MN80Vette

I posted about Hub centric adaptor rings for BOSS 338 wheels not too long ago. They worked great on the rear, but there were two problems.
1) They didn't fit on the front hubs and
2) The wheels were still tucked into the wheel wells 1/2 more than stock because of the 4 1/2" BOSS back spacing vs. 4" of originals.

I had a set of 1/4" billet wheel spacers laying around, but they threw the balancing off. I hate the feeling of out-of-balance wheels & tires. The spacers are exactly like these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHEVY CAMARO SS CORVETTE S10 5x4 75 WHEEL SPACERS 1/4

I bought 1/4" spacers (not 1/2" to make up the whole back space difference) so I wouldn't have to replace the lug bolts with longer bolts. Even with 1/4" spacers, I needed to use extended conical lug nuts like these to catch enough threads to be safe:


I just got an early Christmas present from our machinist son at our car club's weekly "Garage Night" - a new set of hub centric rings press fit into the 1/4" billet spacers!! They fit perfectly in the front and have a very slight play in the rear because of the .050" difference between front and rear hub diameters. (The ID of the rings are the same on all 4.)



Here's how they look on the back of the wheel:


Here's how they look on the hub:


And here's how they look mounted:


As advised in my previous thread, I put some anti-seize around the hub where the ring contacts the hub.

My car is on the lift for the winter, so I didn't take it for a test drive. I am confident they will solve the wheel balance problem and give me half of my lost back spacing back.

MN80Vette

You may be wondering, "Why did he machine hub centric rings, resize the ID of the spacers, and press-fit the rings inside the spacers?"

The only reason they were each made from two parts is that I already had the spacers.

Our son said that if/when he ever makes more, he'd machine them from a 3/4" thick block of aluminum in one piece.

oneshot

Sweet, I sent you an PM!

SomeSayIllFixIt

Nice indeed. This is my only complaint with my 338's. Ideally, I'd like to make up the whole 1/2" though.

Is it okay to use 1/2" spacers if you use longer studs?

MN80Vette

Yes, 1/2" spacers would work just fine because of the hub centric ring. Matt (our son) would just have to start with 1" thick stock instead of 3/4". He will be here for Christmas tomorrow. I will ask him to come up with a cost for 1/4" and 1/2" spacers.

You'd have to put the 1/2" spacers on the hub, hang the wheel on the studs, and look inside the stud holes in the wheel. The rule of thumb is that you need at least 7/16" of thread (the diameter of the stud) for the lug nuts. I looked when I put my new spacers, but I didn't think about having 1/4" less thread. I will take a lug nut off and post a picture here to help decide if you need longer studs or not.

Merry Christmas!!!

Billysvette

I have the 338 wheels on my car and have no problems,i use a 3/8 spacer for the front and the ones i have are just 5 hole billet spacers,work great.Oh yes,you must use longer studs.

SomeSayIllFixIt

I appreciate that. Merry Christmas to you too.

3JsVette

Your son's machine work is very impressive! He did a great job. Obviously he takes pride in his work.
It looks like he's going to get several requests for his services.

MN80Vette

Yes, he takes pride in doing a quality job no matter what application the part is for. It's nice to hear someone else recognizes good machine work. I'll pass your comment on to him.

I received several PMs asking what extended lug nuts I am using. I bought mine from a guy in our car club that works at an automotive restyling & accessories shop here in the Twin Cities. They are also available from Summit Racing:

Cragar 27802-4 - Cragar Wheel Lug Nuts

I will post an ad for these hub centric wheel spacers on the Parts forum once I get prices for 1/4" and 1/2" spacers for BOSS 338's from Matt.

I you want spacers for any other brand/model of wheels, just measure the inside diameter of the wheel hub. Be as accurate as you can. A digital caliper worked well when I measured my BOSS wheels.

MN80Vette

Who else but a machinist's parents would get a billet aluminum tree ornament for Christmas?



It's about 1.5" per edge give or take a few thou.

73ls1

I would like to purchase a set for my Boss 338's.I would like to have 4 spacers 1/4 thick.What do you think they will cost and when could they be available. I guess I'm not in a big hurry because I still need to do therapy on my shoulder.Won't be driving till April.Thanks Charlie.

MN80Vette

Matt was here for Christmas yesterday and I asked him to come up with prices for 1/4" and 1/2" spacers. I will post prices and pictures of the billet spacers on the Parts For Sale forum with a link here when he makes a new set.

3JsVette

I'm even more impressed than I was before.

Very very !

MN80Vette

FYI, our son, Matt, and I redesigned the hub centric wheel spacers/adapters for 18x8 BOSS 338 wheels.

BOSS 338's are really nice wheels for the money with either black, gray, or polished spokes and polished rims. However, they have two drawbacks.

First, they have 4.5" backspace compared to 4" bs for stock wheels. That pulls the wheels inside the wheel well 1/2". That caused a light tire rub on my frame at full lock.

Second, they are not hub centric (like stock wheels) and rely on conical lug nuts to keep the wheel aligned on the hub. If you tighten the lug nuts with any weight on them, the wheel can be slightly off center causing an out-of-balance-like feel.

We redesigned the original design with 3/8 spacers (vs. 1/4" for the original design). We counter bored the lug holes to make sure the extended lug nuts don't hit the surface of the spacer and grab maximum threads of stock lugs.

Here are a couple pictures showing the 3/8" spacer with 3/8" hub centric adapter and counter bored lug nut holes.





Here are the 7/16x20 conical seat/shank lug nuts you will need:



Spacer on the inside of the wheel:



Torqued down:



Matt made a fixture to make them at a reasonable price. I will post them on the C3 Part forum.

Garys 68

Judging by his work on the lathe, you should have named him Chuck

leadfoot4

Good one!!

oneshot

any word on if you son would make a set of those to sell?

MN80Vette

Funny you should ask. He just dropped of 6 sets yesterday.

I have 3 sets left for $100/set plus shipping (about $12 for Priority Mail flat rate, I think....).

73ls1

Dave ,I sent you a pm .Send me your address and I will send you a check .I'm ready to get my 73 out and would like to put them on before I drive it.Charlie

nate99

With all of the 4.5" BS wheels out there, you guys could make a cottage industry out of these things.