wheel spacers, offsets, suspension wear

[numbnuts240]

by no means was it an accurate count. basically a summarized version. i was kind of hoping for a civilized, mature, factual, and interesting debate. but it turned out to be more bickering and mud slinging than anything else. i through you in there because in the midst of all my face palming, you provided me with a chuckle here and there. with that being said, scotty's right, you're all wrong.

[scotty-2-forty]

by no means was it an accurate count. basically a summarized version. i was kind of hoping for a civilized, mature, factual, and interesting debate. but it turned out to be more bickering and mud slinging than anything else. i through you in there because in the midst of all my face palming, you provided me with a chuckle here and there. with that being said, scotty's right, you're all wrong.

... .... I love this guy! (No Numb, not like that)

[nissan_star]

Also I think you are confused, the spacer is not to make it fit like a wider wheel.

spacers can definitely be used to try and make wheels 'look' wider. I understand people buy the wrong offset and use a spacer to fix it, not a big deal for the bearing when comparing to the wheel they were looking for but couldn't find. but lots of the people try to fit 8" wheels to their rolled fenders and push the contact point far away, and this is where problems occur.

The wheel width and tire stay the same for the sake of argument. the only change we are looking at is offset.

For the sake of argument is not a good phrase here. Why is this still an argument? plz keep reading

IT DOESN'T MATTER THE OFFSET OR OTHER CRAPOLA, IT ONLY MATTERS HOW FAR AWAY YOUR POINT OF CONTACT ENDS UP COMPARED TO THE POINT OF INTEREST ON THE BEARING.

People shouldn't read this and think all spacers are fine, some kid will run a 7" wheel with a 2" spacer to be flush and his contact point will be hella far away from the bearing interest point. If you have a skinny wheel and are running a big spacer to get fitment, you should think about a different wheel setup if worried about your bearings.

I am worried about the kids here, ok? I don't want a generalized statement being put out that puts people in danger of breaking stuff.

Easier points to clarify things with:
1) A spacer on a wheel causes more stress on the bearing then without it.

ninja edit: not talking about offset here, just talking about a wheel with a spacer vs the same wheel without it

2) If for whatever reason, you can't get the -10 offset wheel and settle for the 0 offset wheel OF THE SAME WIDTH but use a 10mm spacer, you are in the same boat you would be if the had gotten the -10 offset wheel, it is not different for the bearing.
2.1) ^ however, running that 0 offset wheel without the spacer will cause less stress to the bearing then with a spacer and consequentially the -10 offset wheel too, because they are the same.

I am not really disagreeing with you, just disagreeing on how to word a conclusion so people actually understand what is going on under their wheel wells.

[Ender_Zero]

Also I think you are confused, the spacer is not to make it fit like a wider wheel.

spacers can definitely be used to try and make wheels 'look' wider. I understand people buy the wrong offset and use a spacer to fix it, not a big deal for the bearing when comparing to the wheel they were looking for but couldn't find. but lots of the people try to fit 8" wheels to their rolled fenders and push the contact point far away, and this is where problems occur.

The wheel width and tire stay the same for the sake of argument. the only change we are looking at is offset.

For the sake of argument is not a good phrase here. Why is this still an argument? plz keep reading

IT DOESN'T MATTER THE OFFSET OR OTHER CRAPOLA, IT ONLY MATTERS HOW FAR AWAY YOUR POINT OF CONTACT ENDS UP COMPARED TO THE POINT OF INTEREST ON THE BEARING.

People shouldn't read this and think all spacers are fine, some kid will run a 7" wheel with a 2" spacer to be flush and his contact point will be hella far away from the bearing interest point. If you have a skinny wheel and are running a big spacer to get fitment, you should think about a different wheel setup if worried about your bearings.

I am worried about the kids here, ok? I don't want a generalized statement being put out that puts people in danger of breaking stuff.

Easier points to clarify things with:
1) A spacer on a wheel causes more stress on the bearing then without it.
2) If for whatever reason, you can't get the -10 offset wheel and settle for the 0 offset wheel OF THE SAME WIDTH but use a 10mm spacer, you are in the same boat you would be if the had gotten the -10 offset wheel, it is not different for the bearing.
2.1) ^ however, running that 0 offset wheel without the spacer will cause less stress to the bearing then with a spacer and consequentially the -10 offset wheel too, because they are the same.

I am not really disagreeing with you, just disagreeing on how to word a conclusion so people actually understand what is going on under their wheel wells.

I admit wholeheartedly that I've not put anything into an easy to understand 'for the kiddies sake' style of writing. For those of you who found this thread while looking for info on spacers, I apologize for my part in the confusion. All of that doesn't mean that we should just drop the discussion while misinformation is out there as the last word.

