Hey guys, so my buddy has a 07 escalade with 22inch rockstar rims with 33" toyo mt tires, he has a 1.5 leveling kit and wheel spacers on all 4 wheels. I was thinking with spacers i could fit the same tire size on my 07 tahoe z71 but then i got to talking to my guitar player and he said that wheel spacers are bad because they make certain components weaker and not to use them. He also told me when he worked at discount tire that they wouldnt touch the car if it has spacers, so whats the deal with spacers bad or good?
Wheel spacers?
- Thread starter Blackz
- Start date
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hes right about they wont touch a vehical with spacers.
I ran some .5's on each corner of my RR S-10 to clear my monster swaybars..
They never would touch truck,had to go to NTB and pay off the manager.
As far as wearing out components, yess and no. thickness over .75 will degrade ball joints fast due to excessive torque the tire applies to the joints..
I ran some .5's on each corner of my RR S-10 to clear my monster swaybars..
They never would touch truck,had to go to NTB and pay off the manager.
As far as wearing out components, yess and no. thickness over .75 will degrade ball joints fast due to excessive torque the tire applies to the joints..
the spacer itself should not be the cause of any sort of failure. It would, in theory, be the same thing as running a different offset wheel.
Some spacers are problematic. They are the cheap die-cast aluminum ones you buy at Pepboys or the like. I have had custom made 3/8" billet spacers on my 06 Supercharged Silverado and had ZERO issues. We also ran them on my wife's 08' Burban (8mm) on all four corners with no issues.
The thicker 1" spacers I have seen many offroad applications used. No issues that I have heard.
I think shops like Discount and NTB won't touch it because of liability. If it doesnt bolt on, they get all weirded out. Then again, I wouldn't be taking anything custom to those types of shops to begin with. Something about a 17yr old mounting tires that freaks me out.
Some spacers are problematic. They are the cheap die-cast aluminum ones you buy at Pepboys or the like. I have had custom made 3/8" billet spacers on my 06 Supercharged Silverado and had ZERO issues. We also ran them on my wife's 08' Burban (8mm) on all four corners with no issues.
The thicker 1" spacers I have seen many offroad applications used. No issues that I have heard.
I think shops like Discount and NTB won't touch it because of liability. If it doesnt bolt on, they get all weirded out. Then again, I wouldn't be taking anything custom to those types of shops to begin with. Something about a 17yr old mounting tires that freaks me out.
I agree with Supercharged. All they do is change the offset of your wheel. Safety comes into play depending on how thick you go, how long your wheel studs are and the type of lug nuts you use. I have ran up to 15mm spacers on several vehicles with no problems using extended lug nuts. The JK jeep guys run the bolt on spacers all the time both on and off road. I would recommend nothing greater than 15mm with extended lug nuts and the spacer to be both hub and wheel centric. Any thicker and I would recommend longer wheel studs or the bolt on spacers.
Btw, the more you push the wheel/tire out, the more rubbing issues you could have.
Btw, the more you push the wheel/tire out, the more rubbing issues you could have.
Zed 71
Full Access Member
+1 to Dirk's and Cliff's comments. Make sure you do not buy the cast aluminum spacers, only the billet type. Many off-road racers use spacers.
domin8
Just Plinking
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QFT! The more you push the wheel/ tire out, the more you change the geometry of the turning wheel in relation to the center point of the turning mechanisms, and the proximity to wheel well liners, fenders, etc.
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