Who here is running wheel spacers?

Deep6

Registered User
Hi all,

I *finally* got around to getting my Rim and tire combo. Upon bolting it all up the top of the tire is less than 2mm away from the upper Ball joint.

When I drive the car, there is definatly a very slight rubbing in straight line driving coming from the front.

I'm running a 17x7.5" Rim with a 42mm offset and a 255-50ZR-17 tire.

A wheel spacer was both recommended to me by Fast Ed. N. and by my trusty mechanic Eric Pasko at Metro Ford in Scumnectady.

But the question remains, where can I get a set of small spacers (probably the smallest ones to get) real fast?

Anyone here who runs spacers, could you let me know where you got them and for how much?

I'm not gonna drive the car much, Until I get those spacers. At that point, I will get it re-alingned.

Also a few other questions: What tire Pressure do you guys recommend. I'm running 30psi cold pressure now. That is the stock tire pressure on my door jam sticker.

And my tires/rims were "Load force balanced" ,but I was able to feel a little Vibe at 55mph (this could be due to the rubbing or out of whack alingment or a combo of the two) they used stick on wheel weights on my car. What kind of wheel weights do you recommend?

Also, I've mounted my wheels with the valve stem paired to the painted wheel stud. Should I do the same here? Doesn't that have something to do with the overall balance of the assy?

Thanks for any responses you guys have!!!!
 
I run spacers I believe from Mr Gasket on the fronts to clear the spindle (93 and up version with 17 X 9" wheels)

You should be raising pressure. I called a tire manufacturer (Michelin) and they suggested 36 PSI with 245/45/17 tires. The reasoning was with a shorter tire with less sidewall a raise in pressure maintained the load rating with the amount of weight on each tire from the car.
 
Thanks Duffy...

You've always got great info.

By any chance, do you know what thickness those wheel spacers were? Could I get them from the Mr. Gasket website, or do I need to order them from Summit or Jegs?

36psi? It does seem a bit high to me. When my tires were shipped to me, one was 45psi, another was 50psi and the last two were 31psi. So I just set them all to 30psi.

But I'll take that into consideration since I'm running BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KDWS which are manufactured by Michelin I think.
 
I know pep boys has them,,,,

They are the Rallye brand ones. I saw they had a "universal" one that was 5/16" or 8mm wide. I think that might be too wide for my car without leaving me enough lug room.
 
Hello

Hello,
I would have to second the motion to run 36psi.
I am sure you will feel the difference in ride. It will be smoother and handle better.
I am running 245/45 18's with 38psi. Most people I know who work in the aftermarket wheel industry say that you should be running 35-42 psi in a tire that is 50 series or shorter in sidewall.
Laterz,
D Rainer
 
Ok then...

I'll definatly run higher pressure. When I was running 35psi in my stock sized tires, I was wearing out the center of the tires faster than the outsides. But I did notice better fuel economy and sharper handling.

Do you think I'd wear out my center of my tires faster like this?

Anyone one else here running spacers and where to get them?
 
On the stock sized tire I am not surprised you wore out the center faster. The amount of air required in the tire is related to the size of tire and the amount of weight it is carrying. I have been runing the stated 36 psi on my 245/45/17's for over a year and have no unusual wear patterns (unless you want to count on the inside edge of the fronts which many folks that have lowered their cars and run shorter fatter tires see.)

If memory serves the spacers I have are about 5/32" thick. I run a hub concentric configuration vs. a lug concentric one by using hub concentric rings that match the bore size of the wheel to the hub diameter.
 
Hub concentric?

I have Hubcentric rings for my new rims. Do I need to make sure that the spacers I get are hubcentric too? If so, what is the Hub bore size needed?

I ran out today to a speed shop and all the guy had was a 1/4" spacer I.E. about 6mm. in a "Universal" pattern.

I'm gonna try and get something today to stop the rubbing. Duffy, do you remember where you got yours from? I might just get something today and then order up something more specific later.
 
George Davenport is who I got both the rings and the spacers from. He told me he thought they (spacers) were bought from Mr. Gasket. He had the rings made himself.

