Wheel Spacers - Bad News?

[1STMP]

Looking for a general consensus here on the use
of wheel spacers. I know some drag racers use
them when their "big" tires are removed and the
car is in street duty, with the spacers and smaller
tires and wheels are installed. I've not heard of
any catastrophic failures when they've been
implemented. I have heard the engineering
references both pro and con.
Has anyone run these and wish they hadn't?

 

[moparedtn]

If you haven't "heard" of any failures, you haven't looked very hard.
Tons of references to failures, lots of videos on the subject out there...
As with anything else, proper selection and use are keys, as usual.
As for me, I won't touch 'em with a ten foot pole.
One more thing I could make a mistake with, far as I'm concerned.

 

[1STMP]

If you haven't "heard" of any failures, you haven't looked very hard.
Tons of references to failures, lots of videos on the subject out there...
As with anything else, proper selection and use are keys, as usual.
As for me, I won't touch 'em with a ten foot pole.
One more thing I could make a mistake with, far as I'm concerned.

Looking at this as an engineering aspect. Thanks
for your response.
What's the difference of running a wheel with two
inches of backspace vs running a wheel with zero
backspace and a two inch spacer where the
former tire has twice the traction (basically)
is 4" wider and weighs twice as much as the skinny
tire?
I know a couple drag racers that use them. Bur
have not heard from them of any problems.
There wouldn't be a huge market out there
for these, and extreme 4- wheelers wouldn't
be using them if they were prone to catastrophic
failure. There again, hubcentric good quality
should be key.

 

[1STMP]

"If you haven't "heard" of any failures, you haven't looked very hard."
Not a fair statement to make, as I can find just as
many who support their use. I'm asking real life
users what they've experienced. Good or Bad?

 

[moparedtn]

Twice as many potential fastening points of failure. Additional casting also potential failure...
Lots of ways for them to go wrong - again, if you'd do a simple Google search, you'd see that -
but it seems you're already dead set on them, so I gotta ask "why bother asking anyone else?"

 

[AR67GTX]

They always looked like a bad idea to me - an additional shear plane across your lug studs - but I’ve heard many say that as long as the lug nuts are properly torqued they are OK. But, I would avoid them if at all possible.

 

[33 IMP]

Real life experience. I use a pair of homemade spacers on a street driven eleven second car, 5/16 on one side, 3/8 on the other.
I use 1/2" homemade (maybe self-made is a better description) billet aluminum spacers on a street driven nine second car.
I use purchased 1 1/2" billet spacers on a former eight second car that is now slowed down to low tens.
No spacer related problems of any sort. Of course long studs are mandatory, and my spacers are precision machined to hub size.

 

[F4R/T]

My concerns are changing the load on the bearings by moving the load, the others are fastener and spacer failure. IMO a recipe for disaster.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

If we are just talking " spacers". Just make sure you have enough threads. I would be most comfortable with pilot holes to keep everything lined up.

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

Most of the drag wheels are not hub centric,they are lug centric.When I had Weld wheels a 1/2 spacer was needed.
NEVER use adapters!! I have towed many 4 wheelers when the adapter broke ..........

 

[Ron H]

I bought some used magnums for my Challenger after taking off the Keystones I had on it (this is 40 some years ago). Mounted the tires myself using my f-i-l's old tire changing machine. Didn't realize the wheels wouldn't clear the disks so had to run spacers on it. Ran them for maybe two years with no issues; but wasn't driving like a maniac. Don't like the idea of 'universal' spacers for obvious reasons.

 

[bm02tj]

I run good quality 1 1/4 hub centric units on my Jeep TJ and retorque every 5000K
This little pig is heavy with full armored under and full roll cage
You hear more trouble with 3/8 and 1/2 spacers with stud failure

 

[66Satellite47]

Back in the day I used 3/8" spacers with my Ford steel wheels to account for the center bub and spring clearance. Low 12 sec car 10.5 slicks. Never a problem. Good lug studs, lug nuts and proper torque are the key.

 

[MIKESPOLARA]

Looking for a general consensus here on the use
of wheel spacers. I know some drag racers use
them when their "big" tires are removed and the
car is in street duty, with the spacers and smaller
tires and wheels are installed. I've not heard of
any catastrophic failures when they've been
implemented. I have heard the engineering
references both pro and con.
Has anyone run these and wish they hadn't?

I guess you're referring to wheel ADAPTORS not spacers, two different things

 

[1STMP]

Twice as many potential fastening points of failure. Additional casting also potential failure...
Lots of ways for them to go wrong - again, if you'd do a simple Google search, you'd see that -
but it seems you're already dead set on them, so I gotta ask "why bother asking anyone else?"

I'm not dead set on using spacers. I know two
drag racers that use them. The spacers and
skinny tires go on their cars when driven on
the street. The spacers come off when the
big tires go on when the car's run on the track.
Neither one of them has had any issues.

 

[MoparLeo]

At the minimum, thread engagement length must be equal to or greater than the diameter of the fastener. In other words, if the stud is 1/2-inch in diameter, the nut must engage onto the stud by at least 1/2-inch. If not, either a longer stud or longer nut must be used.
https://www.moderntiredealer.com/ar...efresh-your-knowledge-of-this-serious-subject

 

[70chall440]

Like anything in this world, if there are enough people using them there will be failures and problems. You cannot condemn a type of product holistically because someone had problems or failures, if that were the case nothing would be safe (think MSD ignition boxes as just one example, thousands sold and in use and no lack of people who hate, dislike or distrust them but they still keep selling and are in use).

The use of a spacer or wheel adapter depends upon the application and the user. Anything can be broken/destroyed if you try hard enough but if used properly they serve a function. If they meet your need then I would run them.

 

[66Satellite47]

I guess you're referring to wheel ADAPTORS not spacers, two different things

I hope the OP was NOT referring to adaptors. I would never run those.
As I said ran spacers for a few years on a moderately high powered car, with good slicks. Also used the proper length new studs to account for the spacer.
I may use up to 1/2" spacer if needed with the ARP 1/2" studs and the proper lug nuts for the wheel.

 

[1STMP]

I hope the OP was NOT referring to adaptors. I would never run those.
As I said ran spacers for a few years on a moderately high powered car, with good slicks. Also used the proper length new studs to account for the spacer.
I may use up to 1/2" spacer if needed with the ARP 1/2" studs and the proper lug nuts for the wheel.

Thanks for the response, and no, not referring to
adapters.

 

[19polara64]

Dodge trucks use them on the front from the factory to correct a pulling problem. Properly torqued they’re fine.