Do-it-yourself spacers for increasing wheel rim offset

Do-it-yourself spacers for increasing wheel offset – Automotoguru

Once again I say hello to you, dear friends! Today, the topic of our conversation will be a very unusual detail, the existence of which some people are not even aware of . Remember how, while walking around the car market, your eyes are drawn to spectacular rims from some foreign car.

And it seems like there is money, but it doesn’t seem possible to install them on the good old classics, so we move on, ignoring thoughts about buying them.

But if you only knew that special spacers for increasing the disc offset can easily cope with this problem, perhaps already in the evening, your car would show off its original discs in front of passers-by.

Content

Purpose of spacers
Types of spacers between the disc and the hub
Technology for installing a spacer under a disc
Manufacturers of wheel spacers
How do spacers affect the life of the chassis?
Where can I buy good spacers?

Purpose of spacers

I understand that some of you are now perplexed, they cannot understand what we are talking about, what kind of magical detail is this? It's really simple! Tell me two reasons that prevent us from installing, say, on a Zhiguli, the rims of another car and everything will immediately become clear? I hope it didn’t take long to think about it; this is a different mount and offset of the wheel rim.

Spacers are a metal pancake that is mounted between the disc and the drum or hub.

Thus, with their help, it becomes possible to correct the installation of the wheels, as well as take care of the normal distance between the disk and the body. Agree, a small but very important detail.

In addition, spacers can significantly improve the stability of the car, because it’s not for nothing that most tuned cars are equipped with a similar part.

Types of spacers between the disc and the hub

But before you buy wheel spacers, you need to decide what exactly is stopping you from installing certain wheels. Based on this, your final choice will depend when examining various types of spacers. Which, in turn, are distinguished according to several criteria.

Product thickness

The dimensions of the spacer are of great importance for each of their customers. This characteristic should also concern you, of course, if there is interest in this detail. In implementation you can find three types of spacers of different dimensions:

Small - have a thickness of no more than 6 mm. Due to the miniature forms on almost all cars, installation is carried out directly on the original mount, since the length of the mounting bolt is enough to fix the wheel rim along with the spacer. Often used in sports tuning.
Medium – up to 25 mm thick. They do not have any imbalance due to the centering hub, which is present in the design. A vehicle equipped with this type of spacer can be easily identified visually. The car takes on some sporty notes, it becomes more aggressive and all due to the widened track.
Large ones – up to 50 mm thick. Based on their design features, they are attached to the hub in two different ways: with bolts, which actually screw the spacer (the best option for VAZ cars), and also with built-in studs and nuts (UAZ or Niva).

The main thing to understand here is that the thickness of the spacer is the main characteristic that affects the increase in disc offset, so you need to approach this point seriously. But oddly enough, not the only one. There is one more parameter that distinguishes spacers from each other.

Hub installation method

There are spacers available for installation that require nothing more than a standard mounting kit. You can also find more complex designs, for example, with a centering hole. A spacer of this type greatly facilitates installation and fastening, and also performs the function of centering the disk.

A spacer without changing the centering of a disk is a product that significantly reduces disk overhang. To install it, you do not need to change the number of mounting holes or the fastening method. The spacer is mounted on a standard mount between the disc and the drum.
A spacer with changing the centering for the disk - with its help you can not only significantly reduce the overhang of the disk, but also change the internal centering hole. For its installation, longer mounting bolts are used.

In any case, armed with the above information, you will definitely find your option, which sooner or later you will need to install on your car. I’ll tell you further how to do this and what mistakes to avoid.

Technology for installing a spacer under a disc

In principle, installing a spacer is no more difficult than a regular wheel, but despite all the simplicity, you should not forget about some rules:

One wheel - one spacer - there will be a temptation to install another part on top of the existing one, but you shouldn’t do this! Thus, you will not only increase the load on the bearing and some suspension elements, but also create an unwanted imbalance, which can easily lead to an accident, even when driving at minimum speeds.
Correctly performed installation process - fastening bolts or nuts must be tightened in the correct sequence. Remember how to tighten a wheel? Everything is similar here: first of all, we tighten the bolts by hand, then in a diagonal way, gradually tighten all the existing elements until they stop. Ideally, carry out the procedure using a torque wrench, thanks to which it will be possible to get rid of the imbalance.
Control check - after driving a good ten kilometers, do not be lazy and once again make sure that all fasteners are properly tightened.

