Pros & Cons for WHEEL SPACERS

[itz4lanyo]

I am planning to get some H&R springs and then add 5mm or 10mm spacers.

what are the Pros & Cons for wheel spacers??

[manaburrn]

Well, I just installed a 15mm spacer on the left back of my car last week, so now the rear wheel *looks* like it's even with the front wheel, but in reality it's actually 15mm further out because of the way the body of the car is shaped.

Pros: looks great, slightly increases handling stability (think the Princess and the Pea)

Cons: depending on how far you go out, you may have to cut or roll the fender lip (rear has a lip on Gen5, front does not - you'll just have to look), slightly increases understeer (Princess and Pea)

I got my spacers off eBay for $60 shipped I think. Oh yeah - you'll have to go to Harbor freight and get this: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=38335 to get the original studs out. It's a NICE tool to have. Don't be fooled by the pic - that tool is a foot long and probably weighs almost 10 pounds.

[johnnyzee]

Originally Posted by itz4lanyo

I am planning to get some H&R springs and then add 5mm or 10mm spacers.

what are the Pros & Cons for wheel spacers??

from my recent research as i was considering 5mm spacers. People are using them, and from the feedback, they work OK and make a slight difference in visual appearance.

the 5mm spacers i'm talking about (and I assume you are) are the ones without the extended studs, just the spacer disks.
you can't SAFELY go wider than 5mm for these style spacers on our camry's, the stock studs are just not long enough to put any wider, one user said that using 5mm spacers resulted in him barely getting a good 5 turns of the lugnut onto his stud.
Once you go past 5 (ie 10-15mm), you need to either replace your studs, or buy the spacers that comprise of extended studs.

Safety is key and 5mm is the max we should be going without doing what manaburn did.

[lammydi]

Originally Posted by johnnyzee

from my recent research as i was considering 5mm spacers. People are using them, and from the feedback, they work OK and make a slight difference in visual appearance.

the 5mm spacers i'm talking about (and I assume you are) are the ones without the extended studs, just the spacer disks.
you can't SAFELY go wider than 5mm for these style spacers on our camry's, the stock studs are just not long enough to put any wider, one user said that using 5mm spacers resulted in him barely getting a good 5 turns of the lugnut onto his stud.
Once you go past 5 (ie 10-15mm), you need to either replace your studs, or buy the spacers that comprise of extended studs.

Safety is key and 5mm is the max we should be going without doing what manaburn did.

I agreed with keeping it safe. Wheels adapters is a much safer way to go.
Here are the pictures of wheels spacers and wheel adapters.

Wheel spacers



Wheel adapters

[manaburrn]

Be careful, the adapters will only work if the original studs have someplace to go inside your rims. Of your rims don't have "spaces" between the lug holes, you will be in trouble, and you will HAVE to use spacers and longer studs. Personally, I just didn't want to pay $100 for the adapters vs $60 for the spacers.

[itz4lanyo]

Thanks for the inputs!

Basically the pros are better handling bc of the center of gravity, and appearance, handling. etc.

So Is there any cons for the long run? or any other cons that has not been mention?

[TRD VVTi]

They do NOT increase handling.

Handling would increase if you moved the wheels AND the suspension outward, but not just the wheels.

I don't like adapters or spacers. Get the right sized wheels instead.

[Engineer2048]

You're putting more stress on the outboard wheel bearings when you move the centerline of the rim outward. Not a big deal for a daily driver car or a race car which is checked all the time, but the bearing life will be shortened, which is something to consider if you plan on keeping the car a long while.

[Trojan]

Two local tire/rim specialty shop technicians warned me about messing up the wheel bearings in the long run and advised not to do it. Better just to get the right fitment/offset if you want those wheels flush with your fender. I should have stuck with the 35 offset versions of my wheels instead of getting the 45's. I was planning on getting a 10mm spacer for my rear wheels.

[lammydi]

Originally Posted by Trojan

Two local tire/rim specialty shop technicians warned me about messing up the wheel bearings in the long run and advised not to do it. Better just to get the right fitment/offset if you want those wheels flush with your fender. I should have stuck with the 35 offset versions of my wheels instead of getting the 45's. I was planning on getting a 10mm spacer for my rear wheels.

+1 I was planning to get the 15mm wheel adapter but decided not to because of the wheel bearings issues. I'm happy just the way it is.

[manaburrn]

There are no wheel bearing issues. My rims are 1.5" wider than stock and I moved them over 0.6". It's not like I took the stock wheels and moved them 2" out or something. If you remember, we have a very high offset on our cars, anyway. I actually LOWERED the offset and brought the center of the wheel closer to the mounting surface (hub).

[johnnyzee]

hey manaburn, what size "spacers" did you use, what wheels (front or back)?

[TRD VVTi]

It does increase the load on the wheel bearings. That's a FACT.

Pro: You can get wheels that don't fit the car properly, to fit. That's about it. Everything else is a Con.

[manaburrn]

Originally Posted by johnnyzee

hey manaburn, what size "spacers" did you use, what wheels (front or back)?

15mm (after a LOT of measuring) on the back to reduce that rear wheel "gap" that makes the rear tire look like it's been "pushed in".
Looks beautiful now. :love:

So, in effect, I now have IS350 18X8.0 +45 in front and 18X8.0 +30 in back (stock was 16X6.5 +50).

If someone wants to show me a vector diagram with exact positional measurements of our Camry wheel and wheel bearings and show how the load force changes in a NEGATIVE way when when you DECREASE the offset, I will listen.

Otherwise...

[johnnyzee]

^ you used a 15 mm spacer disk, ie: the kind without the extended studs? if so, wow, i didn't know you could do that! can you get the lug on there and get enough turns for safe fastening?

let me know, i've been trying to find the maximum size spacer without buying extended stud adapters