from an engineering perspective, the hub ring helps locate/centre the wheel when fitting. It does not take any load after that. The load is taken by friction between the mounting faces of the wheel and the hub. If the load was taken by the hub ring, it would need to be an interference fit to avoid fretting.

And yes, its a modern car thing. Some wheels/cars are more sensitive to it than others.
I've used non-hubcentric spacers for years on the 180SX with no problems or vibrations at speeds of over 200kph every track day, using 2 different types of wheels.
But my Aristo road car got a vibration at road speeds from the Volk GT7s I put on it until I picked up a set of plastic hub rings to fit between the Toyota hub and the Volk wheels which had a larger centre bore to suit Nissan fitments.
Since then I always err on the side of caution and get wheels with correct centre bore or at least hub rings to suit - preferably alloy rings, rather than plastic.
I don't think the old Datsun hubs are designed to locate the wheel, front or back, so its not a factor there.

my ae92 corolla has the hub-centre located on the spare steel wheel thats on it atm, so i can see what is possible, but the other 3 mags on it are not located

I do on my car but not my 1200! Skyline has them and is a 1990 model!
Come see them!

cool, i wasn't being nasty about it, i've learnt something now that it's been explained a bit better

i wouldn't think many people on this site would have hub-located wheels on their car would they?
none of my cars do

the only cases of broken wheel studs i have come across were created by over-enthusiastic rattle gunners

Oi 1200rc!! Back in 70's it wasn't common practice but in the 90's it became standed to spread the load over the hub, rather than putting all the pressure on wheel studs! If you are having custom stuff mad it is better to get the best figment and use a copper or brass anti seize spray to reduce corrosion!
It is much safer to have hub and wheels hole size to suit!

Thanks Wards... appreciate your advice (and the opinions of others). Just to be clear I ordered the centre bore to fit the front hub. (I ended up measuring with a digital feeler gauge). Might as well do it while they are being drilled especially for me. Thanks again everyone.....

I agree with Wards advice,the "shock loads" of suspension movements should ideally be transferred through correct wheel fitment on the hub. The wheel studs are there to hold the wheel on as there primary function, otherwise they will be subject to "shear" loads and may fail at some point. El-cheapo wheel spacers are a great example of exaggerating the problem, the hub centric type are the way to go.

no problem with your advice... but it needs to be put in context. what you are talking about is not normal practice, it's a possible upgrade - that sounds like is popular with drag cars?

"you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink" if you have no problems please disregard all advice offered. sorry guys

As has been mentioned here there is no 'hub ring' on the rear. The disk brake front on the ute (which im presuming is from a 120Y) is tapered from the hub to the mounting surface. Thanks for everyones input. Will post a pic in this thread once they arrive.