Wheel spacers

Anybody here running wheel spacers? I know that they add more stress to the joints and bearings and what not. Just want to know if anyone has them on?

 

I searched and read most all the threads about them but most of them were several yeras old. I like to try and get some new fresh opinions. Even though there might not be any change I like to have something to talk about on here instead of just reading through old threads. Trust me I have spent hours reading on here.
I had wheel spacers for years on my explorer sport trac without problems but I've never had experience with a steering knuckle. What's funny to me is something like a wheel spacer you either get people that hate them or love them. Some people claim it broke all kinds of stuff on their truck or they claim they 'ran em for years without problems'.

 

I use 'em to keep the rear tires from rubbing the fender wells. It gives me room to run chains.

They're only about 5/16" thick so I can use the stock studs (lugs?).

Someday I may be able to get it together and order wheels with the offset I need.

 

5/16? The ones I'm talking about are 1" to 2" thick. I would like to get some new wheels also, spacers are about half the cost though. I don't have a ton of money for my new toy!

 

I'm running 1.25" spidertrax spacers front and rear. I have 33x13.50 Pitbull Rockers and 15x10 wheels with 3.75" backspacing (which is about the minimum normal backspacing). Anyway, I need them to not have the tires rub the springs in the front and added them to the back to keep similar front to rear track widths. I'd prefer to just run wheels with 2.5" backspacing and not have the spacers, but the only wheels with that little backspacing do not have the fake bead lock look, and the wheels I have/like have them. I would really prefer to run a wheel with 5-6" backspacing and get the weight of the tires in a bit, but that's not a feasible option with the axle width I have. It is true that the less backspacing on your wheels in the front, the harder it is on tie rod ends, ball joints, and wheel bearings, since more weight is hanging off the end instead of balanced over the end. I think it gets more critical though when you have a v-8 and a heavier vehicle since that would put more stress on your steering/turning parts of your axle too. I'm running them right now cuz I don't like tires rubbing the springs, and haven't had problems yet, but haven't wheeled it as hard as I want to yet, either. Best of luck to me and you, haha.

 

OK, the thick spacers like you're talking are 'a whole nether ball game' from mine. I do think the thick ones would work but I wouldn't go that way - you have to deal with them every time you need to work on something & you have to be careful to maintain your torque. For the $ I would get new wheels with the backspacing you need. If you're going to keep the rig you'll thank yourself later.

In my opinion the thick spacers will work but are not worth the expense and trouble.

If you research wheels let the rest of us know what you find.

 

Yes I saw that you are running 1.5" spacers for a while without a problem. I found alot of th e 1.25" spacers but not the 1.5.
I bet the studs are just under 1.5 so I would probably need the ones you have. I dont want to have to cut the studs off. I'm gonna keep looking though, I cant find any wheels I like either that have a small backspacing that I want. It's good to have different opinions though. I've had spacers on a bunch of different vehicles without probs. Avalanche, grand cherokee, sport trac, explorer (current) and now I'll probably add a 1969 Jeep to the list.

 

Running 2" on the front of the flatty to keep the 34x9.5's out of the springs. They really are not the trouble everyone says they are. I plan to move them to the rear when I do a D30 swap.

I ran 7/8" on my YJ for years with no issue, I torqued them when I put them on, and re-torqued after 50 miles. Never touched them again unless the wheel was already off, then I double checked the torque. I think I ran over 35k with them on that jeep.


They are not adding any more stress then an offset rim.

 

I dont know why I cant find anything but the 1.25" spacers. I have checked all the off road part sites. I want the 1.5 or 2 inch even. Any help with a link to where you guys bought them?

 

Anything in that thickness will have to be custom made. I use 2.5" spacers on the rear of mine to bring it out to wide-track width. I had to custom order them.

 

Man thanks so much. I had been typing in 5x5.5 on ebay and could not find anything but the 1.25. I think I'll give these a go. Anyone know what the stud size is on my CJ? Most of the spacers are 1/2 x 20. Hopefully they are the same so I dont need new lug nuts.

 

With all of the horror stories I have read about keeping the spindles from pulling off of the Dana 25/27 steering knuckles I would not even think of running a spacer or added offset rim greater than 1" from stock. Unless of course you have already addressed that issue by installing spindle studs into the knuckle. But thats just my opinion, I am not trying to start an argument.

 

For custom wheels try Stockton (sp) Wheel, CA ?

Dale

 

IIRC Stockton can supply a lot of cool stuff, but their order execution and customer service is pretty poor. A couple of guys here have had bad experiences with them.