another spacer question

[sportinawoody]

anyone know where I can find a TRUE hubcentric 3-5mm spacer such as the one pictured ? all the listed hubcentric spacers I have found do not have the hubcentric spacer built on which will leave my wheel "floating" once installed. I ask because Im trying to keep my baer gtp 14" front brake kit behind my track only 17x4.5" wheels and after grinding the ribs off the caliper, I am right there.

 

[RocketcarX]

The lug nuts will center them well enough, I promise.

 

[Pentalab]

The 3mm spacer made by H + R is hubcentric, along with their thicker spacers. Fits like a glove..and doesn't budge... that's b4 the wheel is installed.

 

[sportinawoody]

Awesome, thanks

 

[RMB427R]

Are spacers really as dangerous as some make them out to be? Those ones in the pics don't look bad at all.

 

[Pentalab]

Are spacers really as dangerous as some make them out to be? Those ones in the pics don't look bad at all.

3-20 mm solid spacers are just fine. The problem ones are the type that bolt to the oem lugs 1st.... then have 5 x embedded studs on the outboard side of the spacer. You can't get at the oem lugnuts, without 1st removing the outboard nuts...and removing the wheel. You could have 1 or more loose inboard nuts..and never know it. Local ricer found that out the hard way... lost a wheel. He had just left the speed shop. Somebody fucked up..with disastrous results.

 

[RocketcarX]

3-20 mm solid spacers are just fine. The problem ones are the type that bolt to the oem lugs 1st.... then have 5 x embedded studs on the outboard side of the spacer. You can't get at the oem lugnuts, without 1st removing the outboard nuts...and removing the wheel. You could have 1 or more loose inboard nuts..and never know it. Local ricer found that out the hard way... lost a wheel. He had just left the speed shop. Somebody fucked up..with disastrous results.

The same odds apply to your wheel falling of because someone didn't tighten the wheel lugs. The bolt on spacers weren't the issue, the fool installing them was.

 

[Pentalab]

The same odds apply to your wheel falling of because someone didn't tighten the wheel lugs. The bolt on spacers weren't the issue, the fool installing them was.

I ran into the local ricer who had the problem... about 2 hrs ago. The 4 ( four) embedded studs had snapped clean off. The inboard nuts were just fine. The cutoff point appears to be 15 mm. 15mm and bigger, the embedded studs aka, bolt in spacers are used by some spacer companies. The issue is, with only a 15mm thick aluminum spacer, the embedment depth is not very much.. vs say a 20-25-30 mm thick bolt in spacer. Some companies offer a 15 mm solid ( non bolt in spacer)..that of course require the longer wheel studs to be used. I will find out what brand he used. In his case, they think one snapped off, leaving only 3 left. He hit a hard bump, and the remaining 3 all sheared at one shot.

 

[RocketcarX]

They will shear if you don't tighten the wheel too, just like your lug studs and no spacer.

 

[Pentalab]

They will shear if you don't tighten the wheel too, just like your lug studs and no spacer.

Point well taken. They probably had the car all apart, threw it back together, then half assed tightened stuff. They may have been chinese or ebay junk, but I will try and find out soon. He was in a rush to catch the ferry back home. He never made it to the ferry, lost the wheel 2 miles away from the shop.

Ideally, just buy wheels with the correct offset in the 1st place..and maybe use a 3mm spacer if it's a tight squeeze / clearance issue. Some of the stuff these ricers do is nuts, like stretching tires way beyond their width ratings. Then loads of camber, then ride essentially on the inner sidewalls.

 

[Norm Peterson]

The same odds apply to your wheel falling of because someone didn't tighten the wheel lugs. The bolt on spacers weren't the issue, the fool installing them was.

Lug nuts can and will loosen in service. What's worse, the harder you drive the more likely it'll be that they will.

