Miker--when you get rid of your spacers I'll buy 'em off you and eventually complete my squared set up with the 9" wide OEM rims all the way around.

As for the spacer haters, I agree that the spacers "change things", but so do different offset or wider wheels, and no one seems to have a problem with aftermarket rims.

Ive been on performance car forums for quite a long time and have literally come across hundreds upon hundreds of spacer users and never have I heard of a failure, in fact not even from lesser quality spacers. There are always the links to posts floating around out there touting failures, however, they seem to be myths, misinstallations or faulty equipment, I would have zero problems running the set up that Miker has.

 

^^^^Guess you missed the two links on the first page

Lou

 

You mean the link about Ichiba garbage spacers? Yeah we addressed that. Don't buy ****.

 

While I will agree hub bearing integrity can be compromised, this is no different than running a wheel of the same offset simulated by the spacer. Extended studs SHOULD NOT experience any additional load with the spacer UNLESS the lugs are not tightened and the coefficient of friction between the spacer/wheel and the hub is reduced or eliminated (i.e loose lug). In your the moment arm you are trying to incorrectly visualize the wheel sitting on the studs, which is incorrect. Due to clamping force that can generate up to 54000lbs per wheel using the equation T=KDP and a coefficient of friction of .45 for the wheel to hub you are looking at a vertical load resistance somewhere around 24500 lbf per wheel calculated using F=uN. This clamping force is also what is keeping the wheel from rotating separately form the hub. So unless you are generating 24000 lbs to break that friction force and actually apply force to the stud I wouldn't worry. Please spare the talk down on millennials and end of the world safety speeches. Real math will tell you whether it is safe or not. If your running around with loose lugs you have more problems than extended studs.

-Resident automotive engineer

 

^^^makes sense.

The RX7 video posted almost looks like a joke. The three severed lugs from the other post--something else had to be going on there. Even if the OP stated he checked his lugs regularly, stranger things have happened. I had a friend that had the reverse cable in his Firebird maliciously disconnected by someone. Maybe someone was in the process of trying to steal his wheels and didn't finish the job, maybe someone loosened his lugs maliciously. There are likely as many alternative explanations as the original conclusion. And agreed that wider wheels with different offsets place more strain on wheel hub components, but no one seems to worry about that.

 

I'll still use them with my OEM wheels & street tires most of the year... Track wheels/tires will likely be dedicated to track days only (or maybe for short periods of time in the summer if doing multiple events).

-Mike

 

This almost inspired me to do a free body diagram... Almost.

 

What tires are you currently running for track days and what tires will you buy for the track setup? Thanks

 

I'm currently running Michelin PSS, 255/275. They'll become my year 'round tires & wet track day set-up. I'm not yet sure what I'll get for dry track tires, but they'll likely be something nice & sticky (R compound), and not suited for rain. Though, I'll probably stick with something DOT legal rather than a full-on slick so I can have the option to run them to/from the closer tracks during nice weather.

-Mike

 

Hey Mike, I would jump up to a extreme summer tire before going full R-comp. This way you can transition from a tire that gives ALOT of feedback (PSS) to a R-comp. It have heard feedback that something like a RE-71R extreme summer tire is better than R-comps like the sport cups or pirelli trofeo R. The gap between DOT r-comps and some of the newer extreme summer tires is alot less than it was a few years ago. Even a tire like the AD08R or RE-11s will be much better than the PSS on track while also allowing you to do more than 2 track weekends before replacing tires.

 

That's probably a good idea.. Also, considering I'll run a squared set-up with track wheels, the car should begin to rotate easier so I'll need to get used to that too.. Retaining some of that feedback from the tires will help. I definitely want to keep my baby on the pavement Thanks.

-Mike

 

I can't wait for someone's panties to get in a bunch and start posting links to old threads if they haven't already

 

Haha,see above, apparently someone already has their panties in a bunch.