scragglejaw
New member
What's your opinion on wheel spacers for offroading? I kind of like the way they look if not overdone. Are there down-sides to having the wheels jut out like that when off and/or on-roading?
Wheel spacers
- Thread starter scragglejaw
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iDRiVaT4R
New member
I ordered some wheel spacers, they will be here tomorrow. i'm just gonna go for the wider stance at the moment. I think the stock wheels are 5" backspacing. Worse case scenario, they are 5.5" backspacing. Spidertrax wheel spacers are 1.25" thick, so on a 7.5" stock wheel with a backspacing of 5", the new backspacing would be 5"-1.25"=3.75". If all this is correct, my tires will be centered on the hub. The tires mounted on stock wheels without spacers are inset over the hubs. With spacers, the tires would now me centered directly over the hub. If these wheels are 5.5" of backspacing than the tire would still be inset some similar to stock. 4.25"
On my Tacoma, the after market wheels are 8" wide with 4.5" of backspacing. 8"-4.5"=3.5". With these wheels, the tires are still somewhat inset which is similar to the stock setup. Those with 9" wheels and 4.5" of backspacing, I'm guessing those would be centered as well.
I figured using stock size tires, and spacers, I should be OK. There are many people that seem to run spacers and have no problems at all running 33" or bigger over at the fjcruiser forums.
Feel free to correct me or to say I'm outright wrong with everything I said. It's just how I have interpreted all the info I have read
Nathan
On my Tacoma, the after market wheels are 8" wide with 4.5" of backspacing. 8"-4.5"=3.5". With these wheels, the tires are still somewhat inset which is similar to the stock setup. Those with 9" wheels and 4.5" of backspacing, I'm guessing those would be centered as well.
I figured using stock size tires, and spacers, I should be OK. There are many people that seem to run spacers and have no problems at all running 33" or bigger over at the fjcruiser forums.
Feel free to correct me or to say I'm outright wrong with everything I said. It's just how I have interpreted all the info I have read
Nathan
Aggie
New member
I have personally witnessed a wheel spacer fail and send a wheel and tire flying past me (the jeep behind me had the failure) and crash into a house in front of us. I tried them on my FJ Cruiser for a little while but the risk was a little much for me. If you are goign to buy them make sure they are Hub-centric.
scragglejaw
New member
Sorry, what are hub and lug centric?
Uneek
Super Moderator
Hub centric has a flange (the raised lip) in the center of the hub, which uses the center bore of the rim to locate and center the wheel on the axle.
Lug centric uses the bolt holes on the rim and conical lug nuts to locate and center the wheel on the axle.
scragglejaw
New member
Ah, got it-- thanks. So it sounds like the Spidertrax spacer has both and would be the way to go as far as safety.
wifesrunner
New member
anyone using these spacers? My limited needs a wider stance bad but I don't want to go up to a 275 tire. I am thinking of going to a 255 tire and using these spacers.
iDRiVaT4R
New member
I installed my wheel spacers last Thursday. Looks Great. The tires are stock 265/70R17 but in a more aggressive Tread Pattern, the Firestone Destination M/T's. The front Tires when Turning do now rub the mud flap, and a little on the front fender plastic liner. 255/75R17's might rub a bit more at stock height since they are a taller tire. I'm pretty sure they will rub more then mine do. Here are some pics of mine with the wider stance.
wifesrunner
New member
That looks good!
I would love to see them on a limited though.
Anyone running them with the limited wheels?
I would love to see them on a limited though.
Anyone running them with the limited wheels?
Been doing a lot of searching and reading on Spidertrax spacers. This was the only post that I found using spacers in conjunction with stock tires size and wheels. I am upgrading to a set of BFG's AT's on stock rims and was wondering about rub when using the spidertrax spacers. Looks like there will be rub based on iDRiV's experience
Anyone else running spidertrax on a stock trail edition with stock tire size (265's) and rims?
Anyone else running spidertrax on a stock trail edition with stock tire size (265's) and rims?
iDRiVaT4R
New member
The rubbing is very minor. You just have to move the front fender liner forward by removing the screws on the bottom, and move the liner forward about 1/2' at least then re-tighten the screws.
The mud-flap rubbing was very minimal, and I never trimmed that, it would only rub when backing up at full turn. In fact, even after I lifted my 4Runner, the tires still rubbed the mud flap, same spot, but very minimal still, not enough to even worry about. Then after getting my new wheels and tires, I still happen to rub that same spot on the mud flap. Again this is only when turning while backing up.
The mud-flap rubbing was very minimal, and I never trimmed that, it would only rub when backing up at full turn. In fact, even after I lifted my 4Runner, the tires still rubbed the mud flap, same spot, but very minimal still, not enough to even worry about. Then after getting my new wheels and tires, I still happen to rub that same spot on the mud flap. Again this is only when turning while backing up.
iDRiVaT4R
New member
Paragon1, I am not running the Firestone M/T's anymore, I am running BFG All Terrains. But comparing the two, The Firestones are/were a little louder than the BFG's. At the time though, the Firestone's didn't seem all that loud IMO. The Firestones were a load E compared to these BFG Load D's so they did weight a little bit more, and the tread pattern was much more aggressive, so that could also be why they were a little louder than these All Terrains. My Friend has the Firestones on his 4th Gen with my old Wheel Spacers and he hasn't complained of them being too loud yet.
So what do more agressive stock sized tires, like the ones you discussed do to gas mileage?
Thanks iDRiV. I am going to order a set and do the mods as you described. The BFG's go on thursday. Thanks again for sharing.
Orygun4R
New member
I installed the Spidertrax spacers this last weekend. Stock SR5 wheels with 265 Duratracs. There was rubbing at the ribs on the front liner AND rubbing at the back of the wheel well opening on a small removable piece of plastic with a "bumpout" on it. The tire rubbed at full lock left or right.
I moved the liner with the rib forward about 1/2-inch and removed the offending piece of plastic at the back of the wheel well. This piece doesn't appear to do anything. I did reinstall the screw back into the hole to seal it.
No rubbing anymore.
I moved the liner with the rib forward about 1/2-inch and removed the offending piece of plastic at the back of the wheel well. This piece doesn't appear to do anything. I did reinstall the screw back into the hole to seal it.
No rubbing anymore.
iDRiVaT4R
New member
I don't think the tread pattern alone would cause much decrease in gas mileage, but going to a heavier E-Rated tire would affect it somewhat. I think when I went from the stock P-Rated Bridgestone to the Firestone E-Rated muds, I lost about 1-2 mpg. But then again, I do mostly city driving, If your mostly hwy, you'll probably not notice much decrease.
