Wheel Spacers

[Racer X]

Are using wheel spacers to clear a BBK on the front a bad idea for steering geometry?

 

[Jaylee]

I always heard it was a bad idea. I did it on a 98 GT I had with a 6 piston wilwood kit. I never had any problems. They were only 5mm spacers.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Not per se, it's the load on the wheel bearing as well as general durability and rigidity you need to watch out for. For very thin spacers, like 5mm and less, you'd probably be fine, but with anything deeper you can run into issues. Some deeper spacers will require you to cut your studs down, and attach via nuts to the shortened studs. Those spacers then have a new set of lugs that the wheel attaches to... Given that I torque my lugnuts before every track session, I would be paranoid as hell about having a spacer loosen up from heat cycles (expansion, vibration, contraction, loose...) where i couldn't even check it without pulling the wheel off.

What's your situation? Any reason you can't just get the right wheels to clear the BBK?

 

[Jaylee]

He is probably in the same boat as me. I have aftermarket wheels that I really like but will not clear aftermarket brake kits.

 

[Racer X]

Well, with these, you replace the studs: www.mustangwheelspacers.com
I have GT500 wheels that clear them for the street, but I want to put track tires on the stock Bullitt wheels, which won't clear the kit. Maximum Motorsports sells them just for this reason, I just did not know how they would work.

 

[Kaldar142]

3-5mm is the max you would want to go without replacing the studs with extended ones

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Here's proof positive that you CAN have your cake and eat it too... 5Zigen FN01R-C wheels, 18x9.5" with a +35mm offset will clear all the wheelwells, AND clear the Brembo brakes, AND not weigh that much (~19lbs) AND not cost an arm and a leg, at around $1100 per set shipped. (I am not a vendor!)

Front clearance with +50 offset 18x9.5: Tons of room, particularly with -2.75* camber! I didn't bother taking a pic of the FN's with the car on the ground, since it's pretty obvious that they'll clear...

Front clearance between the FN wheels and the GT500 Brembo kit: Around 3/8" of space, which is more than plenty to clear any wheel weights you may have. While the kit is NOT installed on my car yet (need street wheels that will clear, another set of FN01R-C's, most likely), here they are fully bolted up, I just didn't get into the hydraulics for the purposes of taking pictures.

Rear clearance with the +50mm rims:

Rear clearance with the +35mm rims: It looks tighter than it is. I dropped a plumb-line off the fender, and had almost 3/4" clearance at the tread, and around 1/4" or so to the point on the sidewall where the suspension would be on the bumpstops:

A couple of apologies: First, my "good" digital camera broke, so these are stills off my video camera, with not the best resolution in the world. Second, sorry about the dirt on the FN wheels, they were on my trailer and got mudsplattered from an ugly weather track outing, and I just haven't gotten around to cleaning them up yet.

 

[Racer X]

Dave, how close are the wheels to that caliper? Do you think the wheels in a 45 mm offset would be cool? That what the GT500 wheels are, so I figured they would work.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

To be honest, I didn't check... I THINK that therewill be enough clearance, but... Tomorrow or Thursday, I'll run back to the shop and dummy it up again to measure. Offset by itself really doesn't tell the whole story. The silver wheels are +50mm offset, and the calipers clear the spokes beautifully, but the hoop section is so thick, that there's no way they'll fit. Based on the spoke profile of the FN01R-C, I would lay good odds that the +45 will fit, but according to 5Zigen themselves, the +35 wheel is the one to get. Honestly, the +35 fits fine, won't rub on anything, and don't look like roller-skate wheels poking out past the fenders, so...

One other thing you can do is to order one of the +45 wheels, and VERY CAREFULLY see if everything will clear. You don't even need to mount it on the car, just pull the rotor and one caliper off, and lay it up in the backside of the rim.

 

[Racer X]

Well the GT500 wheels are 18x9.5 with a 45 mm offset, so I figured thats the size I would need. Unfortunately, the 45's are special order from discount tire, so I can't return them if they don't. The sales guy garaunteed they would, so I might be okay. You don't have a pic of the car with the wheels onit, Like a full side shot? I don't want a ricer look at all, ya know what I mean?

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Crappy cell phone pic, but that's all I've got... Trust me, it's not rice at all...

 

[Kaldar142]

Hmm might get those for track wheels.

Or the RPF1s

 

[MustASH]

Thread revival ! (Yes, I do search before to post )

Would you guys trust a set of H&R Trak+ 25 mm wheels adapters in front, to track your car once a week ?

http://www.trakplus.com/

I did install spacers to clear Brembo with Bullit wheels... I plan to track the car this summer, and I'm not sure if this safe.

Any experience/opinion ?

Thanks !

 

[steveespo]

I run 15mm H&R spacers up front over Ford Racing/ARP extended studs with no issues in over 2 seasons. They are hubcentric and made of aluminum/magnesium alloy. No issues with torque retention or wheel bearings. 18"x10" Team Dynamics wheels, 305/650-18 Continental Slicks over 15" GT 500 6 piston Brembo setup. With -2.3 degrees camber tire is inside the fender lip by a whisker.

 

[MustASH]

I run 15mm H&R spacers up front over Ford Racing/ARP extended studs with no issues in over 2 seasons. They are hubcentric and made of aluminum/magnesium alloy. No issues with torque retention or wheel bearings. 18"x10" Team Dynamics wheels, 305/650-18 Continental Slicks over 15" GT 500 6 piston Brembo setup. With -2.3 degrees camber tire is inside the fender lip by a whisker.

Thank you, it reassures me. What suspension setup do you have ? Mine is not installed yet, but I'm wondering if it will clear the fender, or how much camber I'll need to not have any issue of tires rub.

I'll run Koni ajustable + H&R Race with MM cc plates.

My wheels are 18"x9" Deep dish bullit 255/40/18 in front, 285 in rear.