Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[cptJLPicard]

I am having hard time to decide if spacers use is a good idea or not,
Please let me know what is your take. Why would you NOT use spacers? What is the "side effect" (if any) of using spacers? What should I know before installing them?

Thanks much!

[GaryS]

Vibration issues are possible with 5mm and 8mm spacers. 10mm spacers can vibrate or break unless you file down the hubs to make them fit right.


...adding: If you need 5mm or 8mm spacers in front, you can solve the vibration problem with this thing.

[JefryHorizon]

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=337959

Should give you some answers.

[cptJLPicard]

Originally Posted by GaryS

Vibration issues are possible with 5mm and 8mm spacers. 10mm spacers can vibrate or break unless you file down the hubs to make them fit right.


...adding: If you need 5mm or 8mm spacers in front, you can solve the vibration problem with this thing.

Thanks Gary. Vibration is one thing that I'm definitely not looking forward to...

Originally Posted by JefryHorizon

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=337959

Should give you some answers.

Very good reading, thanks Jefry. Now from what I gathered, extra weight is clearly added to the setup by the spacer itself, then the hub adapter as well as by the longer lug bolts. Oh, and: the wheel locks will no longer fit; you may run into vibration issues.

Checking for pricing, they don't even come cheap: $99+tax / pair at n54tuning.

Well, looks like I'll wait a bit longer and get new rims...

[Trptguy]

Wouldn't switching to studs eliminate vibration issues?

[aerobod]

I've been running 20mm aluminium spacers with the winter wheels on the rear of my Z4M for 5 years. The spacer and extra 20mm in bolt length adds about 400g to the total weight of each wheel (my OZ wheels are 3kg lighter than the OEM wheels, so I'm still 2.6kg lighter including the spacers). The spacers allow me to run the same wheels front and rear for rotation purposes, as my rear offset needs to be 30mm without a spacer on that car, compared with 42mm on the front. I have no vibration problems as I am using a high quality hub-centric spacer with longer bolts. I also have longer locking bolts.

When looking at the wheel and spacer combination as a whole and using high quality hub-centric spacers with bolts that are longer than stock by the thickness of the spacer, you shouldn't have any problems.

[cptJLPicard]

Originally Posted by aerobod

I've been running 20mm aluminium spacers with the winter wheels on the rear of my Z4M for 5 years. The spacer and extra 20mm in bolt length adds about 400g to the total weight of each wheel (my OZ wheels are 3kg lighter than the OEM wheels, so I'm still 2.6kg lighter including the spacers). The spacers allow me to run the same wheels front and rear for rotation purposes, as my rear offset needs to be 30mm without a spacer on that car, compared with 42mm on the front. I have no vibration problems as I am using a high quality hub-centric spacer with longer bolts. I also have longer locking bolts.

When looking at the wheel and spacer combination as a whole and using high quality hub-centric spacers with bolts that are longer than stock by the thickness of the spacer, you shouldn't have any problems.

Thanks aerobod. Any recommendation for good hub-centric spacer? Where did you get the locks from?

[aerobod]

Originally Posted by cptJLPicard

Thanks aerobod. Any recommendation for good hub-centric spacer? Where did you get the locks from?

Any reputable vendor, such as ECS, would be good for hubcentric spacers. The ones I have are the generic ones sold by TireRack.

The 46mm long lock bolts I have are McGard locks I obtained from a speciality wheel place here in Calgary called Urban-X. The stock bolt thread length without spacers is 26mm, I have 46mm thread length locking bolts to go with my 20mm spacers.

[cptJLPicard]

Originally Posted by aerobod

Any reputable vendor, such as ECS, would be good for hubcentric spacers. The ones I have are the generic ones sold by TireRack.

The 46mm long lock bolts I have are McGard locks I obtained from a speciality wheel place here in Calgary called Urban-X. The stock bolt thread length without spacers is 26mm, I have 46mm thread length locking bolts to go with my 20mm spacers.

Cool, thanks, much appreciated!