Well, you understand, right? Installing spacers yourself is as easy as shelling pears. And even when faced with models of sophisticated design, everything is intuitive.

However, before you begin installing the spacers, you still need to choose a reliable manufacturer. It will be quite difficult for a beginner to figure it out, so we will continue to talk about manufacturers.

You know firsthand how things stand with the quality of goods sold in our country.

Manufacturers of wheel spacers

No doubt, you can make parts such as spacers for wheels yourself, but is it worth it? In my purely personal opinion, purchasing a factory part that will definitely meet all the requirements for reliability, and hence safety, is the right decision. Moreover, despite the unusual nature of the product we are discussing, worthy manufacturers exist. Here are at least these:

H&R Trak+ – USA;
Hofmann and Schiessler – Germany;
Bimecc - Italy.

Of course, you can find other brands in the car store windows, but it’s difficult to judge their quality; many reviews are quite ambiguous.

Here you need to understand that any microcrack in the structure of the spacer entails a breakdown of the product, and this in turn has serious consequences. The wheel, after all, falls off while moving and an accident cannot be avoided.

Therefore, you need to give preference exclusively to proven brands, which are the manufacturers from the list.

Of course, many factories often ignore this requirement, usually using iron, hence all the troubles. Here's another reason to be careful when choosing a spacer. If, after all, your car market is so boring that there should be no assortment of car accessories. And you had to choose from what is available, keep in mind a few nuances:

The product must have exactly 4 holes for mounting bolts - the spacer will not last long with three bolts.
All mounting holes must be at a normal distance from each other, that is, not mating.
Spacer No. 176 – if you like the spacer on the body of which this number is emblazoned, put this part aside. It is probably made from low quality materials. The fact is that the number 176 means that you have Chinese products in your hands, but I think everyone has heard a lot about goods from the Celestial Empire.

How do spacers affect the life of the chassis?

Another completely logical question that worries every car enthusiast is whether the new part will affect the performance of the chassis? I’ll tell you this, everything again depends on the purpose for which the product was purchased. For example:

If you only needed a spacer to match the mounting holes of the disc with the drum, rest assured! Wheel adaptation does not have a negative impact on any element of the chassis.
In the case when you wanted to stand out from the crowd and change your relegation, everything doesn’t look so rosy. Here you need to understand that you can’t argue with the laws of physics and believe me, when it comes out of the equation that a constant additional load of almost 20 kg is placed on the edge of the tire, it is impossible to do without consequences. In fact, there is a bit of optimism: by choosing a suitable spacer, you can limit yourself solely to more frequent replacement of the wheel bearing. But that’s only if it’s suitable!

Please note: the service life of a wheel bearing decreases in direct proportion to the difference in the distance between the displaced mounting location and the original position of the disc base.

Where can I buy good spacers?

Agree, spacers are a car accessory, the acquisition of which may be difficult.

Such a product may not even be found on a well-known car market, so what to do then? As in most other situations in life, the Internet will help! Practice proves that if you live far from a metropolis, most products are ordered by the seller via the Internet.

Thus, you not only have to pay the purchase price, but also pay the seller for his labor. For many people, for example, it’s easier to do this work themselves and save money.

I won’t deny that it all depends on the demand for the product, but here you yourself understand that there is no sell-out as such.

The price, which starts from a thousand rubles (25 mm), and the lack of awareness of such an accessory among domestic drivers are the two main reasons for this.

But be that as it may, there is a way out, but finding it is not so easy. There are not so many services in Russia that sell spacers for the above brands.

But I wasn’t lazy and got it for you, one of them is www.prostavka.ru. An excellent online store that cooperates with the best spacer manufacturers in Europe. Here you can also choose spacers for VAZ wheels; in general, there are a lot of positions in the catalog. By the way, there are also options for alloy wheels.

Source: https://avtomotoguru.ru/prostavki-dlya-uvelicheniya-vyleta-kolesnogo-diska-svoimi-rukami/

Spacers to increase disc offset

In this article we will talk about spacers used to adapt rims to the hub of your car. Many may think that this is a garage tuning, but we will try to convince you otherwise, you just need to know when you can use disc spacers and when you shouldn’t.

Here it is worth immediately defining the scope of use of these spacers in order to understand the real meaning of their use.

