What Exactly Are Wheel Spacers?. You may have spotted a truck or Jeep on the road with its wheels protruding from its body and wondered, “What the heck is going on?” Someone has added wheel spacers to the vehicle. While these aftermarket goodies are inexpensive, simple to install, and can improve the appearance and performance of your vehicle, they are not without downsides.
What is a wheel spacer?
A wheel spacer is an aluminum disc that fits over a vehicle’s wheel hubs. This pushes the wheel away from the vehicle’s body. Wheel spacers can be as thin as an eighth of an inch or as thick as two inches.
You can get wheel spacers with the same bolt pattern as your car or a spacer that serves as an adaptor. This allows you to not only push your wheels outward, but also fit a wheel with a different bolt pattern than it had originally.
When should you use a wheel spacer?
Most individuals use spacers to accommodate larger tires. Without them, a larger tire than what was originally placed can frequently rub against fenders, usually while the vehicle is turning, or on suspension components. Pushing the tires outward helps to alleviate this rubbing.
Others might use spacers to accommodate a larger braking package. Pushing the wheels outward increases track width, resulting in a more stable ride. Some drivers add spacers merely for aesthetic reasons, to fill out the wheel wells with some nice wheels and rubber.
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However, spacers might put stress on your vehicle’s components. Keep an eye on the bearings, axles, ball joints, tie rod ends, and original wheel studs. Spacers can change the geometry between the steering axis and the center line of the tire, making it more difficult to steer at lower speeds.
How To Install Wheel Spacers
Installing spacers is usually as simple as changing a tire. Thinner spacers are simply a flat disc with the factory wheel studs used to mount the wheel. Thicker wheel spacers have studs on the spacer that the wheel bolts to.
If you install thicker spacers, make sure the stock studs do not extend beyond the spacer. You might need to trim them. Threadlockers should also be used on the stock studs, and after torqueing the lug nuts and spacer, mark them with a marker pen. If the two lines on the spacer no longer line up, it means the lug nut is loose.
Spacers are safe to use as long as they are properly fitted. You should never stack spacers or use an impact wrench on spacer lug nuts. You must use a torque wrench set according to the manufacturer’s specifications. Follow these guidelines, and you’ll discover that wheel spacers might be a low-cost solution to improve your ride while also making it look nicer.
