Thoughts on wheel spacers

[Sotarts]

Originally posted by bosljeff

You think I'm okay to drag race with spacers?

Call the track and find out the rules. It might not be legal on the track.

It's considered too dangerous. Much more load on the studs. I personally wouldn't do it. Catastrophic failure possibilities (especially during hard braking). Better safe than sorry.

If there's slippage, you subject the studs to crazy load, especially if you're not using hubcentric rings.

 

[PaulPDX]

Hub centric rings? What? You don't really need them. It's good to have but it really only means you won't have to think too much about installing your rims. That's all hub centric rings do. The don't bear any load, the studs do.

I'd say having the right length studs and the right nuts is far more important than getting hub centric rings. I've written about this in a different thread. With chamferred lug nuts if you tighten them in turn (start with one and move on to the opposite one... star pattern) like you're suppose to it will push and pull the wheel in place in the center.

Hub centric rings makes the job easier because you can just slap the wheel on, and it's already centered.

5 mm spacer too much stress on the studs?? Nonsense.

 

[Sotarts]

Originally posted by PaulPDX
Hub centric rings? What? You don't really need them. It's good to have but it really only means you won't have to think too much about installing your rims. That's all hub centric rings do. The don't bear any load, the studs do.

Hub centric rings center the wheel perfectly. If the wheel is not centered, it's spining out of center. That puts load CONSTANTLY on studs that are on one side. Think: washing machine when clothes bunched up on one side of the drum. Yes, probably unnoticeable, but why pass up safety/performance?

The main subject is spacers though. They slip. Metal bends. Do your research.

 

[PaulPDX]

True... but rings are not required for centering the wheels if the right nuts are used, and if proper procedure is used in mounting the wheel.

Will rings make it easier? Yes. Is it a must? No. Can you center the wheel if you don't have rings but really watch what you are doing? Yes.

Rings are convenience items for those who don't want to pay attention to what they're doing. It's a time saver. That's all it is. Let's not glorify these simple plastic rings.

Think geometry. How do you find the center of a circle? You can't just randomly pick two points along the circumference, draw a line and bisect the line. It doesn't work.

However, if you pick 3 points then it's pretty easy to find the center. That's why when you mount a wheel, you're suppose to start with one, move to the oppsite nut, then the opposite of that... and so on. Basically following a triangular pattern. As the nuts tighten more and more with each pass you make, the nuts push and pull the wheel in different directions and eventually settle on the center. There is a reason why that is the proper procedure for mounting a wheel. Someone didn't make it up for the hell of it and they didn't tell you to do that in driver's ed just to bore you silly.

About the spacers, I ran 5 mm spacers on my last car for 5 years with no problems at all. Do my research? Have you done your research? Why on earth would spacers bend? they're sandwitched tightly between the hub and wheel. As long as the lugs or bolts (most european cars don't use studs) are long enough where there is enough threads holding the wheel in place and that the specified torque specs are observed, there shouldn't be any problems at all. As for bending the studs, you'd have to have some really crappy studs or do a lot of hardcore off-pavement rally racing to bend them. It's milled steel, it's not butter.

The spacers to avoid are the ones that have curved slots rather than precision drilled holes for the studs to pass through. If you have to run spacers, ones from H&R are probably the best ones to get. They are precision machined and balanced.

 

[bosljeff]

Originally posted by PaulPDX
True... but rings are not required for centering the wheels if the right nuts are used, and if proper procedure is used in mounting the wheel.

Will rings make it easier? Yes. Is it a must? No. Can you center the wheel if you don't have rings but really watch what you are doing? Yes.

Thanks for all the input guys. Although all differing opinions, you are still helping me.

Yeah the topic is the spacers, but I am also concerned with whatever could be involved in using them AND keeping the car as perfect as a DSM can get.

For whomever's edification, I will probably only drag race (unless this rumored track is built within 30 mins from me, cuz current ones are 3-5 hours away) 4-5 times a season. Some are "open" nights where God only knows how many runs I'll get in, other nights may only be 1-2 runs. For what its worth.

As for the rings. I used to work at Les Schwab (yeah, you think that knowledge would have kept me out of this mess) and I am in agreement with the star pattern procedure to center it up. I guess if you do that and use the rings, you are doubling up. I mean, rings are only 20 bucks, but the size I need it 73.1 outside diameter and 67.1 inside diameter. I can only find 73 and 67.1. That leaves .1 mm of "free" space which might defeat the purpose anyway if the rings aren't snug to the wheel's centerbore of 73.1.

So lack of options may make up my mind anyway.

Keep it coming guys. I appreciate the input.

 

[LowLikeWhoa]

in for future reference

 

[bosljeff]

Regarding ring size:

the size I need is 73.1 outside diameter and 67.1 inside diameter. I can only find 73 and 67.1. That leaves .1 mm of "free" space which might defeat the purpose anyway if the rings aren't snug to the wheel's centerbore of 73.1.


Ideas?

 

[PaulPDX]

.1 mm will do. If it was exact and 0 mm of clearance, you probably wouldn't be able to put the wheel on without a mallet.

.1 mm is tiny. 1" = 25.4 mm

.1 mm = 0.003937"

 

[Sotarts]

Originally posted by PaulPDX
.1 mm will do. If it was exact and 0 mm of clearance, you probably wouldn't be able to put the wheel on without a mallet.

.1 mm is tiny. 1" = 25.4 mm

.1 mm = 0.003937"

Exactly what he said.

 

[bosljeff]

Cool thanks. This whole thing sucks.:thumbdown