Wheel Spacers

[COUNTRYTBLS]

All this information is great!


COUNTRYTBLS

[COUNTRYTBLS]

Thanks Hardtrailz for suggesting this to me!!! Greatly appreciated!!!


COUNTRYTBLS

[Rcklssrdnck84]

Ok I'm still new to all this off road builds, but I want my tb to be very versitale. I currently have a 05 TB EXT. At first I was dead set against wheel spacers due to horror stories I've heard in the past. But now cruising this forum y'all got me thinking about it. Ultimately my question is what are the pros and cons of going with a wheel spacer? What extra wear does it put on suspension/ drivetrain components? My truck is currently stock everything but plan on a smaxx 2.5 level kit and z71 shocks and springs for the rear.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Spacers are required for larger than about 30.5 inch tires.

Personally I do not know of any cons or proof of additional wear. In theory they should cause some but a lift n larger tires likely cause more so can't really attribute anything to spacers.

[bartonmd]

Any off-center pressure will be hard on bearings with the races so close together, like they are on pretty much any hub/bearing like ours. Not such a big deal on the old Dana 60, because the inner and outer bearings are like 5" apart, but most hub/bearings have little to no space in between them, so any off-center loading is hard on them.

Mike

[The Roadie]

...dead set against wheel spacers due to horror stories I've heard in the past. ...

Many hits in Google for people attempting to confirm these "horror stories". Including a thread on ExPo.

Consensus seems to be that the ONLY wheel departures posted about were due to poor stud torquing by owners who then failed to recheck the torque after some short time.

How often do you hear about breaking even ONE stud that wasn't under- or over-torqued? Never. So multiply that times two for the additional studs, and you still get nothing.

The additional wear can't be quantifed because there have never been any controlled experiments or data analysis.

[v7guy]

in a nut shell, use em and do it properly, torque em down with some blue locktite on the inners. Then torque down the outers. Toss a little anti seize on the lip of the spacers to make getting the wheel on and off easy. Then put on some bigger tires and have a good time!

This is one of those internet stories that still roam around, "my wheel fell off and I got spacers, it was definitely the spacer cause I couldn't be an idiot". It's happened to a few people through negligence and it eventually blew up into "don't use wheel spacers or everyone is gonna die!"


As far as additional wear goes, yes, it probably does reduce bearing life somewhat. But so does bigger heavier wheels, so does bigger heavier tires, so does off roading and life.

[HARDTRAILZ]

How often do you hear about breaking even ONE stud that wasn't under- or over-torqued? Never. So multiply that times two for the additional studs, and you still get nothing.

I had 6 correctly torqued studs snap off at one time.








Might of had something to do with a Detroit locker and 35 inch Swampers trying to turn on dry pavement.

[HARDTRAILZ]

in a nut shell, use em and do it properly, torque em down with some blue locktite on the inners. Then torque down the outers. Toss a little anti seize on the lip of the spacers to make getting the wheel on and off easy.

I have never used Loctite nor had an adaptor loosen up after being properly torqued. Never used Loctite on any lug nut ever actually. Never would. I treat all the lug nuts as lug nuts and they all work accordingly. Whether they hold a wheel or an adaptor on, they are still just lug nuts.

I like to be able to swap to different wheels and have quite a few times over the years, so I do not waste time with getting a wheel centric lip. If you do not plan to swap wheels ever, I can see it being an ok addition, but I have not had an issue without the lip in 70,000 miles of running adaptors with big heavy wheels and tires.

[Moots1288]

in a nut shell, use em and do it properly, torque em down with some blue locktite on the inners. Then torque down the outers. Toss a little anti seize on the lip of the spacers to make getting the wheel on and off easy.

I have never used Loctite nor had an adaptor loosen up after being properly torqued. Never used Loctite on any lug nut ever actually. Never would. I treat all the lug nuts as lug nuts and they all work accordingly. Whether they hold a wheel or an adaptor on, they are still just lug nuts.

