Wheel spacers, what is good, and what is bad?

[Graham]

Hi all,

I am asking a general question about what makes a good wheel spacer better than a bad wheel spacer?

I vaguely know there is different grades of aluminium, some lighter, some heavier.
Some stronger, some weaker.
Then there is the aluminium alloys.

I here the term "billet" aluminium, what is that?

Some pics of recent 35mm spacers

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Gra.

 

[Cptsideways]

A: they must centre on the hub
B: they must have tapered nuts to centre it
C: They must not be cast
D: they must not be with extended wheel studs
E: they must be capped studs, not just drilled/tapped
F: they must have a centre bore for locating the wheel on

Those ones above look ok initially - except F: the wheels will never centre properly & you'll have wheel wobble, the load is 100% on the studs as there is no wheel centre'ing spigot not good.

 

[Graham]

Hi All,

Re: the spigot, on the spacer to wheel joint.

I made a few enquiries before getting these for my brothers Land Cruiser.
The general feedback that was it was not required on spacers with 6 studs
The spacers on vehicles with with 4 studs, depend more on the center spigot for true centering.
Some 5 stud vehicles are ok, depending on wheel and tyre size.
Of the 6 stud vehicles, none have reported "wobble" or undue out of ballance.

I have read many posts regarding spacers, and comments from several members.

Gary Stockton’s
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=13597

Chadr
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=13402&p=110915&hilit=spacers#p110915

Roughtrax £132.00 for 4
http://www.roughtrax4x4.com/?doc=16&cid=984&vid=1029

Generally members have been running the Roughtrax "type" spacers for a good few years, I read some one had had them on now for 7 years, some had had them on for 4 years, etc.

Gra.

 

[Chris]

Billet is as big a load of b*****s as is 'Aircraft Grade Aluminium'. It just means machined out of a lump. Aircraft grade means what? Well I working in aluminium for 6 years supplying the aerospace industry. It was a mystery to them too. And they made planes! It's like saying ship grade steel or dealer grade heroine. Err OK maybe not the last one.

Most aluminium is cast. OK not into a sand mould, but in a process called DC or Direct Chilling. This is what the massive slabs are that you see on the motorway being hauled around. It's very pure (as in few impurities) and has very high density. It's then either rolled or cut up. Aluminium itself is rarely pure Al. It has calcium, magnesium, sodium etc in there to give it properties like ductility.

Solid spacers are best but avoid the ones that are hollow moulded. They are rubbish.

Chris

 

[MuckyPup]

If you'd ever seen 10 bent studs on wheels without centre spigot location (such as on some dumpers etc) then you'd understand why I wouldn't use spacers without spigots on both sides.
I've also seen peugeot pick-ups shear off all 5 studs (no centre location)
Look long enough and you'll find someone who hammered over his studs after loosing the nuts and having no problems..........
What other people do and don't do is of no concern to me as far as wheels staying on goes.

 

[Chris]

I have Roughtrax and have used this set on three different vehicles. Not a single problem. They don't centre on the hub nor do they have any spigots or dowels. They centre by virtue of the conical nuts that are supplied with them, much like the factory wheels do. I can't give you any negative feed back because I don't have any.

I would say that mine are mounted such that the nuts holding them on are fully engaged and the OEM studs actually come right through. I would be nervous if the nut was not wound on so that the stud was at least flush. Some pictures don't look satisfactory to me.

Can't say more.

Chris

 

[Mark N]

I believe it depends on the design of the axle - some have a shoulder that is load bearing and others don't. You would need spacers designed for your axles. I run a set of steel spacers and the front and rear ones are designed differently one set with a shoulder and one without. The set with a shoulder are on the rear - potentially more weight on the rear when loaded. I did a lot of reading on different sites when considering fitting spacers and my conclusion was that if you have good quality, unprofessionally manufactured spacers, fitted correctly and the bolts checked for torque occasionally then there are ok.

I have only had mine on for 3 months but so far but I have done bad tarmac to Kenya (blew out a tyre!) and back plus probably 60% of our daily driving is offroad.

Regards
Mark

 

[Mark N]

I believe it depends on the design of the axle - some have a shoulder that is load bearing and others don't. You would need spacers designed for your axles. I run a set of steel spacers and the front and rear ones are designed differently one set with a shoulder and one without. The set with a shoulder are on the rear - potentially more weight on the rear when loaded. I did a lot of reading on different sites when considering fitting spacers and my conclusion was that if you have good quality, unprofessionally manufactured spacers, fitted correctly and the bolts checked for torque occasionally then there are ok.

I have only had mine on for 3 months but so far but I have done bad tarmac to Kenya (blew out a tyre!) and back plus probably 60% of our daily driving is offroad.

Regards
Mark

I hope you all realize I meant professionally manufactured