Wheel spacers?

[rdane]

Looks like I have enough room in the back to add about 21mm worth of wheel spacer on each side . That should fill up my wheel well and give me close to 1.5" more track width total.

I have gone from a 225 tire up front to a 245. But can't get anything wider for the back so I thought I'd just push them out a bit.

Anyone else done this or using spacers now? Comments or cautions? Worth bothering with?

[Steve@Rennsport]

Many people do this for cosmetic/handling purposes but it doesn't make your rear wheel bearings very "happy".

Personally, I would not do this on a customer's car unless it had the 930 trailing arms with the much bigger bearings.

That said, it mght not be a concern depending on how the car is used and its annual mileage,..

[rdane]

Thanks Steve! Some times I forget just how much really info can be had here on Pelican.

Car has stock SC trailing arms with WEVO spring plates.
Rear wheel bearings? We were discussing adding longer studs today and was told the really long studs typically means pulling the rear hubs. So I was thinking new bearings in the rear would be a good idea. (something I have not done but will on a 200K car) Not many miles going on the car these days, easily less than 6K per year. But those that do get added are typically hard miles.

Not looking for cosmetics, I wanted a little more over steer with the 245s up front and got it. I can easily fit a 10 wheel in back and maybe a 11. But wish I could buy a 265x45x16 in a "normal" tire. I was thinking that making the rear track wider might take back some of the over steer and make it about perfect with the addition of even better overall handling. (fixed sway bars)

I can live with it as is. But wanted to make the most of what I have without buying 17" rims.

With the additional info should I just leave it as is?

[Jeff Alton]

buy 17's................

Cheers

[Steve@Rennsport]

If you want to go the spacer route, I would limit that to 12mm.

Jeff's solution, albeit not cheap, is really the best one for both performance, durability, and appearance,........

[rdane]

Gotcha, thanks Steve.

[Mothy]

I run 2" adapters on the rear of my SC - that is the adapter bolts to the hub and the wheels then bolt to the adapter. This way I'm not relying on long studs taking all the leverage.

Just replaced the rear bearings - not very expensive and if they last for 50,000 miles I will be happy - that a long time for a car used on weekends.

Tim

[Wil Ferch]

I respect Steve's advice here ( and elsewhere)...but I need to ask, what are the wheels and configuration we're talking about ??

Use of hub-centric factory 21mm spacers to push out ( say) 7" Fuchs on the rear of an SC/Carrera should pose no real problems. There is no add'l leverage on the longer studs used ( 66-67 mm vs stock 45), since the radial loads are taken up by the inner and outer hubcentric areas ...and the studs can be installed w/o taking everything apart back there.

As to add'l bearing loads, it should not be much different than using 8" or 9" Fuchs on the back, relatively speaking.

There are a number of threads on this. Search on my name and RoyB, for example....

It all depends on the situation you have.....