Spacer Help

[Alto]

I've desided to purchase a set of Wheel Spacers from www.performancewheel.com

I know that the quality is good, they are solid and are desently price.

Now the Question is what size to get?
1.25", 1.5" or 2"

I want the wider stance. For stability, looks and to help stop the slight rubbing I have in front (only when I'm at full turn and not much at that) & rear (only when flexing alot)

My current set up is...
33"x12.5"x15" tires
Stock 15"x7" rims
3" Body Lift
TT w/ 2" OME rear springs & Warrior shackles

The way I look at it is if I'm paying to get these then I'm going wider. I know that if I go to far out then its going to need somemore trimming. I don't mind trimming tupperware abit more. But don't care to get into trimming the fender.

I've read the previous posts on the spacers. I know of the concerns & possible dangers. I'm a firm believer of you get what you pay for. I've also know people who have had them for years and never had a problem. They also bought the quality ones.

Thanks in advance to everyone!

 

[unabonked]

i have 1.75" spacers on the rear. it helped a lot with stability in turns. even when stock, if i hit a dip too fast i hit my fender. not bad but you can still hear it.

i will probably take these off when i get my lift and mudders.

 

[JoshC]

I've been thinking about these for the rear of mine too, when they say like 1.25" is that total or per wheel?

 

[unabonked]

thats per side/wheel my wheels are a total of 3.5" away from eachother then in the stock position.

 

[jimbo74]

wit hthat big of a tire, isnt just time to upgrade to new rims? personally i would...... you already know the safety issues.... but wouldnt it just be easier and safer? how is the wear on your tires? a 12.5 wide tire on a 7" rim is almost never heard of, b/c that is way too much tire for that rim......

 

[lonestar]

That's what I was thinking. Just get some wider rims to fit your wider tires with a different offset. No need for spacers. Spacers are unsafe. 12.5" tires on a 7" rim is dangerous. Unsafe + dangerous = asking for trouble.

 

[jimbo74]

i personally work in the industry... and i dont think a 7" rim with 12.5" tires is unsafe, just think its odd, as it will cuase funny wear... i would get new rims... and not have to deal with spacers...... to me, the high quality spacers just mean that now i have 40 lugs to torque instead of 20...... too much work, just buy new wheels... a set of wagon wheels or rockcrawlers actually may not cost too much more than high quality spacers...... and also, you could hten sell your stock rims and possibly break even and have new rims and not have to have spacers at all... and it will put less strain on the tires and give you a bigger contact patch......

 

[GJarrett]

Good spacers are not unsafe. The quality ones that have the centering lip to keep the pressure on the hub and not the cheapo ones that strain the lug bolts are just fine and no different than running a different backspacing. MANY of us have used them in abusive wheeling situations with no problems.

7" wide rims are pushing it; be aware that you will probably not have an even tread. I ran metric equivalent of 12" wide tires (295/75r16) on 16x7 rims with no problems, but that's as far as I would want to go with it.

To answer your question, take a good look at your turning clearance before going too wide. I ran 1" spacers with 33" tires and trimmed a lot of plastic in the rear of my front fenderwells. I highly suspect that a 2" spacer will require sheetmetal trimming.

Or buy new rims for cheaper than good spacers. I'm wearing 15x8 Star chrome rockcrawlers ($47 each) with 3.75" backspacing and don't have to worry about keeping twice as many lugs torqued down anymore.

 

['95Xplorer]

I am thinking about getting spacers as well! I'm thinking only on the rear? does it even out the stance? I may be wrong but does the front tires look wider or stick out more than the rear?

 

[jimbo74]

95, actually probably... most cars have one axle wider than the other one......

 

[Alto]

I keep for getting forgetting not everyone knows that I'm working & living in Saudi Arabia right now.

I would purchase new rims but the price they want for a set of 4 rims would cost me around...
$1000-$1500 purchased here!
$700-$1000 bought & shipped here from USA(thats for $50 rockcrawlers) the aluminium would be cheaper to ship but would still cost more!
$275 for Spacers bought & shipped here from Performance Wheel.

As for the 33"12.5"x15" tire on the Stock Rims I have no problems. They seem to wear fine. They wear even, maybe alittle fast but that is only because of the heat on the road & and riding in the sand. The tires don't wear any faster that any of the other guys tires here.

 

[Magnus]

I also think my standard (export) 98 expolrer could do with a bit of 'beefing up' - I was thinking that a set of spacers could do the trick. Are they beneficial to handling, as suggested by the salesmen or do they cause problems down the track?

Will this exert additional stress on the power steering - it already creaks like an old woman (no offense intended to old women).