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Do Spacers Wreck Wheel Bearings?

Daz305
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Daz305 Rising Star

Daz305

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hey guys

was considering putting wheels on my car that need spacers... (only small spacers but still) but i have been told spacers wreck wheel bearings...

is this true?

has this happened to anyone on sau?

thanks in advance :P

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Daz305 Rising Star

Daz305

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yer i understand that moving the weight out puts more stress as they are further away. but does it actually wreck them...? and if it was only about 5mm would this make much of a difference? need to no some answers to help my decision on new wheels

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suraido Contributor

suraido

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5mm slip on's are not going to put that much more stress on the hubs.

Any spacer used should be hubcentric so the load is on the hub and not the wheel studs.

Going to a lower offset, especially -offsets can also cause a shorter life for wheel bearings. Same as a spacer.

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Duncan Grand Master

Duncan

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the only impact of a properly designed spacer is the increased load on the hub from leverage. And as said above that is exaclty the same as moving to a lower offset wheel.

much more important is "hubcentric". basically a wheel stud's job is to clamp the wheel to the hub, not locate it correctly. You must have a "hubcentric" fit between the wheel and the hub, this means that the wheel should be held in the right place by the hub not by the wheel studs. If you can put the wheel on without wheel nuts and rotate it a little it is not hubcentric.

basically a hub has a ring in the middle, and the wheel should be a tight fit on that. if you add a spacer it must fit snugly on the hub, and the wheel must be located on that as well. I have never seen a slip on spacer that has a hub ring to locate the wheel.

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sh@un Grand Master

sh@un

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basically a hub has a ring in the middle, and the wheel should be a tight fit on that. if you add a spacer it must fit snugly on the hub, and the wheel must be located on that as well. I have never seen a slip on spacer that has a hub ring to locate the wheel.

and that's why spacer rings are typically illegal

you don't wanna be losing a wheel after your studs shear through :D

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Russman Grand Master

Russman

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the only impact of a properly designed spacer is the increased load on the hub from leverage. And as said above that is exaclty the same as moving to a lower offset wheel.

much more important is "hubcentric". basically a wheel stud's job is to clamp the wheel to the hub, not locate it correctly. You must have a "hubcentric" fit between the wheel and the hub, this means that the wheel should be held in the right place by the hub not by the wheel studs. If you can put the wheel on without wheel nuts and rotate it a little it is not hubcentric.

basically a hub has a ring in the middle, and the wheel should be a tight fit on that. if you add a spacer it must fit snugly on the hub, and the wheel must be located on that as well. I have never seen a slip on spacer that has a hub ring to locate the wheel.

This is part of the reason I run nissan rims on the track (33 GTR). Even my very expensive ADVAN RS's are not hubcentric beacause they are generic fit. What are your thoughts on this duncan?

Also thinking about it. Having a +30 offset can't be much different to -30. Ideally a wheel with a 0 offset would be the best thing for bearing life. true?

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Duncan Grand Master

Duncan

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I guess having wheels at the centre of the car would reduce bearing load most, and having them hanging out would increase it the most....but perhaps the handling would suffer :D basically the extra load is just from the extra track width and the extra grip it brings...no magic to it.

having hubcentric wheels is really important for track use. It is easy to get hold of plastic locating rings once you have the hub diameter and wheel's inner diameter. Or like you said use the factory wheels 32/33/34 all locate correctly on the hub. With the current targa rules, r33 wheels are excellent for an r32

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_Wing_ Proficient

_Wing_

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Use metal hubcentric rings instead of plastic - plastic melts.

With +30 and -30 offset... -30 would have a much bigger load because of the extra arm length/leverage in relation to the turn.

Spacers/lower offset doesn't "wreck" bearings or sheer the studs themselves, but they certainly do put exponentially more load on them so you can expect a shorter service life.

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joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo Grand Master

joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo

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This is part of the reason I run nissan rims on the track (33 GTR). Even my very expensive ADVAN RS's are not hubcentric beacause they are generic fit. What are your thoughts on this duncan?

get some locating rings..... just need to measure the hub diamater and the wheels diamater and your set... bob jane et al stock them

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Russman Grand Master

Russman

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get some locating rings..... just need to measure the hub diamater and the wheels diamater and your set... bob jane et al stock them

Thanks for the info. I'll do that coz I didn't realise they were available. What are they generally made of? Alloy or steel?

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  • 2 months later...
seanfontanini Explorer

seanfontanini

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hey. i have a31 cefiro and have a set of r32 gtr rims. i have the hubs off a stock r32 with r32 gtr brakes. went to put the wheel on and the inner tyre wall is rubbing on my tiens. would spacers be the go in this situation. if so can anyone point me in the right direction of were i could get some. im in perth. cheers

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Wagonz Apprentice

Wagonz

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Also for locating rings, can get a machinist to make some from aluminium with slight interference fit to the wheels, and leave them in the other wheels. Better then the plastic ones

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