Wheel spacers...good or bad?

[ACBlessing]

Hi all:

I was thinking about buying 1" (maybe 1.5") steel wheel spacers to accomplish two things:

1. Looks. It would be nicer to have me wheels out a little farther than stock for that "meaner, wider" stance and,

2. To make up for lost, high-center-of-gravity stability from raising the body and mounting larger tires.

I would appreciate anyone with experience or input to post back.

Thanks, AC

 

[Nate]

From what I've heard they will put some extra wear on your bearings because the 8.8" rears are not full-floating, but I'm tempted to do it myself too. I'd make sure that you're getting quality steel or aluminum though.

 

[Alto]

Very Very Interesting!!!

Wondering the samething myself! Interested in the thread!

 

[ACBlessing]

wheel spacers

Cool! Well I'm glad I'm not the only one! First I'm getting my tires put on. If I get the 285-70s, then no spacers but I don't think my stock wheels are wide enough. So, it appears 265-75-16s will be it for me ( for now).

I want the spacers, like I said, to have a badder, wider stance and to offset lost stability due to added height...just don't want my wheels sticking 3 inches out like some kids and their Hondas.

So now the questions are:

Forged aluminum or steel? And what about floating bearings? I'm lost on that one. Seems like a 1" spacer couldn't hurt much but that's why I'm asking.

One last-minute concern...what about steering geometry? Would I need a steering stabilizer shock and would there be too much play in the steering after going wider with spacers?

Anyone with experience with this would sure be a hero right about now.....


Thanks, AC

 

[Cameron]

Spacers are not a good idea. They will put extra wear on your wheel bearings. An analogy to help explain this is, if you hold a yardstick in the middle, its weight is evenly distributed and you feel little pressure on your fingers. Now, hold that yardstick at one end. You will feel the leverage working against you and an increase in the pressure against your fingers. This is essentially what happens when you put wheel spacers on. They push your tires out further then the manufacture intended. Now you may say 'so what". And that's cool. Putting larger tires on also accelerates wear but many do it anyways. I'm just presenting this to help you make a more informed decision.

Peace

 

[JDraper]

Like Cameron said, adding wheel spacers can increase the wear to your bearings. Moving the wheels out 1" will probably increase the shear force and bending moment applied to the axle where it passes through the bearing by about 25% (If your wheel mounting surface was originally 3" from the bearing, and you now increase it to 4". Eyeball guestimate on the distance ). I know a lot of people run them for the 'look', but in general, it's not a good idea.

 

[ACBlessing]

So then whether I use spacers or wider wheels, the net effect is the same? Greater bearing wear? Okay, well what about going with larger tires whereas the wider width is evenly distributed on the outside and inside of the original center line?

BTY thank you very much for the heads up on bearing wear.

-AC

 

[JDraper]

That would be a better solution 'cause you're not changing the point where the force is applied.

 

[ACBlessing]

Okay, will do, thanks.

-AC

 

[olivesman]

where is a good place to get spacers? i mean quality ones. thanks guys- russel

 

[tbomb]

www.performanceproducts.com has very popular spacers by H&R (a bit pricy though.) many people run these spacers. im gonna be getting them this summer when i install my cobra r's. hope this helps.

 

[Dannyboy]

So from what I have heard here and elsewhere a spacer is bad. How come a different offset on a new set of wheelswill not effect the bearings in the same way? Or does it. I have asked shops around here about these for my last 2 vehicles and both times the answers were the same. I even heard I will shear off my lugs.

 

[Cameron]

Keeping the same width wheel but changing the offset will have the same effect as spacers. Getting wider wheels but having an offset that keeps the wheel center is okay but watch out for rubbing!

The reality is, even if you "push" your wheels out an inch or so, you may decide that the added stress to your bearings is worth the looks, performance or whatever your reason for doing this.

Hell, 70% of the people on this board have bigger tires on their trucks. That stresses all sorts of stuff!

 

[Dannyboy]

OK maybe I should start a new thread but what is the correct way to get your tires to stick out. Say I go to a 15X8 wheel is there a specific backspacing I should look for and how many people really run it. I can't believe Pete's can be to easy those stick out like sore thumbs(in a good way) but Austin and Mr. Fix-it looks good.

 

[samtheham]

Hey man if you want the look, go for it! but know that no matter what manner you use to get those wheels out farther they are gona put more of a beating on your bearings, spindle, and ball-joints. If the look is worth it and you dont drive that abusivlye go for it, bust just plan on maintence to those parts mentioned above, but hey if you do lots of off-road abusive driving anyway, your gona burn them no matter what ,so might as well do it with better looks. just dont plan of getting better contol over your vehicle , the added inch or so that you are talking about will most likly not have any major effect on vehicle stability, it will screw with your steering a little since the wheels will pivot with a diffrent geometry and I have heard of concernes about the nuts loosning and danger with sheered lugs. most people that I have heard of have to use loctite on the inner nuts that hold the spacer to the car, this will also give an added headache when tring to remedy any problems that you might have with the front hubs. just putting in my 3 or 4 cents worth -sam

 

[91XJ4ltr]

MORE spacers

When going for wheel spacers make sure you get the ones that bolt to your current wheel studs and have new Studs drilled into them. M.O.R.E makes a kit for Jeeps that allows them to run your guys 8.8 rear axle, so you can buy these spacers and safely have a wider stance. The main problem with Wheel spacers is when you buy cheap ones that they slip onto your current wheel studs and take away the amount of threads that the Lug Nuts bolt onto. Hope this helps, however the price of good spacers is about $120 a pair, so it depends on how much you like your current wheels. In most situations it's just a little more expensive to get all new wheels with custom Backspacing. Either way it'll put more stress on your Bearings but in most cases it's not enough to warrent not spacing your wheels out. E-mail me if you have any more questions.