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

[brad]

Why has the wheel vendor abandoned you? Have you tried a tyre place that sells lots of wheels?

Here you go. My local tyre shop.

Hub Rings 73.1 - 57.1 | Accessories | Tempe Tyres

ebay
HUB Centric Rings OD 73 1mm ID 57 1mm Aluminium Alloy | eBay

Precise CBL Wheels HUB Centric Rings OD 73 1 TO ID 57 1 Audi Volkswagen Skoda VW | eBay

[sschen]

Why has the wheel vendor abandoned you? Have you tried a tyre place that sells lots of wheels?

Here you go. My local tyre shop.

Hub Rings 73.1 - 57.1 | Accessories | Tempe Tyres

ebay
HUB Centric Rings OD 73 1mm ID 57 1mm Aluminium Alloy | eBay

Precise CBL Wheels HUB Centric Rings OD 73 1 TO ID 57 1 Audi Volkswagen Skoda VW | eBay

I will give a bit more background on why I feel this issue isn't the fault of the seller that sold me the rims.

I bought the rims off a "tyre place" that was offloading all their rims via gumtree. Their gumtree listing does state that I have to do my own research etc and that it doesn't come with nuts etc. I don't blame them because it is partially my fault for not doing enough research. I did enough research to know that I needed my rims to be 5x100 17x7 up to 17x8 based on the tyre thread here and a few other australian tyre/rim websites that list what suitable size rims are suitable for my car etc. But the guy who sold me the rims certainly didn't know about the existence of hub centric rings till I called him about it last week. He said they have sold 80+ sets of rims and I am the first guy to call them about it. He indicated most other buyers let the tyre place takes care of the rest. He was helpful in the sense that he was patient to hear about my problems and he even called Lenso in Sydney to explain my problem to them. He also said they were meant to get back to him with a quote. He also spent more time researching it online and he also told me he called another tyre/rim place nearby to discuss this. We exchanged phone calls several times (easily 15+ minutes in total) on the day and at no time do I feel he was trying to fob me off. Towards the end, I got curious about why he doesn't know about the hub centric rings when their shop is a tyre shop with shop name of "XXX Tyres". He said that they are actually a tyre shop for commercial trucks! But they also onsell rims to local wheel/tyre retailers!

If you go back to read my first post, you will find that I gave two reasons why I feel the tyre shop is more at fault. IMHO, no professional tyre place who cares about quality of their workmanship should fit the rims and tyres knowing that the lack of hub centric rings will or may cause vibrations on the steering wheels. Like I said, when I called back to ask if he will rectify the problem, he certainly does not sound very keen at all to help. Why did he tell me that I "may" experience vibration and that it will just be an annoyance. Isn't this much further from the truth? And then there is the issue of timing, he is telling me all this when I had already handed over my credit card to pay!! Why didn't he call me when he first noticed the problem? I understand that you may have came across customers that won't listen to you when you have identified problems to them. But this guy certainly came across as wanting to just get the work done quickly so he can move on to the next sales, irrespective of the poor quality of the work he is doing.

FYI, I have bought a set of hub centric rings off ebay late on Monday night because I haven't had any response on where I can buy them locally in Perth. In addition, I also sent Lenso Sydney an email last Sunday night explaining that I need a set of hub centric rings for my car. I was hoping they will either call or email me during the day on Monday but sadly I haven't heard back from them at all over the last two days. Maybe they just don't care either??? If your reference to wheel vendor was the main distributor (in this case Lenso in Sydney), then I agree that their lack of response over the last two days does seem to indicate they have abandoned me.

Since I now have to wait for the hub centric rings to arrive, I would love to know a bit more about the nuts/bolts issue that you raised. Is it also possible the original nuts used to fit the rims may also be a cause that contributes to the vibrations on the steering wheel. Does anyone know if the original 2007 Polo GTi wheel nuts are the tapered type or the ball seat type? If I have the wrong type of nuts on my wheel at the moment, where can I go to get reliable info on what size and wheel nuts type to get for my car and rim? I might have to just give Lenso Sydney a call directly and ask them?

[brad]

I'd suggest you pick up the phone and I would complain to Lenso HQ (who is probably 1 man in a garden shed) that his sales agent don't know what they are doing. Ask them about the hub rings & ask them what seat they machine their wheels with.

As I was corrected on earlier, VWs are ball seat & there are also taper seat. Google is really helpful with this.

Std VW ball seat


Taper seat


Your vendor should be able to tell you what type of seat you wheels have. If he can't then I'm glad he doesn't sell baby food & poison.

Re: the price, I hope it was way less than $175/wheel because my local guy sell all his 17x7 Lenso at that price.

Your tyre dealer sounds like a funny fish - maybe he was peeved he didn't get the wheel sale? Maybe he simply didn't want to get involved with your wheels? After all, he's completed his part of the contract of fitting tyres to your wheels but if he starts selling you hub rings, etc then he's buying into your problems with the original vendor who didn't sell you a complete package. A lot of businesses refuse to deal with parts they haven't supplied - eg: The exhaust place near my work refuses to fit anything that comes from eBay - they still have a busy shop.

I venture that a substantial number of cars with aftermarket wheels are centring off the wheel bolts & don't have hub rings. It's probably become a familiar sight to them.

[kaanage]

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 highlight parts are why I feel the OP has a right to feel some grievance with the tyre store. Yes, they didn't get the sale of the wheels but they did get to sell the tyres and didn't have to discount them as much as they did if they wanted more margin in the job.

