[dhanushs]

Wheel spacers are probaly the most polarized among modifications. The aggresive stance and added advantages of having bigger tyres and clearances make some people love it and some are really scared of it, and have some bad experience with sub par quality and engineered spacers. Different OEM's have designed their suspension geometries in different ways and the effect of the wheel spacer on each vehicle is different.

Here - I wanted to understand from fellow BHP'ns on what their experience is on adding a wheel spacer is.

Even though, being from the Auto Industry myself, I couldnt just resist adding a set of spacers in my car - Just to see the way it looks.

Without Spacers.





With Spacers.





How it has affected my car:

Well.. I added 32mm spacers to my car just to have the wheels come out slighty.. for the looks. . However, there was some dynamics and steering feedback changes noticed.
I have felt my steering to become sligthly heavy, particularly in low speeds. Basically the steering torque has become heavier. The feedback has improved but the kickback has slightly worsend. But again.. all these marginally. On the handling front, it has improved - more planted feel. Roll has reduced.

So.. What is your experience with the spacers? How has it affected the driveability & looks of your car?

P.S - Please dont forget to add the great looking pics of your car with the spacers on.

[freelancer6202]

Definitely wouldn't suggest spacers for long term. Steering and handling is affected. An added point of failure. For a daily/long running, absolutely avoid them.

[Jeroen]

Wheel spacers on regular cars are for looks only and never for performance IMO.

It creates some additional load on the suspension and wheel bearing as it introduces an extra “arm” and thus torque. Whether that is an issue, depends on many factors. In practice not sure if you would notice additional wear.

The biggest downside is, as you found out, is impact on performance. And it is never positive. More torque and kickback and feedback shows the extra forces working on your suspension.

Jeroen

[sagarpadaki]

I think spacers make the SUV's look butch. Not so much on cars.

I remember one instance where a Honda City with big wheels and spacers got stuck in the gutter of a narrow road in Bangalore suburbs. Blocked off the entire road for a few hours. Without spacers the car would have managed through the narrow road.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

..
The biggest downside is, as you found out, is impact on performance. And it is never positive. More torque and kickback and feedback shows the extra forces working on your suspension.

100% Agree. We are all enthusiasts here and the set of attributes wanted from a car will vary for each of us. (Sometimes a good looking car is a priority) I'm trying to understand that. And also, not to undermine the benefits of the possibility of adding different set of wheels/tyres.

The performance degradation I felt was very much on the acceptable side considering the overall track is adding to the better planted feel. The wheel bearings has enough factor of safety built into them to factor the dynamic driving conditions. So as long as you are not going through absolute abusive roads/driving maneuvers + wheel spacers, the life and performance should not deteriorate much.

I would be more interested in understanding the performance effects of increased scrub radius and king pin offset due to the spacers on different cars .

[Blooming Flower]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Here - I wanted to understand from fellow BHP'ns on what their experience is on adding a wheel spacer is.

Even though, being from the Auto Industry myself, I couldnt just resist adding a set of spacers in my car - Just to see the way it looks.

Well, interesting topic indeed. There are two aspects of it from my experience, and the OP also touched upon that. (1) Looks/Aesthetics (2) Utility.

I too installed a set of wheel spacers on the rear wheel hub of my jeep as the rear track was shorter than the front by design. But I removed it sooner.

I am a guy who believes functionality precedes the form factor. Before feeling the change in overall dynamics and steering geometry, the factors viz. bearing thrust, kingpin angle and scrub radius-- all these haunt me much in the back of my mind as I would like to keep the vehicle for long time. Once I felt some abnormal vibrations (quite unnerving) after refitting it post a brake drum job. The more the number of mechanical linkages dealing with high forces, the greater the chance of failure. Although modern spacers are precision-made from 6061-T6 or similar grade high-strength aluminium billet, a small deviation from the tight tolerance will amplify exponentially through the entire suspension geometry, and things can go haywire sooner than I assume. An impact, jolt, wrong torquing, cross-threading, or even a small dent can lead to all hell breaking loose.

I also observed the quality of the supplied lug nuts with the aftermarket wheel spacer while removing it. Initially, they looked exactly same as the OE nuts. But just after 3 months of use, check the difference!





So it was a junk investment for me. And later, I switched to negative offset wheels. One can easily visualise how structurally and mechanically robust these are compared to a set of spacers.

For the peace of my mind, of late, I have been a bit averse to wheel spacers.

[Kosfactor]

Love the way you have transformed the look of your vehicle Dhanush.

I did not like the way my previous vehicle`s wheel set up was, so I had a mild offset wheels added and it completely transformed the way it looked.

So in the two different alloys I used, here is what I learned.

1. Wheel that stays the same width but moves out of the center line - This causes some kickback & heaviness on the steering , improves straight line stability. (no deflections or uneven tyre wear in my case).

2. Wheel that is wider but stays more or less within the center line - This gives a stock wheel like feel but fantastic looks, no noticeable downsides. (no deflections or uneven tyre wear in this case either), the steering felt lighter as well.

I these two cases, the alloys were light and when the tyre type was changed to AT which was heavier, the ride and handling especially over rumble strips became sketchy, so went back to stock tyres and everything was good.

I like to stance out the vehicle with Alloys rather than spacers for reducing the overall weight as well as the chances of any deflections due to them being separate pieces.

[CJ-500D]

Won't the spacers contribute to improper readings during the wheel alignment?
I assume the parameters for a particular car is defined with respect to the position of the reflectors attached to the wheel during the alignment process and since the reflectors are not where they are supposed to be, it might give wrong readings.
I have the same doubt regarding my dad's Ertiga which is fit with the bigger and wider tyres of XL6.
Hope some experts can shed light on this!

