Spigot Rings for X6 Wheels on an E53

[Lyons]

Folks, I bought a set of style 214 yesterday for the E53 and I know I need a pair of spigot rings for the front, but can anyone advise if I should get metal or plastic ones? Or does it matter? There are plastic ones on Mrs Lyons' Golf R, but just wanted to check if the extra weight/size of the X5 required metal ones for any reason?

[Alan Gunn]

Not used on the x5 but i used some plastic ones on my a6 and no problems with them.

[X5Sport]

Would you trust 2.2 tonnes to plastic?

[snrbrtsn]

Plastic spigots will be fine
Easier removal & less hub corrosion
X5sport is correct the weight of the car is on the spigot hub primarily though plastic spigots are commonly used

[henrym3]

Surely spigot rings are fitted to  absolutely centralise the wheel whilst the screws are put in and if they are tightened in a diagonal sequence a bit at a time then the screws take the weight. The problems arise when the tyre fitter gets at them with the windy gun.

[Alan Gunn]

[quote="henrym3"]
Surely spigot rings are fitted to  absolutely centralise the wheel whilst the screws are put in and if they are tightened in a diagonal sequence a bit at a time then the screws take the weight. The problems arise when the tyre fitter gets at them with the windy gun.
[/quote]
Spot on.

[henrym3]

Lyons, forgive my ignorance but why do you say or give the impression that you only need spigot rings for the front, surely they are needed all round?

[Lyons]

Cheers for the replies folks.

For whatever reason the E71 came with different centre bores front and rear! The rear is the same as the E53, so spigot rings are only needed for the front.

[henrym3]

Every day is a learning day

[snrbrtsn]

What are Spigot Rings and why do I need them?

Spigot Rings (Centre Rings) are used to ensure that an alloy wheel is correctly centred on to the hub of the vehicle. If an alloy wheel is fitted without spigot rings it will probably cause the wheel to vibrate, make it almost impossible to balance, increase uneven tyre wear and in time will work the fixings loose. So, fitting wheels without spigot rings can be very dangerous.

Yip another learning day!

[X5Sport]

The E71 is built with a clever torque distribution rear axle system (aka expensive if it breaks!) as also used on the X6M and X5M variants but not on the E70 builds.  It makes it more stable when hooning around corners  :-[