wheel spacers=bad idea

**red99camaross** · 07-19-2008, 04:21 PM

I called my buddy told him to come pick me up in his newly painted 78/z28 with new rims and a monster 454. he spent like 2 years working on and waiting for this car to be finnished not to mention a ton of cash went into it anyways we drove about a mile down the street and one of the rear wheel spacers let loose and the tire totally destroyed the rear quarter pannel. I felt soooo bad, it wasnt a good scene.

**KING Z28 HAWK** · 07-19-2008, 06:26 PM

Dam! That sucks where did he get them from?

**red99camaross** · 07-19-2008, 08:50 PM

Originally Posted by KING Z28 HAWK

Dam! That sucks where did he get them from?

i dont know where he got them from but it was a one inch spacer

**ggino85** · 07-20-2008, 12:11 AM

ive had a 1/2 inch spacer on my rear wheels for 7 months and no problems, what is it with the spacers that go wrong?

**Mr. Hyde** · 07-20-2008, 02:16 AM

I too also have 1/2" spacers on the rear, although they are a temp. fix to the problem, this is pushing me to get off my ass and fix it correctly. I have never heard of a wheel spacer breaking, but a 1" spacer is pretty big.

**Speedy_Gonzales** · 07-20-2008, 02:18 AM

man that really sucks

**Zboner** · 07-20-2008, 05:32 AM

a 1" wheel spacer is massive

**axxdet** · 07-20-2008, 05:52 AM

Originally Posted by Mr. Hyde

I too also have 1/2" spacers on the rear, although they are a temp. fix to the problem, this is pushing me to get off my ass and fix it correctly. I have never heard of a wheel spacer breaking, but a 1" spacer is pretty big.

I've never heard of them breaking either, did it break or did it just fall of b/c it wasn't tight......

**570SX** · 07-20-2008, 07:09 AM

sorry to hear it. sounds like a sweet car before somebody cheaped out on spacers.

for those of you contemplating spacers:
i don't know how common spacers are in the Z/TA club, but with 240's they're everywhere. basically, they can be okay for a permanent solution, but they have to be:
1) hub-centric. almost impossible to find, but available now at least for 240's because of the demand
2) you HAVE to have good fasteners. i don't run anything but ARP personally, and they don't even offer wheel studs for us (the 240 crowd). those of us that really want ARP's famous goodness get one of a couple of very closely-matching (a few thousandths of an inch off) part numbers, then tack weld the backs of the studs to the hubs.

if you can't find hub-centric spacers (hub-centric on BOTH SIDES), talk to a competent machine shop. it's not hard and doesn't take a lot of material, but it needs to not be done on the lathe by somebody who's not in a rush. anybody who's used a lathe knows what i mean. some machine shops rush things, you know? it won't be particularly cheap, but if you have that expensive set of wheels that you just love the look of, then it might be worth it.

**ggino85** · 07-20-2008, 07:34 AM

i plan on buying a 12 bolt or 9" pretty soon is there anything i can have done to that so i wouldnt need 1/2 inch spacer on the rear tires, is wat 570sx said the only permanent fix??

**Zboner** · 07-20-2008, 07:44 AM

I run a 1/2' spacer and its not a problem

**570SX** · 07-20-2008, 07:46 AM

it's not NECESSARY to work. you can get by with a spacer that is not hub-centric, but for god's sake at least get ARP long studs. if you're drag racing, esp. on slicks, or just putting down a lot of power, i would try to avoid spacers, or at least get some made that are hub-centric.

that's not to say that you can't drag race a 1,000HP car on slicks every weekend for a decade on cheap ebay spacers and ebay long studs, but it's not likely at all. put it this way: if the wheel comes off, your car is going to be really, really messed up. spend the extra couple hundred bucks and do it right, and save yourself several thousand dollars' worth of your wheel falling off and your frame dragging on the ground. not to mention if your wheel hits somebody. just your increased insurance premiums will outweigh the cost of good spacers.

if you still don't want spacers, save up some money for your next mod, but before you buy in, buy a new/used pair of wheels in the correct offset, mount up the tires, then sell your old ones. no down time on the car that way, if you don't have another vehicle to drive.

remember: fast, cheap, reliable. you can have any two.

**570SX** · 07-20-2008, 07:54 AM

it's not super-common to see failed studs with wheel spacers, but it practically never happens without spacers. and when it does happen with spacers, it's often because of cheap studs, or improper installation. when you torque down the nuts, tighten them in 2-3 low tq steps like hand tighten all, then 10ft*lb, then 20, then do 80. do this with the tire off the ground to help it get centered as well as possible. not only will this help eliminate out-of-balance due to wheel not being centered, but will even out the stresses in the studs themselves, to reduce chances of failure.

this is just how i do it. i've never had a failure before, and i'd like to keep it that way. the insurance company would call my car totalled for like $1000 in damage because it's old and cheap, even though it's in great shape (what's left of it) and has some money dumped into it, so i can't afford taking the chance of a wheel falling off. my clutch master is leaking, my oil pan leaks, my manual brake conversion needs a little more work to get perfect brake bias for fastest stopping, but i won't take chances on the wheels themselves. turning, stopping and going are worthless if your rubber isn't on the road.

**hamburger68** · 07-20-2008, 11:59 AM

basically everything has been said here already, just wanna add that the guys who installed my wheels told me to stay away from spacers. our cars have too much torque, and with the extra shim (a spacer is essentially that) between the wheel hub and the wheel, the shearforce can move the whole system out of its place more easily.