Winter Tires Off: Rust on Center Disk adjacent to Hub Flange

[GolanB]

Today I finally got my snow tires removed (performance tires are back on)! As we were cleaning up, I noticed rust had formed across the center disk (which marries up to the hub flange). I was told that this can sometimes happen when two different metals are married together and that some installations use plastic to avoid this problem. Can anyone confirm this to be the case here?

 

[KingTito]

That wheel is aluminum so that rust ring is coming from the car’s hub I would presume. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. Moisture is going to get there and lead to some surface corrosion. I’ve never seen a plastic surface used to mitigate this but could be wrong.

 

[afadeev]

Today I finally got my snow tires removed (performance tires are back on)! As we were cleaning up, I noticed rust had formed across the center disk (which marries up to the hub flange). [...]Can anyone confirm this to be the case here?

100% normal.
That's residual oxidation (aka rust) from the steel wheel hub. Nothing to worry about.

If you really care, you can brush the rust off the hub, and coat it with copper grease or antiseize on the effected areas. But not really necessary.

I was told that this can sometimes happen when two different metals are married together and that some installations use plastic to avoid this problem.

Metal electrolysis can occur, but the residue is usually white-ish. Yours is classic rust.

The plastic inserts are only used on cheap non hub-centric wheels, to make generic wheels fit to narrower hubs of various cars. That's what happens when you have generic wheels being sold for various vehicles.
It's a terrible hack, as the plastic gets chewed up over time, and the wheel picks up additional vibrations that can't be balanced out, and will drive you mad.

For future reference - make sure that the aftermarket wheels you consider buying are hub-centric.
Otherwise plastic or even metal spacers will be an additional PITA during wheels swaps at best, and wont properly balance and vibrate at worst.

YMMV,
a

 

[GolanB]

100% normal.
That's residual oxidation (aka rust) from the steel wheel hub. Nothing to worry about.

If you really care, you can brush the rust off the hub, and coat it with copper grease or antiseize on the effected areas. But not really necessary.




Metal electrolysis can occur, but the residue is usually white-ish. Yours is classic rust.

The plastic inserts are only used on cheap non hub-centric wheels, to make generic wheels fit to narrower hubs of various cars. That's what happens when you have generic wheels being sold for various vehicles.
It's a terrible hack, as the plastic gets chewed up over time, and the wheel picks up additional vibrations that can't be balanced out, and will drive you mad.

For future reference - make sure that the aftermarket wheels you consider buying are hub-centric.
Otherwise plastic or even metal spacers will be an additional PITA during wheels swaps at best, and wont properly balance and vibrate at worst.

YMMV,
a

Thanks for the response.

I’ve had generally positive results using Tirerack’s wheel suggestions that correspond to the vehicle. They came with tires mounted and balanced. The winter wheels and tires (X-ice xi3’s) did their duty, and kept their grip quite well in ice, rain and snow this season.

I passed so many folks on the roads here who left their performance summer tires on throughout winter and I think Tesla should do a better job of educating their customers about this, even if they don’t buy Tesla’s super expensive winter packs.

 

[afadeev]

I’ve had generally positive results using Tirerack’s wheel suggestions that correspond to the vehicle. They came with tires mounted and balanced. The winter wheels and tires (X-ice xi3’s) did their duty, and kept their grip quite well in ice, rain and snow this season.

I passed so many folks on the roads here who left their performance summer tires on throughout winter and I think Tesla should do a better job of educating their customers about this, even if they don’t buy Tesla’s super expensive winter packs.

Thank you for investing into proper winter tires for our snowy/icy roads!
I remember passing a plethora of abandoned AWD Grand Cherokees, MDX's, Siennas, Pilots, Audi's, bimmers, ans Saburus during the first snow storm last November. All of them, including my next door neighbor, argued with me about how cool the "latest AWD technology" and "all-season tires" are, and how that combination can conquer all winter conditions.

Next day he ordered a new set of snows for his Pilot.

Sadly, it's only a matter of time before we start passing multitude of over-confident AWD Tesla drivers stuck in the ditch, as Model 3's proliferate.

a

P.S.: I had X-ice's before, on Blizzak's now

 

[03DSG]

Thanks for the response.

I’ve had generally positive results using Tirerack’s wheel suggestions that correspond to the vehicle. They came with tires mounted and balanced. The winter wheels and tires (X-ice xi3’s) did their duty, and kept their grip quite well in ice, rain and snow this season.

I passed so many folks on the roads here who left their performance summer tires on throughout winter and I think Tesla should do a better job of educating their customers about this, even if they don’t buy Tesla’s super expensive winter packs.

Many shops and individuals use Permatex anti seize on the mating surface of the wheel/hub. It prevents them from sticking together or rusting. The cap has a brush attached and you just run a ring or it around the hub (right where your rust line is). Just don’t get any on the threaded wheel studs.