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How thin of wheel spacers can be made/used?

thelostartof

unbalanced chemical
300+ Club
Joined
Jun 26, 2002
Location
Apache Junction, AZ
I am looking for something in the 2-4mm thickness range to fit my new wheels and I am wondering if anyone makes anything that thin and where one might Look. I already sent off a PM to the triangle man as he was the first I thought of that would be able to get em done.
 
I think I've seen 5mm ones on the wall of the autoparts store, unless thats too thick.

I might just end up getting a set of 5mm spacers since they seem a lot easier to come across and just roll a wee bit more of the fenders if needed to work.

This will be in the rear so things should line up and be balanced fairly well

Looks like H&R makes a pretty good set for $70
 
The issue is lug engagement, not ****ty spacers. You can have 500$ spacers, but if the lugnuts are only on one thread, it'll still probably turn up bad.
 
One can run a fairly thin slider style long-stud spacer arrangement. Material choice for the spacer, stud and lug starts to be pretty important. Are those longer studs going to stretch more and cause more unpredictable clamping force to keep the nut still and wheel on? Are those spacers going to have enough material to sustain repeated abuse on a lever-arm extension of the hub? Is the spindle going to be strong enough to cope with spacing the wheels out far enough and the moment arm and additional weight inertia on that moment arm (often minor) and we can go on and on....

Using a good quality stud and lug with a good quality spacer, I've seen wheel centric and hub centric spacers as thin as 8ishmm to fit a volvo hub correctly. Whether or not they are as strong as OEM, I do not know...some further analysis would be needed. One could go thinner if one made a spacer for a wheel with a larger center bore than the bore on an OE volvo wheel or OE volvo hub.

I'd just re-machine the wheels instead of use any spacers at all in some cases....many times sufficient material exists to safely face some off the wheel mounting and re-work the center bore. If the center bore is too large on the wheel, sometimes pressing a machined centering ring (usually with interference fit with the wheel...wheel in oven and ring in freezer type deal) into the larger bore to fit the desired hub is a safe and logical option.

There are lots of variables, but also lots of safe solutions. There are also a lot more not so safe solutions. Consider paying for a well recommended machinist or engineer or both....they are *just* wheels that *just* control your brakes and steering actions bwahahaha This is by no means an impossible task if the goal is to push the wheel out 2-4mm...making spacers, modifying hubs, making hubs, making wheels, modifying wheels are all commonly used possibilities (one can always do other things to the car or suspension of course)...all safely, cost effectively, (backwards) compatible with the existing car/easily reversible, easily serviceable and/or factory serviceable and light weight...
 
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The issue is lug engagement, not ****ty spacers. You can have 500$ spacers, but if the lugnuts are only on one thread, it'll still probably turn up bad.

This would not happen with 2-4mm spacers.
I could see your logic if they were much thicker.
Unless your lugstuds are only 10mm long and you need every damn mm of threading :lol:
 
Well I ended up getting a set of H&R 5mm spacers for around $65 shipped to my door, We shall see once they come in, I am super anxious to get these wheels on the car
 
This would not happen with 2-4mm spacers.
I could see your logic if they were much thicker.
Unless your lugstuds are only 10mm long and you need every damn mm of threading :lol:

Righto, my point being that there should be no real fear of running 5mm of spacer, as you should still have enough lug engagement.

On a side note- NHRA even has specs for lugnut thread engagement, its a little important. :-P
 
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