To buy or not to buy wheel spacers and why

Wheel spacers do not affect the suspension. The "spacer" that affects the suspension is a spacer lift, which is put in above the coils on a coil-over. I ran wheel spacers when I had 255's on my 4runner and never had any issues. I had to remove them when I switched to 295's to reduce rubbing. Debris kicked onto the body gets worse, but that is obvious because part of your tire sits outside the body once you put a spacer in.

 

Usually it is to keep factory backspaced wheels with non-factory sized tires, for example on my jeep tj rubicon and factory rubicon wheels I went to a 35 12.50 tire(Much wider) so to minimize rubbing on control arms etc the backspacing needed to change. I used Spidertrax spacers on 2 different jeeps for this purpose to run factory wheels and wheeled them hard as well as daily drove. Follow the instructions, torque properly, and periodically pull the wheels and check the lugs/re-torque if needed. Don't go ebay cheapo spacer route. You get what you pay for.

 

Just an FYI, that probably doesn't effect 1% of the folks on this forum but deserves being mentioned - Direct Tire will NOT touch a car that has wheel spacers. Learned that the hard way with my 370Z when I had a blowout. Limped over to Discount Tire, told they would/could not touch the tire so I had to remove it myself in the rain while wearing a suit.

It's a corporate liability policy for them. Not sure what other national tire stores' policies are, but just wanted folks to know.

BTW - Never had a problem, other than that noted above, with my spacers. They were hub-centric with extended replacement studs. I would not use spacers that bolt on using the original studs.

 

You must have missed my post (hard to believe, only 6 pages ), but my DT actually installed mine and has done numerous rotations, balances, and a new set of tires installed with the spacers on. Whenever I go in I also ask them to ensure that they re-torque the spacers. No comments or problems at all.

 

Moving the contact patch of the tire further away from the wheel bearings increases the moment around the wheel bearings.... increasing the load at the bearing.... kinda like a longer crow bar makes pulling a nail, opening a crate, lifting something heavy, etc... easier.

Personally, I feel that the extra bolted joint doesn't help things. I definitely prefer no spacers. I also don't want the tires sticking out more than needed. Less is better.

 

With any spacer 1" or thinner, you cannot use extended studs. The OEM studs project beyond the spacer. On 3/4" spacers, the OEM studs may even need to have 1/8" ground off the end if wheels do not have a relief cut on back side of where they contact the spacer.

I ran Bora 1" spacers for nearly 100K miles with stock studs. NEVER had one loosen. NEVER had a tire shop balk at doing work on truck. NEVER had a problem. NEVER used lock-tite. Unless you have an ongoing issue with lug nuts falling off, you won't have problems with the nuts holding the spacers. 99.9% of these mythological "issues" are anecdotal 3rd party comments from people who repeat what they heard from other people who have never used a wheel spacer. The balance of reported "issues" come from people who are a threat to human life when they have a screwdriver in their hands.

For every one story about alleged issues, I can find you 1000 people who've used them with NO issues.

And...Too many people assume an additional 1" or two of track width is well beyond acceptable limits. The hubs are not built so under engineered that a minor change in track causes failure. With wheels that widen track width, I no longer NEED spacers. That said, I wouldn't hesitate one second from using them. Actual high use experience has taught me that they are NOT a risk. Only risk is someone who shouldn't even own a wrench gets ahold of them. In that case, NOTHING is idiot proof.

 

Good reminder. I'd forgotten to post that. I have 3/4" spacers, but my wheels do have the between-lug reliefs.

 

I purchased Spidertrax spacers, I see a lot of you using Bora, is there any difference?

 

I figured as much. The reason I asked was one post that stood out while I was researching spacers on 3rd gen ORs (from this thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/anyone-put-wheel-spacers-on-a-3rd-gen.496705/#post-17995914):

Thanks for the info, fellas! It's much appreciated!

 

BORA offers more choices in thickness. (3 sizes thinner than Spidertrax offers) Other than that, they are BOTH of good quality, and both seem to be within pennies of each other, cost wise...

 

Ok good, Thank you!

 

It's no different than having a rim with a bigger offset. You notice it rides differently. If your tires stick out past the fenders wells you're going to get some mud/debris kicked up.

 

Must be different for you for whatever. I posted this earlier: I went to America's Tire, and they had no issues working on my truck with bolt on spacers. They said they wouldn't touch the other kind though.

 

Sorry I missed your post. Just getting old I guess.

The difference in my case, was that my spacers were not bolt on.

 

You make a great point; my spacers were not bolt on. For some reason, bolt on were frowned upon for track days.

 

"reliefs" That's what they're called! Thank you for this, I currently have 1.25" spacers on my truck, and I have the .75" Bora's sitting around waiting to be installed. Was wondering about stud fitment, and figured that those recesses would give me enough clearance for whatever amount of stud sticks out. Thanks for giving me a name and the kind-of-confirmation that they'll probably fit without issues!

 

just as a reference, these are the kind they wouldn't touch:

$9 White Knight 606-2 Aluminum 4 and 5-Lug Wheel Spacer, 5mm (Pack of 2)

https://www.amazon.com/White-Knight...1&pf_rd_i=15706591&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1

These are terrible, indeed.

 

These are similar to what I had on the Z -

 

Everything I have read and researched regarding spacers is this. Only two brands worth getting...spidertrax or Bora. Next is making sure you use the Red Locktite and torquing the nuts properly. The custom offset guys say they even tow 10k pounds with a truck on spacers with zero issues.

 

Spacers do reduce the effective spring rate at the wheels.

Actually...
Increasing positive scrub radius reduces effective spring rate at the wheel.

If you don't compensate for the added scrub with more toe in, you'll be toe out driving down the road. Both wheels toed out is...not good.