Spacers are primarily intended for those cases when you like some wheels, but they do not fit the mounting dimensions to the hub of your car, or the disk has an offset different from the recommended standard one and you need to “enlarge it” so that the disk does not touch the car body .

In fact, the offset needs to be reduced; you can learn more about what disc offset is from the article “Size and offset of wheel rims.” We also note that spacers can only change the offset in a negative direction, bring the offset closer to zero or make it negative. If the disc has a minus offset significantly different from the standard one, then it is worth abandoning such discs; spacers will not help here.

Types of spacers between the disc and the hub

Spacers can be simpler; these are those spacers that do not change the number of mounting holes and the method of fastening (studs or bolts). The only condition for using such spacers is the use of longer fasteners. Examples of such disc spacers are given below.

In the first case (top drawing), the spacer exclusively reduces the disc overhang, due to the distance between the supporting surface of the disc and the hub of the car (brake disc, drum) by the amount of the spacer. In this case, the dimensions of the disk centering element do not change.

The centering element passes through the spacer (through diameter A) and the disk is based on this element.

The second option is more complex; here, in addition to reducing the overhang, the internal centering hole also changes. This hole is used to center the disk when installing and fastening it.

The following photo shows an example of using a spacer with the first options described above. Here a spacer is used without changing the centering element. It’s worth saying right away that although such a spacer together with a new brake disc looks beautiful, it will be difficult to ensure clear centering of the wheel.

The standard centering element of the disk is too short and does not protrude above the surface of the spacer, that is, the spacer should have had an element that continues the diameter of the disk centering, but there is none.

This is not a good way to use it, unless this photo will clearly show you where the spacer should be installed and what it looks like.

The spacer from the second option is shown in the following photo. Here you can clearly see the developed centering surface that ensures the centering of the disk

As a rule, the spacer options described above are relatively thin, having a thickness of about 2 – 10 mm. When using thicker spacers for the disc, a different installation scheme is used, more on it later.

Such spacers are fastened with standard bolts (nuts) to the hub, and threaded holes are drilled in the spacer itself, into which a second set of fasteners is screwed in to secure the fixing disk.

Also, these spacers are applicable when the number of mounting holes changes, that is, there were 4 bolts, but now there are 5, or vice versa.

Technology for installing a spacer under a disc

The most difficult thing when installing a spacer is to comply with all the conditions described above, to maintain the dimensions between the holes, the diameter of the central base element, and the distance between the fasteners.

After this, if everything is done correctly, installing spacers will take no longer than changing the wheel.
Namely, remove the wheel, install a spacer, put the wheel in place.

The installation diagram is shown in the figure below.

Manufacturers of wheel spacers

There are already manufacturers on the market engaged in the production and sale of similar accessories for cars. Companies that you should trust are American and European: H&R TRAK+ (America), BIMECC (Italy), Schiessler (Germany), Hofmann (Germany).

You may ask how spacers that are identical in appearance and size may differ. First of all, the material for spacers must be rolled or forged. This metal has a denser, stronger, uniform structure.

It is more durable in terms of mechanical characteristics, it does not have microcracks that can grow and eventually cause a fault. A spacer made from rolled stock will be better balanced, or rather, it will not require balancing at all. You won't achieve this with cast spacers.

If you decide to make spacers yourself or entrust their manufacture to someone, take this fact into account.

I also wanted to talk about what homemade spacers from the “if only it was” category might look like. Look at the photo below.

The following violations are striking:

– The spacer is secured with three bolts. It is impossible to evenly tighten or press such a spacer. As a result, safety is not guaranteed, since the forces acting on the bolts can break them.

There will be runout, since the installation of the spacer will not be parallel to the central axis of the car.
– The disk mounting holes mate with the spacer mounting holes to the hub.

In this case, the strength of the threaded connection of the spacer weakens, which also affects the performance properties of the thread and, as a consequence, safety

If, in accordance with your calculations, you cannot ensure the transition from 4 studs to 5, due to existing limitations (as in the photo below), then it is better to refuse the option of installing spacers altogether, this will be the right decision

How do spacers affect the life of a car's chassis (bearing life)

When using spacers, the question always arises of changing the service life of the wheel bearing.

Here we can say the following: if you used spacers only to ensure the adaptation of the disks to their standard dimensions, then the spacers will not affect the bearing life in any way.

