Saw this on another site and wanted to share.


“Wheel spacers are for idiots…!” That’s what I was told when I went into a local rim shop while shopping for new shoes for my G.

An old man behind the counter with a history of plaques, trophies, and photos hung on the wall behind him confirming his past presence in the world of auto racing explained to me why it was that in this new era of auto enthusiasts, many of us who search and seek out wheels spacers for the purpose of “looks” end up dampening the performance and handling factor of today’s prestigious automotive machines.

Now I’m no expert with regards to this, and so what he ended up pitching to support this theory (or fact to him) in all honesty did somewhat match up and made somewhat sense to my elementary knowledge regarding this. In short, he stated that due to the extension of length at which the wheels will now protrude from the hub, aside from the power loss to the wheels as a direct result of power travel (forgot what his technical name of this he had said, but it's the same issue with front engine, RWD cars that lose power inertia through the drive axle), there is the added stress to the suspension components, therefore increase the risk of mechanical failure during aggressive driving conditions (turns, acceleration, braking, etc.).

I will admit that at first it didn’t make much sense, but when he used an extreme example of the situation to paint the picture, I kind of started to buy into this. He used as example all of those late model, low riding Buick Regals, Chevy Monte Carlos, and so on that drive around with the tiny 13” multi-spoke wheels and whitewalls sticking way out of the fender area. I’m sure most of you guys have seen them right? Well using those vehicles as examples, he asked that rim size factor aside, “how do you think those axles and other suspension components are taking the stress factor when the vehicle faces emergency maneuvering situations, or the driver want to perform some aggressive driving for the fun of it?”. Then an a full picture image of the situation started to make somewhat sense to me.

Now as he stated, of course in comparison to what I was asking for with regards to wheel spacer size, those low riders in the example provided are extreme, but the basic concept is there. Factor in the fact that today’s vehicles for which we search and seek out these spacers are designed from manufacturers for everyday driving and occasional aggressive/emergency situations that may arise, therefore incorporating “weaker” and more cost efficient parts and components that all in all, compose the suspension designs of our vehicles. Adding per say an extra ½ to 1” extension at each wheel hub may not seem as much to us, but in the grand scheme of things in relation to the mechanical components of the suspension, it’s quite a bit of hardship.

Whew…!!! What do you guys think? Yay or Nay on wheels spacers? I know we’ve probably all heard horror stories with regards to these and the dangers of having a wheel fly out while rolling if not bolted and tightened up right, but with all that and the preventive measures one could possibly take, are they still worth it? Safety and performance wise that is.



As for me, I would never use spacers. The idea of trying to make something fit that doesn't is not my idea of correctness. You buy wheels that fit the way you want. End of story.
What do you guys think?

 

I run spacers.... No disrespect to the guy, but he might have a lot of actual "modding" experience, but he has no idea where his logic comes from.

RWD and FWD cars accelerates differently based on how close the center of mass is to the wheel that carries the forward accelerating force, thus a front heavy and front engined RWD car will accelerate slower than a rear engine rear heavy RWD car or a FWD front heavy car. The distance from the center of mass to the point of acceleration force is a factor in the car's maximum acceleration.

But if he meant exactly drive axle interia...

I have no idea what he meant by drive axle inertia? If you take the length of the axle as the z axis, the top to bottom as Y axis, and left to right as X axis, the rotational inertia about the rotating axis zz is very tiny even with a massive increase in length...

There is added stress to the suspension components, mainly the studs.

However with certain spacers where it bolts on to the the original studs, and then having their own studs, the shear stress is effectively reduced (though still experience higher stress, so studs needs to be of good quality alloys). The only problem is running a single extended stud on a thick spacer, that will increase the shear stress on the studs tremendously.

I consulted with the mechanical engineering department professors regarding this issue last year before I got my spacers, so its A okay.

 

i use them to get the perfect flushness for my wheels, it's hard to buy the exact wheel you want with the perfect offset without spending a TON of money for custom made offsets adn widths.
i use the kind that are hubcentric and bolt to the original hubs, no problems, and ride smooth.

 

I have heard that the hubcentric spacers do reduce stress and flex providing a stable and smooth ride.
But wouldn't it be better to get wheels that fit the way you like them?

 

I have 15mm & 20mm on stock wheels on an AWD IS250.
No issues so far. I've built allot of high power cars, and probably would not use spacers on a car you were going to put 500+hp in...And I have a question, Can anyone point out a case were the spacers failed? Or a part failed because of the spacer? I'm not talking about the spacer coming off because they didn't check the wheel, but failure do to the spacer?
I can't think of anyone...

 

Don't know about a spacer caused failure but I can say I tried them once. The car felt unstable and like it needed an alignment. I though it would only get worse and took them off.

 

Using spacers can be a band aid with bad medicine in it. It's no different than using the wrong offset. When the suspension was designed, the engineer put the centerline of the wheel concentric with the centerline of the wheel bearing. This provides equal loading to the bearing in service and means the bearing is not biased inside or outside, so it will live the longest possible life.

Using spacers that move the centerline of the wheel away from the centerline of the bearing is the same as using a wheel with the wrong offset and results in the same issues - scrub radius is changed because the tire is not pivoting at the center of the tread, and this wreaks havoc with all the work the engineer did to make the car handle predictably. Also, the wheel bearing load is now uneven. It is biased either inside or outside, so the service life of the bearing is less than what it would be if the wheel and bearing were concentric. How much less depends on rpm, load, and exactly how far off the centerlines are, but in all cases, the wheel bearing is living under duress.

If you are correcting an improper offset with a spacer so you bring the wheel centerline concentric with the wheel bearing, you've solved a problem. If you are using a spacer for cosmetics and it moves the wheel off the bearing centerline, expect your car will not handle as well as one that doesn't and expect your wheel bearings will wear out sooner than if you left it alone.

 

i would absolutely love to have wheels that fit perfectly without spacers, but the cost is prohibitive. getting custom widths and offsets made is pretty pricey esp. when the off the shelf version of the wheel is about $1000 ea to begin with. i don't know if you're familiar with vip style but every mm of flushness counts when fitting wheels and sometimes spacers are necessary for it to be perfect.

 

I guess that means VIP is not proper for the car.
It certainly doesn't look proper. It looks like you're doing something wrong. It looks kinda cool but it still looks wrong......in my opinion.
No put down to anyone who likes it. Do your thing.

 

yeah vip is very hard on a car. we usually cut and pull the fenders, some people even go as far as to modifiy control arms for more camber to really get the wheel inside the fender.
it's not a good thing at all but for those of us who love it, it's the only way to look!
that is kinda the idea too, for people who don't get it to think that the car is messed up and over the top.

that being said, that is the only application where i woudl use wheel spacers. since vip cars are not driven hard or even daily , the spacers don't affect it as much as the ywould a hard driven street car or race car.
for a performance application i would never use spacers.

i almost forgot, i would also use spacers in an off road truck that isn't street driven to get the wheels to tuck into the fenders at full articulation without hitting control arms.