He may be able to tell tou the bore size but needs to know what version hubs you are running. The 89 is different from the 92 and up (not 100% clear on the break year. If you have Mustang Hubs he would need that info as well.

You should be able to determine the bore size of the wheels yourself. The combination of the two measurements tells you the ID and OD needed for the rings to make the wheels hub concentric.
 
But....

You didn't answer my question, do the wheel spacers need to be hub-concentric? yes or no?

I DO have concentric rings for my rims.

I tried to get those 1/4" spacers from the speed shop in my neighboorhood. Unfourtunatly even though they were "universal", they wouldn't clear my stock wheel studs. I could probably have gotten them to work, if I wanted to get creative with a dremel. Also they seemed of crappy quality really light weight cast aluminum.

Do you think george has more? Perhaps I should just e-mail him and buy these from him knowing that they'll work without issues.
 
No...the spacer does not have to be hub concentric. They need to be properly positioned on the hub though or you will throw the balance of the rotating assembly out of whack.
 
Thanks Duffy.

That info helps alot. I was getting worried that I needed to have a perfectly matched spacer (although I'm sure it woudldn't hurt).

Now all I need to do is find those Mr.Gasket Spacers. An internet search for me came up with nothing....
 
I couldn't find specific numbers in any of my records, but they were probably the Mr. Gasket (Summit Part: MRG-2371) for the 4.5"-5" bolt circle. I was running the 4.5" Mustang pattern when I needed them. The SC studs are smaller than the 'Stang studs, so that is probably what allowed them to fit the 4.25" bolt circle on Duffy's car. I cannot verify this for sure, so make sure you can take them back if they do not fit. They are around $12 at Summit and most auto parts stores should have them, since they fit 'Stangs. There is also a 7/16" spacer that Mr Gasket makes. That would probably require longer studs.

I ran the spacers with 255/50/17 tires on 17x9 rims with the 6.42 back spacing. That tire hit the ball joint end and rubbed on the spindle, We finally cut off the end of the ball joint, ground down the outside face of the spindle and ran the spacers to clear. The Mr Gasket is a 5/16" spacer. I finally had the 3/16" spacers made from stainless and ran with those until I got the new rims. I had no issues using either spacer.

Your tire will grow taller with speed, so that 2mm clearance will evaporate very quickly!

This place listed below will make any type of adapter, but I am not sure of the cost. Just don't get too thick a spacer or the hub will no longer extend into the bore of the wheel. Plus, at some point, you'll need longer studs.

http://www.wheeladapter.com/
 
George, Thank you also!!!!

You say that you ran both 5/16" at one time and a 3/16" spacer at another with NO issues? According to my calcs, 5/16" is basically 8mm. I was under the impression that anything more than 1/4" or 6.3mm would be too big and require longer wheel studs. I guess I was wrong....

I am pretty sure that a 5/16" spacer would definatly solve my problems. My tire is *just* touching that stupid ball joint. And yes, my mechanic did recommend that I use a dremel to trim down that joint end. My tire isn't touching on the top, it's more on the sidewall. I know my local pep boyz carries both 1/4" and 5/16" spacers. but of course the question then remains is if it'll fit over my wheel studs.

Maybe Duffy would like to report how well those spacers you gave him fit his car with a 4x1/4 bolt pattern...


I'll give summit website a try and I defiantly report back on my results so hopefully others won't make the same mistake that I did....
 
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They work fine. I have OEM sized wheel studs as well. Minor correction though...George did not give them to me I bought them from him.
 
Thats the best news I've heard yet duffy!

No problems with 5/16" spacers? With OEM studs. That's got to solve my problem. I'll be placing an order with Summit soon.

Unfourtunatly in my previous attempt to test the spacer at the rice shop, I broke the Gorrilla brand lug key trying to loosen my lugs. It's a stupid key and too thin walled. It just split down the middle.

So i orded a new one and when it gets here I'll be able to put the spacers on.

Anybody have a recommendation for good lug nuts and keys?

The rims I got have a really deep recessed bolt hole and I cannot fit the stock tire iron in there, so the stock bolts are useless unless I use a 19mm socket wrench....
 
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