The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Tech → Wheel Spacer
Ok, we cam across some free rims which we put new tires on. When we put them on the car, the rear tires were rubbing against the strut. They are 17" rims with 215/45's on them. We took a measurement and we need a 1/4" to clear. Can we use a spacer? If so, is there a minimum amount of threads that the lug nut needs to grab?
Usually the thicker spacers come with new longer studs. We did 15mm spacers and new studs for the same problem when we got some free rims. and new lug nuts. It worked well but not much cheaper than buying new rims.
I'd consider minimum threads to be "all of them". Longer studs are always available, and ARP makes a product that's better than OE anyway.
Longer studs it is then. The spacer does not come with longer studs so we will have to get some. The big question is, are spacers ok with Tech?
Any chance said car is hubcentric...asking for German friend
The big question is, are spacers ok with Tech?
We've used them on both our cars and we never had an issue. And I've never seen a discussion on the forum where anyone stated they were not legal.
I run spacer with long stud in both groups no problem I like the long studs if a wheel come loose you have time to catch it and save the car.
With bolt lugs if it comes loose its gone in a seconds.
Bob Ma
Any chance said car is hubcentric...asking for German friend
I don't believe in hub centric wheels, or the philosophy behind them. If multiple lug nuts don't center the wheel, there's something very, very wrong already, and the center hole won't fix it.
We run spacers on our big freaking land yacht. 4000 lb car, needed 1-1/2" wide spacers (they're bolt-on) to clear the suspension with the funky offset wheels (5 x 5 bolt pattern). We replaced a set of spacers last race pre-emptively, but they seem to work fine, provided you install them correctly.
Generally speaking, you want a minimum of 1 or 1-1/2 threads of protrusion past the lug nut. I have been to autocrosses where they check that, and flunk if the stud is flush or less.
OnkelUdo wrote:Any chance said car is hubcentric...asking for German friend
I don't believe in hub centric wheels, or the philosophy behind them. If multiple lug nuts don't center the wheel, there's something very, very wrong already, and the center hole won't fix it.
I think the Germans do it so that it's easier to install the studs- remember they use lug studs instead of nuts. Which I sort of see the rationale behind- a lot easier to change if you need to replace a buggered-up thread. With a hub-centered wheel, you can mount the wheel and spin it until the holes line up. Otherwise its a PITA to put in the first couple of lug studs.
Thanks for the info all. As fate would have it, one of our team members happen to have a set of rims with a different offset which should work. The stock rims for the Probe had a 42mm offest, the Lexus rims we were trying to use had a 45mm offset, and the rims that were found havd a 30mm offset.
I run center rings they are cheap and think if the rim is puting all the force in the stud its a lot of force. things do move with the right ring all force is put the the bearing and hub. most all real race cars use a matched setup rim to hub so I would do it.
Bob Mann
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