Wheel spacers - good idea or not?

[andybee]

hodie,

while perunsing eBay the other day I found a set of toyota-fitment wheel/hub spacers. these fit behind the wheels and increase the track by about 8cm (in total).

my tlc hzj77 has fairly narrow track, and these things offer (theoretcially) lower C of G and better stability.

does anyone have any experience of using similar items, or an opinion of the pros and cons of using them for desert travel??

cheers - andy

[banano]

hi

wheel spacers will give your toyota
nice look and will improve stability
but will decresse wheel bearings life...
If was you I will not use them because
of bearings life.

cheers
Peter
Hilux 2.4D
XT600 Tenere

[andybee]

Sounds like a good enough reason not to use them to me!!

Thanks for your help - Andy

[Andrew Baker]

I remember reading on an American website a couple of years ago about adding extra stress to wheel bearings by using wide wheels/tyres etc. The upshot of it was that the wheel bearings would not be the first items to fail, other parts of the suspension would wear faster. This would probably apply to your situation with spacers. Sorry don't know what the site was, maybe yould could do a search on Google. Hope this helps.

Andrew.

[banano]

you are right, using larger than standerd wheels will add en extea stress to the bearings and other parts od suspension.
It will also decrese acceleration but
your max speed will be higher on the same rpms.

cheers
Peter

[ekaphoto]

Here in the US many people put on huge tires for looks and "added off road capability" Never mind many never go off road. There are both pro's and cons to bigger wheels.

pro

more ground clearance
better stability (sometimes)
looks cool

cons
increased wear and damage to suspention
decreased gas milage
higher center of gravity can have easier roll overs (sometimes)

It depends on what kind of terrain and driving you are going to do. Usually one tire size bigger does not hurt. It is when you do lifts and go nuts with going bigger you start adding problems. Also wheel spacers cause a lot of extra pressure on the wheel berings. Hope this helps.

------------------
John

[SandyM]

Spacers, like wheels with wider offsets, also affect your steering and suspension geometry. In particular, it makes your vehicle more susceptible to bump steer.

In an "ideal" set-up, the steering kingpin is in line with the centre of the tyre - i.e. your wheel wraps far over the hub, and when you turn the steering wheel, the wheel pivots around the centre-line of the tyre.

If you offset the wheel (imagine an absurd spacer, say 50cm thick), when you turn the steering wheel, the road wheel describes a big arc around the kingpin, which is 50cm from the actual tyre. As it turns left or right, the wheel moves forwards or backwards within the wheel-arch.

By the same token, if that wheel hits an obstacle while you are travelling straight, there is 50cm of leverage pushing that wheel backwards within the wheel-arch, putting a LOT of strain on the whole steering train.

Having said that, if there is a good reason for wanting more offset, the spacers are probably OK, if they are well engineered. You might want to check if they are legal or if there are any insurance implications...

Regards,

Michael...
www.expeditionoverland.com