Wheel Spacers & Oversized Tire Fitment

I am starting to get more rubbing on the driver's side as the lift seems to continue to settle.

My Pre-Lift specs were;
On level ground with stock bumper and headlights removed and 3/4 tank of gas are;
LF 20"
RF 20.5"
LR 21.5"
RR 22"
A bit of the Taco lean...the OME kit came with 1/4" spacer pre-installed on the driver's side which gives you 1/2" additional lift to accommodate for the Taco Lean.

Post Lift I sit at 23.5" front and 24" in the rear measured from the center of the hub with a full tank. I assume this has settled a bit more since I last took the measurement.
255 80 R17 tire and wheel set up.

My questions pertains to using wheel spacers to gain tire "clearance" inside the wheel-well. At the risk of sounding dumb, will moving the wheel and tire "out" a touch gain me some clearance down where a mud flap would attach at the front of the vehicle when making a left, full lock turn?

If so, given the lift and tire size above...what size and brand spacer would the hive recommend?

Thanks!

 

Just take the mud flaps off! They will rip off sooner or later anyway.

I'm running 255/85/16 and I took off the front mud flaps and no issues rubbing.

 

You're going to have to pull the mudflap off. Spacers won't help that, and under some circumstances could make the rubbing worse.

 

Mudflap is long gone.

 

Simplest, cheapest, and quickest thing for you to stop the rubbing is just remove the offending areas.

The reality of fitting tires is its impossible to say what kind of tire/wheel combo is going to rub and where. Even if your tire has an industry spec size of 255 80 R17, the actual manufacurer specifications will vary. In some industry sizes the measurements can actually vary by as much as .5" in diameter and width, running a tire at the "larger" end of that spectrum is going to get you more rubbing than what the peanut gallery says.

 

Basically all Tacomas with identical options are all built the same. Tires, wheels, lifts, UCA's, each brand's specific part number measures exactly the same, so OP you need to write every single specific detail of year, brand, model, size, etc... of your truck and hope someone else has the exact same equipment, otherwise there's way too many variables to tell you exactly how much if any you'll need to cut.

 

2007 DCLB
LIFT -- OME 3" KIT 90002 shocks with 886 springs up front.
Light Racing Upper Control Arms
Brute Force Fab front bumper and Smitty Built 9500lb winch
255/85/16 tires and rims

More info https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2007-done-for-now.556299/

 

I guess I was hoping wheel spacers would be like suspension...1/4" spacer gets you 1/2" lift type thing.

 

Im new... just sold my hilux to get a taco. Im looking at wheels but have questions. In this thread you said "taco lean" what is that

 

It would if all wheels had the same offset/backspacing and if all tires had the same height and width. Wheel spacers kick the tire out which in turn kicks the tire further forward or backward depending on which direction the truck is turning. I trimmed my truck's fenders without wheel spacers and retrimmed them again after installing wheel spacers. The difference was at least an inch more cutting in front of and behind the tire.

 

If you do end up going with spacers, you could use a bunch of washers to determine the thickness needed. I suggest DON’T drive around with washers, bad things could happen.

I’ve seen some pretty crappy off the shelf spacers, super soft, ready to crack. Summit has nice billet spacers I used, never had any issues with them.

But then my studs were short, after installing the lug nuts didn’t have any stud sticking out, which made me uncomfortable. So out with the stock studs, in with arp longer studs. Now I’m comfortable but my hub caps won’t go on because too much stud sticking out. I decided I can live without hub caps, can’t live with wheels falling off.

 

Toyota put the battery, gas tank, spare tire, and the driver are all on the same side of the truck. Most Tacomas will eventually sit lower on the driver's side versus the passenger side.

Various companies make thin front strut spacers to correct the Taco lean.

 

Wheel spacers take away room in the wheelwell.

Tacomas require hub centric wheel spacers. Tacomas hub diameter is 106mm, you'll need hub centric wheel spacers with a hub bore of 106.1-106.25.

 

I just put on some 1.25" spacers in the front. 3" 5100/5160 lift, 285/75r16 no cmc, tubular UCA. I believe your specified tire dimensions have the same height profile as mine.

Without the spacers after initially installing the wheels, i rubbed like a mf'er.

With the spacer, i REALLY rubbed like a mf'er.

Most of it was plastic and I went ahead and hammered in the bottom fender flare bolt. Went swimmingly. Like DG92071 has previously stated, you will require a 106.1mm hub centric wheel spacer. Do yourself, your teeth and your wheel bearings a favor and do not use anything other than a hub centric wheel spacer. Spidertrax makes great spacers and I would highly recommend them. There are alot of other cheaper alternatives as well but be wary.

 

I used these, they were on sale for around $105 for 4.
https://usadapters.com/collections/...7-us-wheel-adapters-1-25-106mm-bore-12x1-5-x4

 

Great, you seem to have the correct spacers. The next part will be very fun...

Acquire a good plastic cutting tool/heat gun of your choice. Ensure you move the wheels and check every mm of steering angle for any points of contact between the tire and plastic. Measure twice and cut once. I pray for you that your cab mount does not rub.

 

I already did mine. I cut the f___ out of that mid cab mount. My truck has 37's.

 

If you do go with spacers make sure to buy quality ones and torque them properly... I’ve seen many wheels fly off due to spacer failures.

 

Are you a professional mechanic?

I've never seen 1 professionally made hub centric wheel spacer fail, I've never read an article of one failing, I've never seen a video of one failing, but I've read a ton of people's posts that claim modern hub centric wheel spacers do fail but I have never seen any proof of it, so I'm curious how you've seen "many" fail? I'm not suggesting anything about you and I'm just curious.

 

Yes, I am a heavy truck mechanic. But before and during tech school I worked in a couple tire stores for a total of about 6 years. And it was common for people (mostly stanced imports, and lifted diesel trucks) to have issues with them due to poor quality such as buying the cheapest set possible off of eBay and not torqueing them properly. Usually coming loose and destroying the studs or the spacer it’s self cracking. (Most would usually hear a strange sound and come in before it came off completely)I did see one come apart on a 2500 dodge, the wheel came off going down the road and the truck went straight to the ground. And Also had a 1500 Silverado come in on a wrecker due to the same thing. Thats
why I stressed to buy quality spacers(like spidertrax) And torque them to spec.


Most tire stores in my area now won’t even touch a vehicle that has spacers due to liability.