Wheel Spacers

[rlockwood7049]

What brand of bolt-on wheel spacers would you recommend. I track my 72 911 with RS plus flares-275/45/16 in the rear. But I have some fairly nice Fuchs for street-15x6 with 205/50/15. I'll use about a 2-2.25 inch spacer. I'm not running it hard on the street; I just want to push out the wheels so it doesn't look stupid!
Richard

[80-911SC]

if you are tracking or driving your car wheel spacers are not recommended at all ...

none of them .. the factory did put some on some cars but the general rule is they are only for looks ... do not use ...

[moneymanager]

Amen. You will find your wheel bearings will die a quick death, and handling will suffer. The biggest spacer that Booth, a reputable source, sells is 15mm or about 5/8", 2" is ludicrous.

[rlockwood7049]

Thanks for your feedback. However, I'm confused (frequently). How is driving my car gently on the street with 2-2.25 inch spacers with 205/50/15 tires more dangerous and damaging to the car's suspension than tracking it with my 275/45/16s (16x9 Fuchs with R6 Hoosiers). By the way, the car has a 1998 3.6 varioram, rear coil-overs, 930 brakes, and a lot of other stuff that has thinned my wallet many times.
Richard

[kyle242gt]

Last time this came up, the point was that a wider track was suboptimal as it places an angled load on the wheel bearings.

With 275's, you have as much tire on both sides of bearing centerline.
With 205's, and the same outer track width, you'll have a levering effect.
Is this enough to be an issue?

Opinions differ.

I put 1" spacers on my stock SC, and am not concerned.

[moneymanager]

Wheels are not my expertise but I have seen this advice frequently in books on handling...Fred Puhn's is one at hand. I'm going to speculate that the stresses at the base of a 2.5" stud are way more than those carried by a stud 0.5" long, increasing the odds of bending or breaking. Of course, the tighter the fit of the studs in the holes, the better off you would be.

[kyle242gt]

That's an interesting take on it, hadn't encountered that one before. With hub- and wheelcentric spacers, there's no shear stress to speak of... is a longer stud more likely to stretch than a short one? Probably. Significant? Questionable.

But what of bolt-on spacers? Theoretically, the studs are all still original length. (1.5" or whatever).

[spuggy]

Not only are spacers widely used for many reasons (necessary to fit some big brake upgrades, for example, or to compensate for different ET's etc), but the factory used HUBCENTRIC spacers as standard equipment on 930's on the front until they incorporated that additional offset into the hubs and the fixed rotor design (dropping the floating front rotor) they used for later cars (-80 MY).

I'm unsure - but I believe that ALL 930's use different hubs on the rear (basically hubs with built-in spacers); certainly the offset isn't reflected in the rotor, 930 rear rotors are a popular part of many big brake upgrades on 911's; they bolt right up.

I personally believe that HUBCENTRIC spacers are fine, unless they're ludicrous offsets.

The factory using a 1" spacer sends a fairly clear signal, I think - and this seems in line with many miles my car did with 20mm spacers at the rear to compensate for different ET's - for both road and track usage. It still has those same bearings in the rear, they're fine.

Bolt-up spacers (the ones folks use to avoid changing the studs) I just wouldn't use at all, period.

[Joe Bob]

Wheel Adapters, Wheel Spacers, Hub Rings, and much more! | Motorsport Tech

These guys are the best....

[KTL]

Been using spacers on my cars for over 10 years and they've been to the track quite a lot. The racecar has been using spacers ever since it got 930-bodied back in the late 90's a I believe? I have yet to replace wheel bearings as a result of damage/failure.

Installing spacers is no different than installing a wheel of the same offset. If you wheel fits within the body, it's not going to destroy the bearings.