I've been wheeling lifted trucks since 1994.
Spacers are purely cosmetic.
Flame suit on.
I see your point and it's valid but there's also those who prefer running stock wheels and don't really like the look of what's offered in the aftermarket world. For those that want the wider stance with factory wheels spacers seem to be the only option.I have no problem with spacers functionally, but for like $250-350 more you can choose from hundreds of nice aluminum 17x8+ wheels online (I got mine from Amazon). Then, realistically, you could probably sell your stock wheels and recoup a lot of the difference. Even with installing the new tires, it would be very easy to drive off on an entirely new set of wheels for less than 250 more than the cost of spacers.
I am all for being cheap, and am super cheap myself, but I can't imagine being happier with the aesthetics of just spacers than a completely aftermarket set of wheels.
We all try to justify spacers and wider-set wheels for various stability reasons. However, it is pretty obvious we really just make such choices for looks [emoji14] . So, unless you really want to keep it looking "stock" but with a slightly wider stance that only you will probably notice, you might as well go with aftermarket wheels for a minimally larger investment.
Hmmmm,, I question that. I would submit a wider stance would increase the forces necessary to induce a rollover. It would seem someone with significant physics skilz could formulate what changes with widening the stance of the truck would do for rollover stability. Something like this:
"In actual Physics, this subject of rotational effects is described in terms of something called "moments". A moment is a Force acting on an "arm" to cause a torque or a tendency to rotate. In this case, there is one moment that is due to the weight of the SUV, and in our example that moment is a Vector aimed toward the FRONT of the vehicle (don't ask!) of W x r which has a magnitude W * r * cos(θ). The moment that is due to the horizontal lateral force is a Vector aimed toward the REAR of the vehicle of F * r which has a magnitude F * r * cos(90° - θ) or F * r * sin(θ). In the situation of being just about to roll over, these two must be equal, or F * sin(θ) = W * cos(θ), or F * sin(θ) / cos(θ) = W, or F * tan(θ) = W. θ is the angle between the two red arrows shown in the two drawings above, and r is the actual (angled) distance between the center-of-gravity and the tire tread. If F is any greater than that amount, the vehicle will roll over.
An equivalent description in Physics considers that F acts to rotate the vehicle (to the right in our drawings) at a height of the center-of gravity (which is r * sin(θ); and the weight W acts to rotate the vehicle (to the left, around the outer, rightmost tire) at a horizontal distance of half the tire track (which is r * cos(θ). You can see that this gives the exact same equations.
Since the height of the center-of-gravity of a particular vehicle is known, as is its weight and its tire track width, F, the maximum sideways force before rollover is easily known for any vehicle."
Bottom line,, increase your F to avoid rollover.
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I have no problem with spacers functionally, but for like $250-350 more you can choose from hundreds of nice aluminum 17x8+ wheels online (I got mine from Amazon). Then, realistically, you could probably sell your stock wheels and recoup a lot of the difference. Even with installing the new tires, it would be very easy to drive off on an entirely new set of wheels for less than 250 more than the cost of spacers.
I am all for being cheap, and am super cheap myself, but I can't imagine being happier with the aesthetics of just spacers than a completely aftermarket set of wheels.
We all try to justify spacers and wider-set wheels for various stability reasons. I used to teach physics, so I understand the potential benefits. However, realistically, it is pretty obvious we really just make such choices for looks. So, unless you really want to keep it looking "stock" but with a slightly wider stance that only you will probably notice, you might as well go with aftermarket wheels for only a minimally larger investment.


Motorsporttech/bora out of Sparks make any size from .75 to 1.5 good stuff ! Ask for Lenny