How to Find the Right Wheel Adapters for Your Car

      Photo by Mason Jones on Unsplash

Changing your wheels can be a frustrating process for many car, truck, and SUV owners. Many owners will select a wheel they like, only to find out it does not fit their current wheel model. If you find yourself in this situation, you should consider a wheel adapter as the solution.

What exactly is a wheel adapter? A wheel adapter is used when you want to change the bolt pattern of your car's hub. The change in pattern moves the wheel out allowing you to customize your wheels for either your car, van, or SUV. In other words, wheel adapters will enable you to easily change your wheels to different ones that may not fit your vehicle perfectly.  There are varying types of wheel adapters so picking the right one can be a daunting task.  Here are two different ways to select the right wheel adapter for your car.

The Simple Way

You may be a car owner that doesn't know a lot about cars and are looking for an easy and simple way to change out your tire. If this is you, then it is suggested you buy a 2-piece wheel adapter. You do not need to know any information about your car or the bolt pattern.

The Bolt Pattern Way

The second way is more involved. However, this method ensures you get the wheel adapter that fits. In order to go this route, you will need to figure out the number of lugs and bolt pattern for both your current wheel and the wheel you are installing. The steps that follow give more detail about this method.

1. Finding the Bolt Pattern and Lugs of the Current Wheel

First, you will want to start by figuring out the number of lugs and bolt pattern of the current wheel on your car. Determining the number of lugs is easy and takes little time. To determine the number of lugs all you need to do is count the number of lugs (bolts) on your wheel's rim.

Once you have the number of lugs, next, you want to determine the bold pattern. This is where it gets a little tricky. There are two different ways to determine the bolt pattern of your car.  One way is by your vehicle make, model, and year. The second way is by figuring out the bolt pattern on your own.

Vehicle's make, model and year is pretty easy to figure out. Once you have this information, you will want to take it and look up what the bolt pattern is. In most cases, you can find this information online. If not, your local auto store should be able to help.

The second option of determining bolt pattern on your own is a bit trickier. Bolt pattern refers to the diameter of the imaginary circle formed by the centers of wheel lugs. Bolt patterns can 4, 5, 6, or 8 lugs. To figure out the right bolt pattern for your wheel adapter you take the number of lugs and the diameter of the circle. For example, if you had a 4-lug wheel and a diameter of 100, your bolt pattern would be 4x100. If you are unsure of your bolt pattern, you can use this chart for reference.

2. Finding the Bolt Pattern and Lug of the wheel you are Installing

Once you have the information about the current wheel, you will want to move on to the wheel you are installing.  Just like the current wheel, you will need to know the number of lugs and bolt pattern.  You do this in the same way you determined the bolt pattern and lug of the current wheel above.  There are two options when it comes to the bolt pattern of the wheel you are adapting. They are the same pattern or different pattern.

3. The Final Step

Once you have this information, you are ready to pick a wheel adapter. Most wheel adapter suppliers make it easy for you once you know the number of lugs and bolt pattern of both wheels. When you are shopping, you will first select the number of lugs you are starting with and the amount you are going to. Once you have selected this information, you will pick the wheel adapter based on the bolt pattern.

The True Solution

Finding the right wheel adapters for your car is tricky. Even with the best methods, you can feel overwhelmed. If you are looking for the right wheel adapter, EZ Accessory has the true solution you need. We carry a wide variety of wheel adapters from 2-piece to customize. Start your search today with EZ Accessory here.