Wheel Spacers - How much is too much?

[nwcherokee]

If i run 2" wheel spacers in the rear, am I in danger of shearing or breaking anything?

Here's the deal...
The wheel & tire setup i'm running gives me less than 1/16" of clearance between the rear leafs & the tire. I bought a cheap set of 1/4" spacers for like $8, but it still rubs under flex & I don't like using them because they are universal, making them hard to balance & it also only allows for a bite of only 3-4 threads max on the lugs. I've been lucky so far not to break off a stud or have a wheel fall off while twisting things up. Recently I was cleaning out my garage & found a set of 2" aluminum (chinese made) wheels spacers that are the same bolt pattern. I threw them on because rather than spending the money on Spidertrax, I have some other necessities that need fixing first. Now my concern is that there is going to be too much stress on the whole setup. Any opinions or experience with this anyone?

 

[dukie564]

If you indeed don't break anything, you will definitely go though bearings a lot quicker. Hubs weren't designed to be loaded eccentrically, moving the wheel load out that far induced a large amount of stress on the bearings that they weren't designed for. The also usually cause vibration and balance issues.

That being said, 2" isn't THAT bad, i would keep it 1" or less though, especially if you are unsure of the quality of the spacer. If it's a 2-piece spacer, you have to remember to maintain and tighten both sets of lug nuts at each wheel (the inner ones WILL come loose if you don't).

Basically, get rid of the chinese crap. Your life isn't worth it. Either get good quality spacers ( 6061-T6 Aluminum ) that are just thick enough to fix your issue, or put the money toward some properly backspaced wheels.

 

[nwcherokee]

dukie - I appreciate your comments. I would rather spend the money on the proper spacers than switch out the wheels. I waited for months for a set of these wheels to show up for sale. I'm already running a pair of Spidertax up front. I will get a pair for the rear in the near future. I still have a few more things that need repairing before I can drop money on these. Thanks

 

[old_man]

2x on Spidertrax

 

[Porch951]

Running wheel spacers of x" is no different than having a wheel that's x" less offset! But, i would buy good spacers or the correct length studs.

 

[FloydXJ]

Running wheel spacers of x" is no different than having a wheel that's x" less offset! But, i would buy good spacers or the correct length studs.

He's right. Do you know what the overall backspace is including spacers? People generally do not start worrying a lot about the wheel bearings until you are under 3.5" of backspace or so.
X100 on the above - torque both sets of lugs OFTEN, and do not use the chinese who-knows stuff.

 

[korn9613]

i made 1.5's for mine, actually one rear is 2" to make the rear end look more centered. someone put a toyota rear end in and didnt get it perfect. i have had no problems at all, i even used a softer 5052 aluminum. your sandwiching the spacer so that most likely will not fail. 1.5-2" wont be enough to do major damage to bearings. in a technical world yes thats not good for them but you should be just fine.

 

[austinaubinoe]

Check out the spidertrax "outlet" section. My buddy ordered some and they honestly look perfect. Only run spacers if your trying to keep the stock wheels, or are running an 8.8.

 

[Goatman]

Wheel spacers work just fine.......until they don't work.

I've seen too many of them come off to count. They add stress, and they require maintenance.

 

[smccollamjr]

I'm looking for a set of 0.75" spacers to even out my 8.8. Anybody got a link for a set?

 

[Shogun]

You spec the size, lug thread length, thread pitch, whatever. He knows his wheels, bombproof good;

http://www.wheeladapter.com/

 

[dukie564]

I'm looking for a set of 0.75" spacers to even out my 8.8. Anybody got a link for a set?

i looked, you actually can't get a set of spacers less than 1" thick that are safe (wheel studs get too long).

I highly recommend Spidertrax (1.25") spacers if you need the extra clearance.

 

[smccollamjr]

I was looking for a spacer that doesn't have any studs, but the biggest I can find is 1/2"

 

[snail]

I've ran and trust SpiderTrax over anything else. USE LOCTITE EVERY TIME THE SPACERS ARE INSTALLED

 

[XJEEPER]

I was looking for a spacer that doesn't have any studs, but the biggest I can find is 1/2"

Wheel spacers are for idiots......don't be one.

Billet wheel adapters are what you are looking for and 1" is the narrowest that I've seen on the market.

I've run the same set of 1.25" billet wheels adapters on 2 Jeeps, for a total of 8 years. They are made of 6061 Aluminum and I have never had them come loose. I don't use locktite on the threads, simply take the time to torque the lugnuts to 95 lb/ft whenever they are removed. They have not caused premature wear of my unit bearings.

eace:

 

[korn9613]

Wheel spacers are for idiots......don't be one.

Billet wheel adapters are what you are looking for and 1" is the narrowest that I've seen on the market.

I've run the same set of 1.25" billet wheels adapters on 2 Jeeps, for a total of 8 years. They are made of 6061 Aluminum and I have never had them come loose. I don't use locktite on the threads, simply take the time to torque the lugnuts to 95 lb/ft whenever they are removed. They have not caused premature wear of my unit bearings.

eace:

wow, thats a bold statement. what do you think adapters are? and by the way, the wheel spacers/wheel adapters you buy out there are all billet, unless you by cast or a mold, which is never the case. spacers/adapters are all turned out of one piece of material, thus being billet, do some research before you throw bs out there like you just did. if you have the stud length to put a spacer on, you can do it, too thin of a spacer and you wont have a choice of adding new studs to it.

 

[dukie564]

pretty sure he was referring to the shitty slip on spacers people put on their cars - the ones without studs that simply move the tire outwards on the existing studs. I agree that there is no danger with the hub-centric thicker type that have separate studs, so long as it's a quality 1-piece product, but using the thinner washer type with the stock studs is incredibly dangerous (less threads to grab onto, inducing moment forces into a stud designed only for shear, etc.) and i wouldn't recommend it.