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Love the way you have transformed the look of your vehicle Dhanush.

Thanks.

I like to stance out the vehicle with Alloys rather than spacers for reducing the overall weight as well as the chances of any deflections due to them being separate pieces

To be honest, me too. I somehow am trying to maintain the stock look of the car. Reason of the snorkel too being the same design of the OE Ford Snorkel from the company.

Please dont tempt me. Once I step outside the box there may be no turning back, based on previous experience .

[man_of_steel]

Very debatable topic, but I am with you on this! Was in the same dilemma couple of months back. I too was of the opinion that spacers are a strict no-no and too dangerous because it was the popular opinion. In my case I wanted to improve the looks of my Pajero Sport by pushing the wheels outside a bit just inline with the wheel cladding. I didn't want to go for an aftermarket alloy too since 1. Good ones from reputed brands are pretty expensive and 2. I just love the OE alloys of the PS. They look so damn good to be stored away. My close friend recently lifted and upgraded the suspension in his Hilux and he had to add wheel spacers to safely clear the control arms. This made me research a bit more on spacers and following were the takeaways from it:

- Yes, they do add load on suspension components and hence the bushes might need changing much earlier than before.
- Hub centric v/s non hub centric spacers: If available, always go with hub centric ones. Contrary to popular opinion, the hub centric ones only aid in centering of the wheels and does not reduce the load on the studs (another myth covered below).
- The wheel studs will not start taking the load when you install a spacer and get damaged subsequently. As I understood, the load from wheels does not magically transfer to the studs because the load from a tightened wheel (to the hub) is a Frictional Load. The load is handled by the mated surface of the hubs and wheels in contact with each other held together by friction. This is why the hubs and wheel mating surfaces needs to be cleaned of any rust or debris before spacer installation. So, if the spacer is a well-engineered one, you can go ahead with it.
- When I observed closely, some trucks regularly used offroad had spacers installed and the ones with properly engineered spacers have not encountered any failures in that regard. Some pickups I saw in online videos didn't even have hub centric ones yet they were sporting huge MT tyres and was thrashed offroad without any issues.
- Spacers that should be strictly avoided are the cheap ones without the studs. They just push the wheels out, reduce the usable stud threads and hell, might even be crushed while torquing which will eventually lead to stud bolts loosening. Always make sure that superior materials are used for construction. Aircraft grade aluminium ones are better as they weigh less and are sturdy.

I have noticed similar things as you mentioned post spacer installation.

- Steering has become a bit harder noticeably. But the PS already has a hard one and doesn't affect me much. The steering box will be able to take the extra load I am sure
- Feedback and kickbacks from slight undulations on trails has become more noticeable but nothing that's unacceptable

Some pics of mine in the current form with the 30mm spacers front and back and tyres upsized to the next size. Even after some research and convincing myself to go with the spacers, the plan was to install them first and remove it at the first sign of any trouble. But now close to 7k kms later, I am loving the improved stance of the PS and the lugnuts are in the same torque where I left it to be. Also, no steering vibration at triple digit cruising too. There was a slight rubbing in the inside wheel cladding at full lock which was taken care of with a heat gun without cutting the cladding.

[Baristyro]

Spacers are indeed polarising, and I find myself at the apprehensive side of the subject. That being said, you seem like to perfect person to conduct such an experiment, considering your automotive profession.

Couple Concerns:

- How has it affected the turning radius?
- Are you getting steering lock earlier or later than before?
- Is there any risk to driveline components in the long run, since they'll probably be working under increased load after the modification.

[Blooming Flower]

Originally Posted by CJ-500D

Won't the spacers contribute to improper readings during the wheel alignment?
I have the same doubt regarding my dad's Ertiga which is fit with the bigger and wider tyres of XL6.
Hope some experts can shed light on this!

Spacer can only affect the camber values slightly depending on their thickness and type. Toe and caster remain unaltered. For Ertiga and XL6, I am afraid camber and caster aren't adjustable on the stock vehicle, but toe!

[CJ-500D]

Originally Posted by Blooming Flower

Spacer can only affect the camber values slightly depending on their thickness and type. Toe and caster remain unaltered. For Ertiga and XL6, I am afraid camber and caster aren't adjustable on the stock vehicle, but toe!

What I meant in the earlier post was the values shown in the alignment machine could be wrong dude to altered position of reflector even though the alignment is actually OK.

[Blooming Flower]

Originally Posted by CJ-500D

What I meant in the earlier post was the values shown in the alignment machine could be wrong dude to altered position of reflector even though the alignment is actually OK.

It won't be wrong at all. Generic spacers only increase the track. The laser reflectors are aligned and offset accordingly to receive the 'green signal' (zero setting) in the wheel alignment system.

Imagine two cars of different track length, one wide and one narrow. Assume both have same alignment values. Of course, the reflector position will be altered depending on the width of the vehicle. Does it necessarily alter/ read different value? Think.

Alignment values are linked with suspension geometry and design. Change in reflector position is immaterial once the wheel alignment system is showing green signal.

[CJ-500D]

Originally Posted by Blooming Flower

Imagine two cars of different track length, one wide and one narrow. Assume both have same alignment values. Of course, the reflector position will be altered depending on the width of the vehicle. Does it necessarily alter/ read different value? Think.

The machine asks for the specific car model and variant to be selected before the start of the test. This made me think that for each variant, it expects the reflector to be at a certain pre-defined position and the alignment values for that particular car is set accordingly.
If I am wrong, then one less thing to worry about