Wheel spacers for off road use

I have a set of 255/85/16 toyo open country MT’s that are dedicated for trail use. The issue I have is that they’re very narrow. They do not protrude from the fenders whatsoever and for off road use, I kind of would like them to. Going into heavy off camber ruts and having the side of my truck right on the wall isn’t a pleasant feeling. Having the tires stick out a little farther so that they will make contact with the wall and not the entire side of the truck is the goal. I have read good things about bora/spidertrax however most people are using them for looks. What’s the overall consensus of using them for off road ?

 

You need a jeep, my friend.

 

If you run a high quality, hub-centric, wheel spacer you're fine. Boras, sypdertrax are good quality. You'll be fine

 

I had the Trail Gear version and they are totally solid. I don't imagine the others are too/any different.

 

No way man. I like to be able to get to the trails and back home if you know what I mean

 

We run BORA on many builds and wheel every single one of them. Never had one issue. This is even on Long Travel rigs where they get some air and crawl harder than pictured. Modest size quality wheel spacers properly installed are nothing to be concerned about.

 

That’s what I want to hear. Thanks a lot

 

Based on your experience with these and the width of the tires I have, what size spacers should I go with ?

 

I had the spidertrax 1.25” spacers on for about 6-8 months and had zero issues with them. No vibrations or anything and I liked them. Only reason I don’t use them any longer is because I went with a -25 offset wheel.

 

Look like you have 33" tires that 'fit'...
They won't 'fit" after spacers that them beyond the fender. Just sayin'

 

I’ve never read a post of someone installing wheel spacers on a Tacoma as a form of off-road armor. From my experience on this forum, people normally install them for purely aesthetic reasons or to fit wider tires.

My personal experience experience is that I installed a pair of rock sliders and otherwise avoid situations where my fenders get into contact with the trail. Jeep Wranglers have an obvious advantage in this regard.

Also note that tires that poke outside your fender tend to toss stuff into the air that ends up on your truck and on everyone directly behind you.

 

Thanks for that. I have sliders already. My fender kissed a wall over the weekend. Nothing major, but if the tires were sticking out further than what they are it likely wouldn’t have happened

 

What do you mean

 

Depends on your wheels. 1.25" gets the lugs on the spacer recessed and puts your outside edge in a similar place to where it would be on a 12.5" wide tire. It may require more trimming/pounding on the lower rear part of the fender. Going bigger than 1.25" will keep widening the track and increase the likelihood of rubbing that spot.

 

I have yet to see a taco with significant wheel poke to act as armor. The reason is likely that you run into wheel well clearance issues as well as scrub radius and perhaps other suspension geometry issues.

 

Going out passed the fenders, there'll be rubbing.

 

People put 255's on thier truck because they fit without modification. 285s and 12.5's typically need CMC, heavily adjusted alignment, smashing the pinchweld etc.

A 1.25" space will basically push your tire out to be line with where a 285 or 12.5 would sit.

 

I found when I had my Jeep I struggled to follow the ruts in the road due to width, but on my tacoma I never had that issue.

I personally don't like wheel spacers, I feel like they act like a fulcrum on the bearing when the truck is leaning like that. No proof or reasoning beyond geometry. A large offset wheel would do the same.

 

If youre on stock rims then 1.25 spacers will be pretty close to the same thing as running -10 offset. Once you go more like 1.5" it will start to become more problematic to clear. But with your narrow width tires it might be fine to do 1.5 as well

Plus a cmc would fix any issues w the skinny 33s anyway.

 

Hmmm… you might be right. I’d hate to buy them and it not work.