Like what Pentalab said, get wheels with the right offset and use spacers for resolving minor rubbing. Spacers for "flushness purposes" just moves a narrow wheel out in a weak attempt at looking wider than it is. It's still going to be a narrow wheel.


Norm

 

[Norm Peterson]

The lug nuts will center them well enough, I promise.

Not guaranteed at all, unless you're among the fussiest wheel & tire installers. Even then, you can end up with a little vibration.


Norm

 

[RocketcarX]

Lug nuts can and will loosen in service. What's worse, the harder you drive the more likely it'll be that they will.

Like what Pentalab said, get wheels with the right offset and use spacers for resolving minor rubbing. Spacers for "flushness purposes" just moves a narrow wheel out in a weak attempt at looking wider than it is. It's still going to be a narrow wheel.


Norm

While I'm not disregarding your experience or Pentalab's, in the off road world these spacers are very common. I have run them and seen them run without failure way more often than an antidotal story about a "ricer".
They are not designed to faux your way into wider wheels, they are designed to increase offset for clearance or track width. Do they make cheap versions that could fail, sure. That's any part for any car you have the ability to choose.
A billet spacer will not fail as described, but leaving lug nuts loose will cause a wheel to sheer them off, that I have seen time and again.

 

[RocketcarX]

Not guaranteed at all, unless you're among the fussiest wheel & tire installers. Even then, you can end up with a little vibration.


Norm

The likelihood for it to cause a vibration is very low. Hub centric stuff is nicer, of course. How ever there are 10s of thousands of vehicles on the road with universal wheels and no vibration.

 

[tjm73]

Zero problem with wheels spacers if they are quality and installed properly. 99% of the "my shit broke" stories about wheel spacers are user related, not spacer related. They must be installed right. and then checked after 50-100 miles to make sure they are still tight.

 

[Norm Peterson]

While I'm not disregarding your experience or Pentalab's, in the off road world these spacers are very common. I have run them and seen them run without failure way more often than an antidotal story about a "ricer".
They are not designed to faux your way into wider wheels, they are designed to increase offset for clearance or track width. Do they make cheap versions that could fail, sure. That's any part for any car you have the ability to choose.
A billet spacer will not fail as described, but leaving lug nuts loose will cause a wheel to sheer them off, that I have seen time and again.

Offset for clearance is one thing. Offset for track width is still just an appearance reason.


Norm

 

[frank s]

The 25mm H&R bolted-on spacers did not work loose under rather severe autocross use (140-soft 245-18 tires on 8.5-inch rims). I put LocTite Blue on the spacer-to-axle bolts. Recognizing that torque specs are for fasteners with clean, dry friction surfaces, I knocked five percent off the installed torque. I did not check them after 50-100 miles, reckoning doing so would unlock the LocTite. I'd be quite confident in such an arrangement, should the occasion arise.

When I did use the spacers, it was a clearance issue with 2007-2009 GT500 Brembos installed on a 2009 GT/CS. The "Fanblade" wheels filled that bill without trimming the studs 5mm, but only with the spacers. And it did look a bit better.

 

[sportinawoody]

I bought 3” arp studs to be safe and not get kicked off the track, question now is do you have to drill the hole out for the knurl as with past mustangs or do these go in without modification ? I have the frpp (arp) m-1107-a for the front and arp 100-7723 rear which are still 1/2 x 20

 

[RocketcarX]

I bought 3” arp studs to be safe and not get kicked off the track, question now is do you have to drill the hole out for the knurl as with past mustangs or do these go in without modification ? I have the frpp (arp) m-1107-a for the front and arp 100-7723 rear which are still 1/2 x 20

I would have purchased the FRPP front hubs with the studs pre installed, they can come loose if you much it up.

 

[sportinawoody]

Ininstalled the front this morning and they went in with no issues fairly easily onto the rears now. Gold plastidipped my drag wheels to make sure I would like the color before powder coating, left the lip polished. Tried blackb1st. I’m really digging this gold though