They also missed out on the opportunity to make more money (and gather customer satisfaction) by finding and offering to supply (and sell, of course) the correct bolts and the hub rings to the OP.

From the following thread, I'm pretty sure Lenso rims need 60 degree V taper bolts (nuts), as are the vast majority of aftermarket rims, but it will be easy to tell if you take off one of your bolts and look at the seat. You may see that the seat has a thin indented ring in it where the mismatched surfaces meet (the bolts are steel so the rim will deform).
Help with Lensos [Archive] - MX-5 Miata Forum

[sschen]

I have good news. After sending two emails (the second email was sent today to ask about the required wheel nuts/bolts) and not getting any email replies, I decided to give Lenso Sydney a call instead. First call I made wasn't a positive one because I was told by the receptionist? that all their people are on the phone and I was requested to call back again 15 minutes later.

I actually didn't call back for more than an hour. The second call I made was answered by a man by the name of George, so I explained to him that I have bought a set of Lenso SAGA rims from their local agent and the drama I have been having with the local tyre shop who has fitted the rims without hub centric rings and also has re-used the stock wheel nuts/bolts. The first positive was he knew the rims I have purchased even though it is no longer a current product. He asked for my car details as well as my contact/address details. He said he will double check, then organise for what I need to be sent to me. I guess I shouldn't count the chicks before they are hatched but I am impressed with what I am hearing. So hopefully they will stay true to their words. This is the level of customer service I expect.

[sschen]

I just thought I will provide an update on this.

I received the hub centric rings and wheel nuts late last week that Lenso Wheels in Sydney sent me without charging me a cent.

I just got the car back from Tyre Power to fit the hub centric rings (they call it CBL - Centre Bore Locator) and I also told them to fit the new wheel nuts/bolts at the same time.

The hub rings have been fitted without any issue and it has certainly eliminated the steering wheel vibration that I have had since the new wheels were fitted weeks ago.

Unfortunately the thread length of the wheel nuts/bolts are too long and it is hitting the brake so the wheels have been re-fitted using the stock VW Polo nuts/bolts. I spoke to Lenso Wheels again thinking perhaps they may have sent me the wrong length bolts but I have been told the supplied wheel bolts is standard for VW. If they are too long, I will have to ask the tyre place to cut them or cut them myself.

I haven't called Tyre Power to see if this is a service they can provide. Is this a service any tyre/wheel store will provide?

[brad]

equipment needed would be a man with a decent hacksaw, a vice with softjaws, a file & a suitable nut to chase the thread with.

You'll have to pay.

[seangti]

Unfortunately the thread length of the wheel nuts/bolts are too long and it is hitting the brake so the wheels have been re-fitted using the stock VW Polo nuts/bolts. I spoke to Lenso Wheels again thinking perhaps they may have sent me the wrong length bolts but I have been told the supplied wheel bolts is standard for VW. If they are too long, I will have to ask the tyre place to cut them or cut them myself.

I haven't called Tyre Power to see if this is a service they can provide. Is this a service any tyre/wheel store will provide?

You're not having much luck hey. Can you pull a VW bolt out to compare length? Probably easier to buy shorter bolts; cutting and faffing about for 20 bolts...

[kaanage]

That's utter bollocks that Lenso can't work out the proper bolts required.
If they aren't willing to sort it out properly for you, the best solution is to get a machine shop to cut them down and chase the thread on a lathe but it will take beer money at the very least (it may be cheaper to ebay the correct bolts).

[sschen]

You're not having much luck hey. Can you pull a VW bolt out to compare length? Probably easier to buy shorter bolts; cutting and faffing about for 20 bolts...

Sigh... That was exactly how I felt yesterday when they called me to tell me "we have a problem". I already asked the tyre place to find out the thread length of the stock polo bolt and they told me it is approx 27mm. I just took out one of the bolt Lenso sent me, and the measurement from the bottom of the seat to the end of the thread is about 32mm. So basically about 4-5mm too long.

That's utter bollocks that Lenso can't work out the proper bolts required.
If they aren't willing to sort it out properly for you, the best solution is to get a machine shop to cut them down and chase the thread on a lathe but it will take beer money at the very least (it may be cheaper to ebay the correct bolts).

OK, I think I will have to go the ebay route.

Question for you experts, will there be potential damage to the rims in the long term if I choose not to get the right type bolts and just stick with the stock polo bolts that are currently in place???

[kaanage]

Yes, the rims will be damaged if you use the OE ball seat bolts for long as the narrow contact patch will cause a depressed groove in the seat (the bolts are steel so the rim will deform). This will make the bolts loosen so you will have to continually check and tighten the bolts and eventually, even the proper V taper bolts won't seat securely.

[brad]

Sigh... That was exactly how I felt yesterday when they called me to tell me "we have a problem". I already asked the tyre place to find out the thread length of the stock polo bolt and they told me it is approx 27mm. I just took out one of the bolt Lenso sent me, and the measurement from the bottom of the seat to the end of the thread is about 32mm. So basically about 4-5mm too long.



OK, I think I will have to go the ebay route.

Question for you experts, will there be potential damage to the rims in the long term if I choose not to get the right type bolts and just stick with the stock polo bolts that are currently in place???

Depends how pig-headed you are. I'd cut them off with an angle grinder but I'm somewhat stubborn and like to show that a machine won't beat me.

Are the seats different between the 2 bolt types - if so then yes it will cause damage eventually.