If spacers were used to change the appearance of the car, and the disc offset became different from the standard one, then the service life of the bearing will definitely decrease. The laws of physics apply here. For clarity, take a look at the figure below.

As the arm (L) increases, the torque (M) acting on the bearing also increases. So, as an example, let’s take for example the load on the wheel (F) equal to 250 kg. In this case, due to the spacer relative to the standard offset, for example, by 5 cm, the torque (0.05 m * 250 kg = 12.5 kg * m) will be plus 12.5 kg.

Please note that this does not take into account peak loads and impact phenomena, which are often found on our roads.
This means that someone will constantly try to turn your wheel around the bearing, by the outer edge of the tire upwards, with a force of 12.5 kg.

It is very difficult to talk about clear numbers, since this relates more to an empirical relationship, that is, calculated experimentally. Here it is worth taking into account the road, driving style, and the quality of the bearing. One thing is clear - the service life of the wheel bearing will decrease.

Moreover, the decrease in its resource will be directly proportional to the increase in the difference in the distance between the standard installation site and the displaced installation site, due to the spacer.

Source: http://www.AutoSecret.net/tuning/tuning-podveska/1113-prostavki-dlja-uvelichenija-vyleta-diska

Spacers, disc spacers or, to put it correctly, faceplates are used to reduce, but not to increase, the offset. — DRIVE2

Depending on how much the overhang needs to be reduced, faceplates come in different thicknesses.

What are wheel spacers usually used for?

It often happens that wheels that you really like are simply not produced with the required offset, although they meet all other requirements of the car manufacturer (width, diameter, centering hole, number and diameter of the axis of bolt holes - inter-bolt distance). As a way out of the situation, spacers are offered for wheel rims, which should reduce the disc offset to the desired size. Essentially, wheel spacers are metal plates that are installed between the wheel rim and the hub.

Reducing the wheel offset leads to an increase in track width. Sometimes reducing the offset is necessary. This happens when the width of the tire profile increases, for example, the rim of a standard wheel has a narrow width, but it is necessary to install a wheel with a wider rim and tire size.

In order for the inner edge of the wheel to be at the same distance from the suspension elements as the stock one, it must be moved outward. This is why spacers are used to reduce the offset.

Also, do not forget that a significant change in offset leads to an increase in the so-called “break-in shoulder” of the wheel - a parameter that directly affects the directional stability and controllability of the car. This car is sensitive to the track. The force on the steering wheel increases, which forces the driver to strain unnecessarily.

When braking hard on the highway, even a slight difference in the grip of the left and right wheels can cause the car to spin out. With a slight change in offset such problems do not arise.

What types of wheel spacers are there?
There are two main types of wheel spacers - in some cases, the wheel spacers simply have through holes drilled for the hub bolts (studs) - in this case, the bolts will most likely have to be replaced with longer ones (the length increases exactly by the width of the wheel spacer). As a rule, the thickness of such spacers does not exceed 10 mm.

In other cases, the spacers are drilled with holes for the hub bolts, and separately drilled with threads for mounting the disc. Thus, the spacer is attached to the hub independently, and the disk, in turn, is screwed to the spacer.

In this option, you can change not only the offset, but also the number of bolts and the bolt-to-bolt distance (the diameter of the holes). Additionally, this type of spacer typically has a wheel alignment bulge similar to that found on the hub.

Therefore, when selecting such spacers, you need to pay special attention to whether the centering hole of the disk corresponds to this parameter of the spacer.

Conditions for selecting and using spacers for wheels

In general, from a mechanical point of view, the use of spacers is possible only in cases where the actual disc offset is greater than the calculated one (required by the car manufacturer), and the width of the spacer must exactly correspond to the difference in the specified offsets (remember, the disc offset is measured in millimeters). But at the same time, you need to understand that the key point is the quality of the spacer, because in the case of a minimal error in the location of the hole, or simply if the metal from which the spacer is made is not uniform, the wheel will beat, destroying your suspension at an accelerated pace and creating critical loads on the suspension in extreme conditions (and this already poses a risk of destruction of chassis parts while driving). Therefore, there is absolutely no need to use homemade disc spacers, as well as from unknown manufacturers.

