Spacers for the rear - how big?????

[slimothy]

Hi again,

Well I'm looking at spacing out my rear wheels so they fill up the arch a bit more, but wondering how big I can go before they need to be hubcentric and require longer studs...

Looking at my wheels at the moment I'd say I would want to push them out about 10mm - are there any safety issues to be aware of with doing this?

How will it affect the car's handling?

 

[r-reg-sr]

few members are using the extended studs
you should get better handling with a wider track
have you noticed the front wheels stick out more on the stock micras

 

[superls]

im running 10mm spacers on my front and they are just about passable imo, i have 32mm on the back, but obviously they come with stud extenders.

 

[slimothy]

few members are using the extended studs
you should get better handling with a wider track
have you noticed the front wheels stick out more on the stock micras

I didn't before, as the wheels I was running were 15's and half an inch wider...

Just recently changed to some 6x14 kn minators and the tuck in on the rear is really noticeable now

im running 10mm spacers on my front and they are just about passable imo, i have 32mm on the back, but obviously they come with stud extenders.

10mm spacers without longer studs yeah? - do they feel secure?
Have you used hub-centric ones, or universals?

 

[frank]

golden rule is 8 turns or 10mm of thread is safe iirc

 

[markbognor]

You dont need spacers - you need wider wheels!

 

[karlj]

You dont need spacers - you need wider wheels!

I'm with mark..... didn't I see some 13" x 8" for sale

 

[slimothy]

lol I can't afford more wheels at the moment

 

[superls]

yea 10mm with stock studs, did the same on my k10, the thread engagement is not ideal, but they've not fallen off yet, lol

on the k11 it was just over 5 full turns of the nut

there right about not needing spacers and needing wider wheels, im of the same opinion but am running spacers as i didnt want to ruin my 7 inch wheels in the ice and snow straight into a kerb lol

 

[Shaun]

Halfords do cheap(ish) universal fit spacers upto 9.5mm
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_715019_langId_-1_categoryId_165464

 

[markbognor]

As for the thread engagement, a wise old engineering sage once told me, 150% of thread diameter - so on M12 it should be 12 + 6 = 18mm

 

[superls]

yea ive herd the 150% engagement, but there not even that with no spaceres

 

[slimothy]

Bad news guys - having run in to a bit of bother financially I've had to stick my minilites on ebay
Going back to steelies for a couple of months - already sold my old alloys

Thinking I might get my steelies banded eventually, but for now I'm gonna give them a fresh coat of black paint, and put some chrome embelishers on them

 

[smiffy]

dont mean to hijack the thread but,

would having spacers help the handeling much.? and would they be safe for racing

p.s cant afford wider rims, plus im trying to keep the racing lot budget.

 

[slimothy]

I've been running 5mm spacers (as a result of this thread) - and they definitely make the car feel easier to manage where the back end is concerned... will definitely be keeping the 5mm kit on with my steelies (may even put the 5mm ones up front and whack some 10mm ones on the rear).

 

[Robbie 733]

Hi Slim

Did you have to use longer studs to secure the wheels once you'd moved them 5mm away from the hubs ?

 

[r-reg-sr]

Hi Slim

Did you have to use longer studs to secure the wheels once you'd moved them 5mm away from the hubs ?

you need enough thread to make it safe,some posts above and treads at the bottom of this page should see you right

 

[slimothy]

Hi Slim

Did you have to use longer studs to secure the wheels once you'd moved them 5mm away from the hubs ?

Not yet Robbie - the studs are sat about 5 feet away from me at the moment
Going to get them on asap and then put 10mm shims on - I would suggest longer bolts though mate, as mine have only 6 full turns of captive thread, and for me that's not enough to feel 100% confident (ok for tootaling about but I wouldn't want to do any serious driving - certainly not without checking them regularly!).

 

[Robbie 733]

Thanks matey

I'll wait till I get my re-conditioned wheels & tyres on the car, see what they look like, then decide if they need spacing out slightly.

 

[Shero]

i ran 35mm spacers with extended nuts on my k11 never had any bother and i used it hard. still have them if anyone is wanting them pm me

 

[tomwest]

spacers are a great way to modify your car! previous to my k11, i had a fiesta. on the front, i spaced out 8mm, because i found that at 10mm the steering was compromised (it was a lot more difficult to turn and there was a lot more pressure on the steering wheel, this is because the wheel must turn through a much larger arc than normal. Spacers on the back however is mostl a case of how far you want to go. on my fez, i spaced it 45mm on each side. this was HUGE! because i was paranoid about the strength of steel, i paid for a set of custom titanium studs, and drilled out a lot of weight from the spacer itself. for normal studs, i wouldn't reccommend going over 35mm per side, to ensure you're not putting too much moment trough the studs.