The GMW 15303 standard developed by the General Motors company describes a test method for determining the pilot hole strength of passenger car and light-duty truck wheels.
If the wheels come loose, both the stud wheels and hub guide wheels can be damaged. Rolled or elongated ball seats for studded wheels and long stud holes for hub-guided wheels should be checked. Excessive torque can cause damage to the ball seats in studded wheels or damage the disc surface of hub-guided wheels. Damaged wheels must no longer be used.
The importance of matching the diameter of a wheel's pilot hole to the portion that runs through the hub depends on the type of wheel. A hub centered wheel uses a pilot bore to center the wheel on the hub and also bear some of the overall weight load. Hub-centered wheels typically use lug bolts instead of lug nuts to attach them to the hub. If the wheels are hub centered, new wheels with the same pilot hole diameter as existing wheels are used because the wheels must be centered on the hub hole. If the pilot hole is larger, the wheel will not stay in the center of the hub and can move. If the pilot hole is smaller, the wheel may not sit on the hub at all. A lug centered wheel, on the other hand, uses studs and lug nuts on the hub to center the wheel on the hub.
In short, the pilot diameter on a wheel is the diameter of the larger hole directly in the middle of the wheel.
Nearly all standard wheels and many alloy wheels have precision-machined center holes and must be mounted with center cones. Correct balancing depends on the correct mounting of the wheel and the correct seating of the cone in the pilot hole.
Most custom wheels can be accurately mounted and balanced using a centering cone. When using centering cones it is necessary to ensure that the cone is properly seated in the wheel pilot hole. Some wheels may not always go out of the center hole. These wheels use studs to center the wheel on the hub.
Our organization also provides wheel pilot hole strength test services within the scope of GMW 15303 standard, with its trained and expert staff and advanced technological equipment, among the numerous test, measurement, analysis and evaluation studies it provides for businesses in various sectors.
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