheel package.

They are easy to fit.

I also bet you could remove some of the wobble by loosening the wheel bolts & torquing them in sequence so that the chamfers seat properly. Go 90,100,110,120Nm on nuts 1,3,2,4

Has it occured to you that maybe they are just crap wheels?

edit: another point. Are your wheel bolts the correct type for the wheels? VW have angled chamfers bolts but some wheels are ball seat - just a thought.

Thanks for this post. I am slowly learning new terminology because of this thread.

A couple of ebay links you guys listed don't seem to work perhaps because the ebay links have expired? In any case, on another "search" link provided by kaanage, there is another Australian seller that sells a set of 4 73.1 to 57.1 aluminium alloy hub centric rings for only $29.99, link here. Considering the australian sellers seem to be selling the plastic ones in the low twenties posted to me, I might as well get the metal ones for a few dollars more. But I will wait till next Monday to see what Lenso Sydney can do for me. If they are going to charge me an arm and a leg just to post me the plastic ones, I will get them off ebay myself. I think it is highly unlikely that they will post them to me for free.

Your last point about the nuts/bolts worries me a little now. This is because my rims didn't come with nuts and bolts so the tyre place used the existing ones from my stock 16" rims. As you guys can tell by now, I really am a noob/newbie to all of this. Is there any easy way for me to check this without having to remove the wheels?? If not, I will have to worry about this when I bring the car back to the tyre place to do the proper wheel alignment once I have the hub centric rings.

[kaanage]

You supplied the rims to the tyre shop didn't you?
Unless you specifically told them that they need to research & supply the hub rings for you then it's not their responsibility to supply hub rings. The vendor of the wheels should have supplied them as part of the wheel package.

While it's true that the tyre store shouldn't be expected to supply the rings, they should have contacted the OP about them being needed since he did ask to be contacted if there were any issues.

Has it occured to you that maybe they are just crap wheels?

I this day and age, I seriously doubt wheels could be made so badly they would vibrate if the balance and fitting was done properly. A crap wheel will crack or leak.

edit: another point. Are your wheel bolts the correct type for the wheels? VW have angled chamfers bolts but some wheels are ball seat - just a thought.

Actually, it's the other way around - VW wheels and bolts are ball seat and almost all aftermarket wheels have a 60 degree V taper (cone) seat. But good point and another thing the store should have contacted the OP about.

Give him a break - it's obvious he's new to this while we've both been associated with the industry in various ways for years/decades

[brad]

Give him a break - it's obvious he's new to this while we've both been associated with the industry in various ways for years/decades

The bit I was annoyed about was that he was blaming the tyre shop whereas the rim supplier (who has made the mistake) has been "eager to help" but ultimately did nothing to help.

You would not believe how many people I've told "your current set up may cause issues. You need part X" (or whatever) and they know better. You get to a point where you just let it go because it's a waste of breath.

[TDIfan]

Bad timing mate, I just sold a set of 73 - 57.1 hub ring last month
But as discussed above these things are easy to find on the internet

Give me a shout if you need any help
I have tools to check wheel bolts and put the hub rings on when you have them

[sschen]

Bad timing mate, I just sold a set of 73 - 57.1 hub ring last month
But as discussed above these things are easy to find on the internet

Give me a shout if you need any help
I have tools to check wheel bolts and put the hub rings on when you have them

Thanks very much for the offer. I will let you know if I have to take up your offer once I got my hands on those hub rings.

I don't suppose you know of any local shops that sell them?

Unfortunately I didn't hear back from Lenso Sydney today at all I probably will buy the metal/alloy hub rings from one of the Australian ebay sellers later tonight if I don't hear back from any local WA guys that know where I can get them locally.