how dangerous are bolt-on spacers?

[ae86]

just wondering cause i need a bit more space in the front and could do with some in the rear and just wondering how developed they are now ? my old man keeps rambling about how he used to see minis on the track with wheels flying off n what not

[Beau]

if they are slip on's then yes.

If they are bolt ons, and regularly check, and loctite or plumbers tape applied you will not have any problems

[crackett]

I used slip ons over top of bolt ons today for shits and giggles! Lol.

[racsov]

been running them for 2 years without dramas..

oh apart from the AJPS ones. dont think he sells those ones anymore.

[ae86]

ajps ones are a nono?

[R&D Mechanical]

The old set got stuffed up, i belive they have been re made with new metals to make them stronger and shouldnt break, ajps still sell that i belive

[Vance]

i would check them EVERY time before a decent drive.

dont buy cheap ones

[marvis]

AJPS ones now fine.

[meadan]

Depends how thick they are really.
Essentially its just like having a wheel with a thicker centre to bolt through. 5mm spacers wont affect the car much more than putting ridiculous offset wheels on.

Though most slip on spacers arent hub centric, so all the load will be on the studs. Not many people have the correctly sized hub centre thing anyways.

Some people fail with spacers, and some people never have a problem...its one of those things...

[racsov]

yeah it was just one batch. they just crossthreaded.

but yeah spacers are fine man. i do shitloads of freeway ks, driven with buckled wheels and a loose steering rack, regularily use a rattle gun on them, no dramas at all. if your worried about legalities just use wheels so you cant see them and paint them black.

[rthy]

for normal day to day driving? or harder driving?

[marvis]

racsov: Do you use locktight etc?

[R&D Mechanical]

I would only use them on the track, if your insurance company saw them you are fucked.

[ae86]

ok say i got 5mm on the front, and they were bolt on, and i had put locktite on, how often would i need to check ? do these things losten themselfs or what

prob a bit of daily/spirited driving

[racsov]

racsov: Do you use locktight etc?

nope broski just grease the studs as you do anyway

[Cerby86]

ok say i got 5mm on the front, and they were bolt on, and i had put locktite on, how often would i need to check ? do these things losten themselfs or what

prob a bit of daily/spirited driving



i'm reasonably sure that 5mm bolt on's don't exist! And secondly all that trouble for five more mm?? fark that! you would barely be able to see that and you wouldn't notice any difference especially if your only daily driving!

[skaney]

no way you could get 5mm bolt ons. If you were to get hubcentric slip ons, I dont see any problem with 5mm ones.

I've used bolt ons a lot, on the track, in the hills, daily driving.. no probs. Make sure they are decently made and shouldnt be any problem.

[ae86]

well i want it for clearance cause my tyres r scrubbing on my coilovers. or are going to

[R&D Mechanical]

get better wheels.

slip on spacers max out to 8mm i think? personaly i would max it at 5mm and bolt on from 15mm


just get 20mm bolt ons good qulity ones and it will look sick, PM AJPS

[ae86]

everyone says get better wheels but i doubt ssr formula mesh isthat available its not the offset really the extra width... if u can get me good size meshies for about 400-500 then yes show me the light.

[marvis]

I would only use them on the track, if your insurance company saw them you are fucked.
If they saw my car i would be fucked.


nope broski just grease the studs as you do anyway
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.:DD

[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]

everyone says get better wheels but i doubt ssr formula mesh isthat available its not the offset really the extra width... if u can get me good size meshies for about 400-500 then yes show me the light.

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

[Konakid]

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

Against rim or tyre?

What coilovers? AE86 struts? 7.5 -5 should fit no worries...

[ae86]

i was told they are ae86 struts, jus some custom made looking ones

[Simon-KE70]

never go by what you were told mate, post some pics and we'll see what they are. as Konda said they should fit with no spacers.

Ive had a bolt on spacer fail on me, it was on the track and rear wheel fell off with Beau Yates following me and he was quick to avoid the flying wheel lol. Cause of failure was shitty low grade alloy that they were made of ansd the studs pulled through the metal.

Since then i have always tried to get wheels that fit and dont need spacers and if i have to run spacers i make sure that they are hub centric AND decent quality. havent had another prob since in 6+ years of drifting.

[Oly AE86]

I got some NICE (Brand) longer studs for the front and cut them down to suit the custom made slip-on I needed to clear my brakes (Roughly 11mm). Made the slip-on hub-centric and painted it black and it works a treat and can't be seen.

[Golberg]

This is a good read on the topic:
http://www.twincam.info/index.php?s=&showtopic=29431&view=findpost&p=375262

Explains it all well.

[marvis]

Took mine off today and FUUCCCCK. Could pretty much undo the wheel nuts (holding the rim, not spacer) with your fingers.. WTF?

marvis.

[Dylan]

sounds like you checked them at just the right time

[marvis]

Didn't check them.. Was taking them off to put coilovers in.

But what the hell caused that?

[Simon-KE70]

either incorrect wheel nut tension or shitty alloy deforming and then causing them to become loose

[ae86]

now u bastards are scareing me >.< what to doooooo

[Simon-KE70]

use them, but buy quality hub centric ones and use some loktite on the threads.

common sense is the way to go