Wheel Bolt Pattern Guide
Many people think that a bolt pattern is the distance between bolt holes. It is not. Bolt pattern is the size of a circle that goes through bolt holes, and some bolt patterns are easier to measure than others. If there are even numbers of bolt holes then you can just measure from the center points of those bolt holes at top and bottom of the wheel rim.
The bolt pattern is the set of holes around the bolt. Lug bolt is a bolt that goes through the wheel. The lug bolt attaches to the car. The lug bolt has three holes around it, and they are called lug bolts.
The bolt holes on your wheels are small, but they have a big job. They make sure that the wheels stay on the car. There is a pattern to bolt holes and this pattern tells you which bolt holes fit on your car and which bolt holes don't.
There are bolt patterns which are designed to work with the bolt type. The bolt pattern works together with the wheel, and there are different bolt pattern chart on wheelssize.com. The ball-seat lug works with wheels that have a round seat. Acorn-seat lugs work with wheels that have a tapered seat.
Torque-retention, mag, and shank style lugs all have a flat washer-like seat area that will correspond to a flat bolt in the wheel. When using torque retention, mag or shank lugs it is important to make sure that you use the proper length for your needs. Using bolts without corresponding seats could lead to bolt hole damage for your wheel which can cause trouble when using them or loosening
Tire professionals can measure bolt patterns in two ways. The first bolt pattern is the bolt holes. How many bolt holes are there? The second bolt pattern is the diameter of an imaginary circle they make.
This can be measured as well as seen in illustrations below. Usually, large vehicles have more bolts arranged in a larger bolt circle and smaller vehicles have fewer bolts arranged in a smaller circle depending on how many bolt holes there are.
4-bolt bolt patterns are measured in a straight line from the bolt hole in the middle to one bolt hole right next to it.
5-bolt patterns are hard to measure because the bolt holes are not across from each other. But you can use a straight line from one bolt hole to get an estimate of how long it will be. The "accurate measurement" is only possible if you have a special tool called a bolt pattern gauge or if you know how to calculate it with geometry!
6-bolt patterns are measured in a straight line from the center of two bolt holes that are directly across from each other.
8-bolt patterns are measured in a straight line from center to center of two bolt holes sitting directly across from each other.
Dual bolt patterns have two different sets of bolt holes. That means the wheel can fit two different bolt patterns. For example, a wheel with a 5-100/114.3 bolt pattern has ten total bolt holes. It can fit both the 5-100 bolt pattern and the 5-114.3 bolt pattern.