I like to be able to swap to different wheels and have quite a few times over the years, so I do not waste time with getting a wheel centric lip. If you do not plan to swap wheels ever, I can see it being an ok addition, but I have not had an issue without the lip in 70,000 miles of running adaptors with big heavy wheels and tires.

I as well do not see a need for locktite on any lug nut. My wheel does not sit on the lip either.

[Edubarajas]

I bought my wheel spacers on ebay for $109 free shipping. I know Mark makes quality parts but for some of us we don't have much $$$ to spend. They seem to be holding good had Les Schwab put them on and torqued them. Going back every 3k miles for rotations which they torque them again. No studs braking or spacers splits. Material: 6061T6 Billet Aluminum - CNC Machined. Pm for more info!

[DustinC1989]

My goal is to not run spacers.

But if(when) I ever break down and go bigger where I'll need them, I'll save and get them from Mark. Regardless of not having much $$$.

We don't even talk about the eBay spacers around here because of issues that have came up

[Edubarajas]

Point noted!

[The Roadie]

I bought my wheel spacers on ebay for $109 free shipping. I know Mark makes quality parts but for some of us we don't have much $$$ to spend. They seem to be holding good had Les Schwab put them on and torqued them. Going back every 3k miles for rotations which they torque them again. No studs braking or spacers splits. Material: 6061T6 Billet Aluminum - CNC Machined. Pm for more info!

who was the vendor? Not EZaccessory I hope.

[v7guy]

in a nut shell, use em and do it properly, torque em down with some blue locktite on the inners. Then torque down the outers. Toss a little anti seize on the lip of the spacers to make getting the wheel on and off easy.

I have never used Loctite nor had an adaptor loosen up after being properly torqued. Never used Loctite on any lug nut ever actually. Never would. I treat all the lug nuts as lug nuts and they all work accordingly. Whether they hold a wheel or an adaptor on, they are still just lug nuts.

I like to be able to swap to different wheels and have quite a few times over the years, so I do not waste time with getting a wheel centric lip. If you do not plan to swap wheels ever, I can see it being an ok addition, but I have not had an issue without the lip in 70,000 miles of running adaptors with big heavy wheels and tires.

I as well do not see a need for locktite on any lug nut. My wheel does not sit on the lip either.

I think it was pretty obvious that if you didn't have a hub/wheel centric spacer that you wouldn't bother putting anti seize on the non existent lip. But it was worth noting since nearly every post in this thread recommended the markmc spacer and they do have the lip, especially in light of the recent posts we've had about wheels getting stuck and/or being difficult to remove. In the context of this thread I stand by my suggestion.

As far as loctite goes, the wheel stud and the lug nut is a fastener. Plain and simple, it's not some special voodoo magic. If you have a fastener that needs to not come off and it's only rarely going to be removed then it makes sense to throw some blue loctite on to ensure it stays put but can still be removed without heat... much like any other fastener. If you see yourself routinely taking something apart, then of course it doesn't make sense to use it. In my case my spacers have been off once since I lifted. So why not. I've had no trouble in a good 50,000 miles.

From what I've seen on the board, my scenario with the markmc spacer/adapter that is virtually never removed, with a wheel that doesn't change style every 6 months to a year is vastly more common than the scenario of multiple setups that are regularly changing. So my advice is pretty sound. lol

[Rcklssrdnck84]

Ok so if I stay away from spacers what off set rims should I look for so I would be able to run 255/75/17s?

[HARDTRAILZ]

-64

[v7guy]

It was early, so Kyle may be a lil foggy.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=26

keep in mind that 1" equals 25.4 mm. Then you can just round up for safety

If our sticky doesn't help there's a nifty tool here that can help you visualize things a bit better as you play with wheel width and offset/backspace.
http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

[HARDTRAILZ]

Not foggy, just not willing to coddle him. We have plenty of info on the site for him to figure out what he needs.

Proper offset is not even something that could be answered since we do not know what width rims he is planning to use.

However. I am fairly certain ANY rim with -64 offset will clear the balljoint

[Rcklssrdnck84]

I don't need coddling by any means... just a general question. I'm sorry I thought this was a place to ask questions... I didn't know and I didn't see it anywhere else.