Your thoughts on wheel spacers

[cumminscruiser]

I've been thinking that the footprint of my SO FJ60 looks a little narrow, I have two options, get new wheels with a larger offset or use a wheel spacers.

Your thoughts or experiance would be helpfull.

 

[chet]

well I have wheel spacers on my samurai. I feel that with it being light its not much of a problem. On a heavy cruiser I would get offest rims. less things to go wrong. I have seen a few spacer split and come off doing considerable damage.

 

[tradman]

I think if you are just doing it to widen your stance for aesthetics that it is a bad idea. I run 1.5" spacers on my front axle because I have an SAS and need to match the rear but I would prefer not to have them.

It is just one more thing to fail in an area you don't want things failing. Will also add stress to the axle. Change the steering feel etc. Get rims with more backspacing.

 

[LS1matt]

Im pretty new to the off road hobby.... But I am slowly transitioning from the car performance / racing hobby :smiley_drive:... I have seen multiple cars sheer of lugs due to spacers... I would go with the wheels.. my .02

 

[ginericLC]

Is this the truck with the Cummins in it? If so, I'd say definitely not.

I run spacers on my 100 front. They are made in Colorado. Not some Chinese POS knock offs. I do not like running them but I've never had a problem with them. It just seems unnatural to me to have them there. But I don't have much choice because otherwise my tires rub.

In you case on a 60 getting custom wheels isn't very expensive. Think about what you goals are and think carefully before ordering. Going too wide can cause problems too. The further out you go the more leverage there is on your spindle and wheel bearings.

 

[ntsqd]

And in the case of a Toyota closed knuckle you also increase the leverage on the steering bearings. The increased scrub radius also works all of the steering gear harder.

I have no problem with the thin type of spacer (say under 1/2"-13mm thick) if the studs are new and long enough for proper lug nut engagement, but every time I look at one with an offset set of it's own studs warning lights go off in my head. The way that the latter have to be made for them to work results a bunch of large stress risers. I'd love to 'load' one in FEA and post a screen capture, but this machine doesn't have that option.

I don't know why folks think that they have to have matching front & rear track widths. For years GM SRW trucks have been narrower in the rear, and the Willys pick-ups were radically narrower in front (Wide-track Jeep/Scout II in front, full size pick-up in rear). Both drive just fine.

 

[Hltoppr]

I used Spidertrax spacers on the Troopy, to clear the wheels and the front steering linkages, and the 70 series has 1/4" spacers to clear the brake calipers.

Good quality spacers, which bolt on, like the Spidertrax ($100/pr.) are the way to go, if you do it at all.

But...if you don't need them, I wouldn't use them.

-H-

 

[Abel Villesca]

I have heard that they can cause premature bearing failure. I'm not sure under what conditions, though.

 

[Hltoppr]

I have heard that they can cause premature bearing failure. I'm not sure under what conditions, though.

Wheel spacers, in general, increase the leverage on the wheel bearings, by moving the fulcrum point towards the outside. Essentially, instead of the weight of the vehicle being directly over, or slightly outside, the bearings, it is farther out...hence more leverage, which can lead to bearing wear.

Also, the same applies to the wheel lugs themselves. Unless a bolt on spacer is used, which has its own "new" lugs, the original lugs are now holding the wheel on towards the end of each lug; not towards the base, as originally intended. Longer lugs may be needed as well, in order for the wheel nuts to get a good "bite" on the lug itself.

HTH,

-H-

 

[cumminscruiser]

Wheel spacers

I have a set of FJ62 axles, because the vents are cool, for my 60. I would love to widen them a little but without my retention bonus I was thinking inexpensive way. This is for the cummins cruiser. I may look into the longer axles. There was a posting a while back.

 

[Grease Cruiser]

Throw some 80 series axles under it with the coil suspension. You will get your wider stance and have a better ride.:bike_rider:

 

[cumminscruiser]

Wheel spacers

I have thought about that, and I did a quick calculation. I have 15% more projects than I have life left to live. :wings:

 

[ginericLC]

Then you don't have enough projects lined up yet. I wouldn't waste my time with 80 series axles for your application. You would get stronger birfs but a weaker ring and pinion. I'd go with custom backspaced wheels and forget about anything else. If you want to go wider I'd be looking at custom Dana 60s built to your specs. Then you will need new wheels too.

 

[Root Moose]

I don't know why folks think that they have to have matching front & rear track widths. For years GM SRW trucks have been narrower in the rear, and the Willys pick-ups were radically narrower in front (Wide-track Jeep/Scout II in front, full size pick-up in rear). Both drive just fine.

From a handling/performance point of view the ideal set up is slightly wider in the front than the rear. I'm fairly certain that this is why the GM trucks were set up this way.

What are the benefits? Better tracking when in a dynamic situation (i.e. accident avoidance or a slalom type of maneuver). To get a feel for this, think about a kid's tricycle. Quite unstable at any appeciable speed. Reverse it so that the two wheels are in the front and a single trailing wheel. Stable.

Also, narrower in the rear will give a tighter turning radius, very useful on a 4x4 obviously.

By slightly wider we are talking a difference of an inch to four inches typically. It's mostly restrained by packaging and realities of loading, geometry, etc.

To the OP, I'd use new wheels. If you decide to go with spacers get some from a reputable company like Spidertrax.com.

 

[jgolden]

I'm going to run them on my 100 series, but they are made in the USA, they bolt to the existing hub and are hub-centric and wheel centric.
But I still don't like it