Source: https://www.drive2.com/b/1428729/

Wheel spacers

Opel Astra ***CELEBRITY*** › Logbook › Wheel spacers

Hi all!
I'm interested in this question. There is an idea to install spacers, but there are all sorts of doubts.

I found one text on the site about spacers, what are the advantages of it...

Wheel spacers are designed to change the offset (ET) of wheel rims and widen the vehicle track. Installing spacers under the wheels allows you to increase the wheelbase of the car, give it a more aggressive and sporty appearance, and also improve driving dynamics.

Remote spacers are often necessary when installing a tuning car body kit or sports suspension.

In the first case, wheel spacers can improve the appearance of the car by visually increasing the offset of the wheels; in the second, they will help avoid the wheels or tires from touching the fixed suspension parts.

Finally, with the help of wheel spacers, it is possible to install wider tires and rims on the car that differ in offset from the original parameters.

Can you use wheel spacersWhat are wheel spacers usually needed for?

This method of using wheel spacers is more or less justified (with reservations, which are discussed below), but only on the condition that the spacers reduce the disc offset exactly to the standard size (provided by the car manufacturer), no more and no less.
What types of wheel spacers are there?

There are two main types of wheel spacers - in some cases, the wheel spacers simply have through holes drilled for the hub bolts (studs) - in this case, the bolts will most likely have to be replaced with longer ones (the length increases exactly by the width of the wheel spacer). As a rule, the thickness of such spacers does not exceed 10 mm.

In other cases, the spacers are drilled with holes for the hub bolts, and separately drilled with threads for mounting the disc. Thus, the spacer is attached to the hub independently, and the disk, in turn, is screwed to the spacer.

Therefore, when selecting such spacers, you need to pay special attention to whether the centering hole of the disk corresponds to this parameter of the spacer.
Conditions for selecting and using spacers for wheels

Here's what you need to know about disk failure!))

Disc offset is actually one of its most important geometric parameters.

The reason for this importance is that if the disk does not match the diameter, number of bolt holes or the distance between them, you most likely simply will not be able to install such a disk on the hub, but a disk with an offset that does not correspond to the standard one (if the deviation is small) in most cases without problems appear on the hub and seem to perform its functions normally. How much can you trust this “seemingly”?

At various auto forums, motorists often argue about “how much and in what direction the disc offset may differ from the standard one,” and diametrically opposed opinions are often expressed.

A sales consultant in a specialized tire store will most likely tell you that a slight deviation in offset from the car manufacturer’s requirements is quite acceptable, and if the wheel assembly fits normally on the hub and when rotating does not cling to suspension and body parts, such a disc is definitely can be installed on a car. The seller of wheel spacers will generally tell you that reducing disc offset is not a problem at all, regardless of the specific parameters. And this is understandable - their goal is to sell you wheels, wheel spacers and other goods. Your goal is to buy what exactly suits you.

And in fact? Let's look at everything in order and slowly.

What is disc ejection?

Disc offset is the distance between the vertical plane of symmetry of the wheel and the plane of application of the disc to the hub in millimeters. The formula for calculating disk overhang is extremely simple:

a – distance between the inner plane of the disk and the plane of application of the disk to the hub

b – total width of the disk

Based on the calculation formula, it is easy to see that the disc offset can be positive (most often), zero and negative. In addition, the offset of the disks actually directly affects the width of the wheelbase, since the distance between the centers of symmetry (across the width) of the wheels on the same axle directly depends on this parameter.

In addition, again from the calculation formula, we can conclude that the disc offset is not affected by either the width of the disc (and, accordingly, the tires) or the diameter of the disc.

To determine the design loads on the suspension, it is only the arm of application of force that is important, i.e. distance from the center of the tire (width) to the hub.

Thus, regardless of the size of tires and wheels, the estimated offset required by the automaker for one car model will always be the same.

In the coding, which is applied to the inner surface of the disk, the offset is designated as ETxx, where xx is the actual value of the offset in millimeters.
For example: ET45 (positive), ET0 (zero), ET-15 (negative) Are disk offset deviations acceptable?

For the lazy and busy: the disc offset must exactly correspond to the requirements of the car manufacturer and no deviation in any direction can be considered acceptable.

By changing the disc offset (not even a “minor” 5 mm), you also change the essential operating conditions of all suspension units, creating forces (and vectors of their application) for which your suspension is not designed.

