how dangerous are bolt-on spacers?

[marvis]

If they saw my car i would be fucked.

I don't do that I'm sketchy

[Hen may possibly be a nut]

I drifted with 25mm bolt on spacers on the rear for years. Not really long term road driving, but they took a beating. Worked fine, even though they weren't hub centric or anything like that.

Best thing I did though was replace the shitty, 1/2" thread stock studs with some decent 1.5mm thread studs (to match all your other wheel nuts) from Niceparts (they have a great online catalogue.

While I still wouldn't plan on driving them on the road long-term, I'd be happy to use them if needed.

Hen

Hen

[LittleRedSpirit]

I have 5mm slip ons on the front. You can feel the extra track in my opinion. I might invest in longer studs one day but the standard ones work fine with my wheels.

Not a fan of bolt ons, as they tend to indicate you are running a wheel which has no place on an AE86.

[R&D Mechanical]

i also have used 5mm slip ons on the front and noticed better performance then normal, these were not hub centric and ran them on the street for skids and on the track and worked quite well.

i also noticed when i put the 5mm on the rear thinking i was going to get 25mm bolts for the front (then i didnt) so i was running a stock 14x6.5 no spacer and 13x6 with 5mm slip on i noticed the rear end grip. im not sure if this last bit made ssence

[Robo86]

i run 30mm bolt on on the back at drift days, non hub centric, HARD driving and i never have issues...

[ke70dave]

just chuck the slip ons mate theyll be right

everyone bags them out, but knowone ever has any proof to back that up.

if your keen go to a machinist and make an adaptor so that they are hub centric, but only if your keen.

ive been running wheels for years that arent hub centric, do the wheel nuts up tight (not with a rattle gun, with a wrench) and happy driving. also note you should only run non hubcentric wheels with tapered wheel nuts, the taper is what centres them.

just make sure your wheel studds are long enough. you want at least a few threads outside the wheel nuts after you put the spacers on. of if your wheel nuts are the enclosed type make sure there is enough thread inside the wheel nut to hold it on. dont wanna see you holding on your wheels with like 2 and a half turns of the nut!

note: wheel spacers are illegal and have the potential to void insurance and cost you alot of money, now you know!

[FLCL]

ran both slip on 10mm spacers and 25mm bolt on. both on the front and driven in excess of 200kph. both drifted on openly on the street where road surfaces aint the best. both have been fine.

Slip ons;
you can find them up to 12mm
do not over tighten as they can be crushed or warp giving uneven rotation
they need to be centred or they can throw the weight out giving a sensation that you have unbalanced tires
you must make sure you have adequate wheel studs to handle them. ie longer stronger ones to run say a 10mm one like i had.
not road worthy legal wise as they do not centre on the hub and are free floating. this was a confirmation from those at the pits here in WA

Bolt on spacers;
range from about 15mm upwards. have seen crazy 35mm ones before.
these will centre themselves when you bolt them on so no worries there.
2nd hand spacers can be a risk as you do not know if they have had impact damage before which may cause them to crack and so on.
other then that they are a more approved method as they are bolted on and can even have centering hubs for rims.

ive never applied loctite to the bolt on spacers but i have used a litte smear of silastic to hold the slip on spacers dead centre as i bolted on my tires.

[Konakid]

Bolt on spacers are fine but hand tighten and check after hard driving always! Same goes for slip on spacers, just check your wheel nuts every week/after a hard drive.

You 'should' only need an 8mm slip on spacer and 10mm longer wheel studs to clear your brakes with your meshies.

Are they FC brakes?

[ae86]

its not the brakes that need clearance its the coilover spring height adjuster, rubs against my wheels at the moment when im on full lock, and apparently with my 15x7.5 -5 meshies are only going to get 2mm more clearance so im thinking il need spacers

[wide s13]

i ran 50mm bolt ons on my silvia for 3rears no probs at all ordered though harbour town tyres. with all the defects my car got i nevar got one for the bolt ons haha