hub centric ring
 

alright, so today I woke up to about 5 inches of snow on the ground which wasn't a pleasant surprise considering that meant it was time to put the stock steelies back on. so I put the fronts on just fine, rear passenger goes on smooth, and i'm putting the rear drivers side back on, and as I'm torquing it I hear something break and see little pieces fly all over the garage floor. so I take the wheel back off and realize that I've completely demolished the little plastic hub centric ring that was installed for my wheels when I got them.

i'm a little lost though. should I have pryed the rings off before putting the stock wheels back on? it didnt happen on any other wheel, just that one. when it gets nice out again and its time to put my better wheels back on, should I just go to discount tire or something and ask them to install the stuff again? i'm not very wheel savvy, so anything you can tell me about hub centric rings, their purpose, and what I should do would be helpful. my friend told me he had aluminum rings on his xB but I really know nothing about this part. thanks for any help you can give.

You don't need hub rings for steel rims. Take the hub rings off, and buy 1 new hub ring. Put your steel rims on, and put the hub rings back on when its spring time.

thanks a lot man. I'm about to do that now.

yeah... you coulve seriously did some damage to your suspension without getting the hub ring off! if it breaks, they only cost like $30 a set! but NEVER use a hub ring for OEM wheels

oh man! glad I posted on here before I started driving all around. thanks a lot guys.