The simplest consequence is that the service life of the suspension elements is reduced, but under conditions of critical loads the consequences can be much worse, up to sudden destruction while driving. If you want to know why, read on.

Why do sellers say otherwise? The answer is simple - simply because there are a lot of disc offset options, and specifically for “your” offset it is quite difficult for them to select wheels that are suitable for your car in other respects. Those. neglecting the accuracy of offset matching significantly expands the range of wheels that can be offered to you, which significantly increases the chances of selling you something.

Why are different parts made for different car models?

To begin with, you need to understand that during the development of the suspension of each individual car, designers calculate a great many parameters, depending on which the requirements for individual suspension elements are determined, among other things.

Have you ever encountered, for example, a situation where for two identical cars (model, make), differing only in the engine, the manufacturer makes different suspension parts - ball joints, tie rod ends, levers, as well as all the silent blocks that are present in places connections of these nodes? Why do you think this happens?

Everything is very simple: because different motors have different weights, accordingly, when it changes, the force and (possibly) the vector of application of force acting on individual suspension units changes.

Accordingly, the design is also changing, which should ensure maximum reliability of the unit while maintaining controllability and comfort, and (which is also important) minimal production costs.

And it should be noted that if previously most automakers made a fairly large margin of safety in the main components of the car (incl.

concerns the suspension), then recently there has been a tendency towards more accurate design calculations and a reduction in the cost of the car precisely by reducing this safety margin.

And this trend, alas, significantly reduces any possibilities for “garage” tuning, both suspension and engines.

What forces act on the suspension parts?
If you decompose the suspension of a modern car according to the forces that act on its individual elements, you will get a multi-volume publication that is beyond the ability of an ordinary car enthusiast to understand. Therefore, for clarity, we will consider a simplified version of the MacPherson independent suspension system, where the hub is attached to the body by one wishbone and a strut with a shock absorber.

According to Newton's Third Law (the action force is equal to the reaction force), the total mass of the car is distributed between its four wheels, while the force acting on each wheel is directed from the surface on which the car is standing (or moving).

The point of application of this force is the center of the contact patch between the tire and the road surface. If we assume that the car’s suspension is in good working order, the wheels are balanced and the wheel alignment angles correspond to the norm, then this center of the contact patch area will be located on the axis of symmetry of the wheel along its width.

The axis of the shock absorber strut, on which the tie rod mounts (tips) are located, should also go down there.

Thus, a force equal to the fraction of the car’s mass falling on any of its wheels is directed from the ground and the point of application of this force is the center of symmetry of the wheel width. Given the suspension design, this force creates moments on the wheel bearing, arm (tension) and strut with shock absorber (compression).

And the designer who develops the suspension components of a car carefully calculates all these points, taking into account in the development, in particular, the hub, lever, shock absorber strut, ball joint, tie rod ends, etc. A safety margin is certainly included, but, as a rule, this margin tends to decrease, since its increase leads to an increase in the cost of the suspension as a whole.

What happens when the calculated disc offset changes?

The figure above clearly shows that the only thing that is actually affected by offset is the location of the central axis of the disk (wheel) relative to the hub. As the offset increases, the wheel will “sit” deeper on the hub, narrowing the wheelbase. Reducing the offset, accordingly, expands the wheelbase and “brings” the wheel outward.

The main thing that a car enthusiast needs to understand is that in both cases, displacement of the central axis of the disk inevitably shifts the steering axis, while changing the steering wheel turning parameters provided by the designer (this affects both the handling of the car as a whole and tire wear in corners), and changes the moments of forces themselves acting on the suspension, as well as the vectors of their application. All this together forces the suspension to work in a mode not intended by the car manufacturer, and therefore its service life and driving safety (especially in extreme conditions) in this case are a lottery with little chance.

Thus, even if a wheel with an unintended offset fits onto the hub without problems, this does not mean at all that this disc is suitable for safe use.

If the offset of the wheel you like is greater than the standard one (provided by the car manufacturer), the way out of the situation may be to use wheel spacers, but finding spacers for the wheels that suit you will not be so easy.

Source: http://legkoe-delo.ru/remont-avtomobilya/automobile/93115-prostavki-kolesnykh-diskov

Hub spacers: what they are and why they are needed

Wheel spacers are metal rings no larger than 10 millimeters in thickness, with a profile height of about 5 cm. They have holes for the pins that hold the wheel on the hub.

Wheel spacers are needed to adjust the wheel offset to the desired size. They are placed between the disc and the hub, and are mostly made from light alloy metals in order to minimize the increase in the weight of the hub.

Type of hub spacers

Before using a spacer between the hub and the disk, you must take into account the length of the hub bolts or studs, since when installing this part, the number of turns of the stud thread will be greatly reduced, and therefore the load on the wheel mount will be distributed incorrectly. If after installation of the spare part the bolts have a number of turns less than eight passes, it is recommended to replace them with others. In this case, the bolts must be selected so that they are longer than the old ones by just the size of the hub spacer.

There are two types of similar products:

The first type is mounted directly on the hub bolts. These parts have holes that match the disc holes and hub studs in number as well as size.
The second type of parts differs in that it has several additional holes with threads. Hub spacers for disks of this type can be used with parts whose holes do not line up with the hub studs. But when using these parts, you need to pay great attention to the quality of the fit on the wheel hub and the alignment of the disc itself.

Application of spacers

It's no secret that changing the disc offset or using spacers leads to both a change in overall handling and a significant reduction in the life of suspension parts.

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There are three types of factory offset for cars:

positive;
neutral;
negative.

Spacers increase the offset of the disk outward, that is, they change the parameters relative to the track width. This leads to negative consequences that affect both the vehicle’s handling and the service life of the bearings themselves, which naturally have an increasing load.

The strength of its increase depends on the difference between the factory offset values and those obtained as a result of the changes. A slight change in offset, literally a couple of millimeters, is not critical, but higher values are not recommended.

Of course, in motorsport, wheel spacers are constantly used, and with their help the track is increased by far from millimeters. There the count goes by centimeters. But we must not forget that racing cars are tuned according to various parameters, among which is the suspension.

At the races themselves, the resource of the wheel bearing is given far from the first place, and even one of the last.

For an ordinary non-racing car, increasing the track will not give anything other than a beautiful appearance. Unless, of course, you stop there and adjust all other suspension parts to the new offset value.

It’s not for nothing that the manufacturer produces a car with the same parameters.

This means that changing them will lead to an imbalance in all systems, unless, of course, measures are taken to compensate for interference in one of the characteristics.

A car with spacers looks impressive

However, you need to remember that as the offset increases, the wheels tend to go beyond the car body. Here it is - road sandblasting of the entire side of the body. First of all, the thresholds suffer greatly, and of course the lower part of the doors.

And if you drive not only on asphalt, you can take your car in for painting every season. Naturally, this can be cured by simply installing wider mud flaps or installing arch extensions.

On the other hand, mud flaps sticking out on the sides like four sails are unlikely to add aesthetics, and arch extensions are not available for every car brand. Of course, there are universal options, but how will they fit? Again, it is advisable to paint them in the body color, but everyone has their own preferences.

Naturally, in the rear axle, especially when driving over bumps, those who like low springs will have wheels in direct contact with the rear arch.

Of course, there are cases when such a change is advisable. For example, when there are non-standard wheels with a very large offset. And the greater the offset, the deeper it will sit on the hub.

Then you may need a spacer for the hub, by installing which you can return the offset parameter to the closest possible factory value.

But in no case should you forget about the studs, because if you leave the old ones, then the rims will be loosely screwed on, as a result of which you can lose the wheel, and this is no joke.

When installing spacers, it is advisable to replace the studs

To summarize, there are two main reasons for installing wheel spacers.

The first is when the car is a racing car, all components in it have been changed, as well as suspension parts. And they are modified specifically to suit any specific parameters. Of course, maintenance and inspection of all parts, components, and assemblies of racing cars occurs much more often than for road versions.

The second reason lies in the fact that wheels with a large offset or wheels with drilling or a number of holes different from the drilling of the hub were purchased for a regular car. Then the spacers will serve you well. The main thing is not to forget about replacing the studs to avoid negative consequences.

Well, and most importantly, you shouldn’t remove the wheels of an ordinary car, that is, widen the track by more than a few millimeters, otherwise you will also have to do body work, since the whole beautiful view from the removed wheels will be hopelessly spoiled by mudguards or a shabby body on the sides of the car . And what do you think?

Source: http://CarExtra.ru/sovety/prostavki-na-stupitsu-kakie-byivayut-i-zachem-nuzhnyi.html