Your 'easy points to clarify' are right on.

[omgshawn]

So, first you disagree, then you agree? Do you realize I've been saying the same thing as him this whole time..

[nissan_star]

^thank you, i hope I helped someone. I have a pdf of an autocad drawing I made, but i can't figure out how to post it yet.

[nissan_star]

So, first you disagree, then you agree? Do you realize I've been saying the same thing as him this whole time..

i read this whole thread and I couldn't find out what the F you were trying to say. And only because I didn't like the way things were being presented, I stepped in.

[omgshawn]

It doesn't matter....What matters is when you add distance between the HUB and the WHEEL, thus creating more load

shawn has got this on point... using offset to achieve your tire position, puts the center of the wheel --0-- as to where using spacers to achieve your tire position puts the center of the wheel at -0--- Obviously, the 2nd one is going to increase the amount of stress.

The load is not transferred through the tires it's transferred through the hub. Adding spacers increases the distance between the hub and wheel mating surface thus adding more leverage, which means there is more force being applied. I thought this stuff was common sense..

What? I never said anything about 2 things being bolted together changing anything...

And that is wrong. You again are not taking into account that spacers change the distance from the wheel to the hub, where it matters. That is where the load is being applied across to the bearings.

It's simple. The further out you move the wheel FACE from the HUB, the more force is implied on the bearings.

That's just the first page. Unless there is a comprehension problem, I do not see how that is hard to understand

[Ender_Zero]

So, first you disagree, then you agree? Do you realize I've been saying the same thing as him this whole time..

You are confused. He's saying quite the opposite of you:

2) If for whatever reason, you can't get the -10 offset wheel and settle for the 0 offset wheel OF THE SAME WIDTH but use a 10mm spacer, you are in the same boat you would be if the had gotten the -10 offset wheel, it is not different for the bearing.

As for this:

^thank you, i hope I helped someone. I have a pdf of an autocad drawing I made, but i can't figure out how to post it yet.

I wish I had access to a cad program Maybe try to just get the image into a JPG or a GIF, I'd love to see it. If you get desperate screenshots always work haha.

[omgshawn]

1) A spacer on a wheel causes more stress on the bearing then without it.



You agreed with that.


Now go read my post. I said moving the wheel face further away from the hub will cause more stress. Everyone bitched that it wouldn't. Now you're agreeing with it. Do you see now?

[scotty-2-forty]

... I said moving the wheel face further away from the hub will cause more stress. Everyone bitched that it wouldn't. Now you're agreeing with it. Do you see now?

Ahem. Not everyone. C'mon now

[omgshawn]

Yes, sorry, I should of not said everyone.

Half the time I couldn't tell who was agreeing with who..

[Ender_Zero]

1) A spacer on a wheel causes more stress on the bearing then without it.



You agreed with that.


Now go read my post. I said moving the wheel face further away from the hub will cause more stress. Everyone bitched that it wouldn't. Now you're agreeing with it. Do you see now?

Right. A spacer on a wheel does cause more stress on the bearing. So does a lower offset. You're still wrong.

[omgshawn]

Totally bro

[nissan_star]

That's just the first page. Unless there is a comprehension problem, I do not see how that is hard to understand

My problem was that you used the word 'hub'. When I think of hub, I don't think of the wheel, i think of where the studs are attached. I don't like that because some people think of hub differently when a spacer is added to the wheel. In reality, it doesn't matter how far the hub is, it matters how far away from the bearing (i guess you could say hub here as well because the hub can't move in relation to the bearing because it is holding the studs in) the wheel is when it hits the ground.

I thought i was agreeing with you most of your posting, the words you used sometimes threw me off though, so since i wasn't sure exactly what you meant, I didn't take sides

No harm no foul?

[omgshawn]

Works for me.

And when I said hub I meant hub lol, I used wheel face/ or just wheel when referring to, well, the wheel lol

Yeah the hub never changes, but when you add a spacer, it increases the total length, from hub/bearing to wheel face

[scotty-2-forty]

<sings> ... CAN You feel THE LOve tonight ...

[nissan_star]

Comparison 1 (far left) The 4" measurement is from edge to edge for ease of viewing and because most people will run some kind of camber which places contact to the ground nearer to that part of the wheel. The spacer is a whopping 3", just like my d!ck. Hopefully you can see why you might be concerned if running the bottom setup.
*note: the difference in distance if running 0 camber for this setup (center of tire to center of tire is only 2")

Comp. 2 (left middle) This has already been drawn here, just showing the effect of the spacer on the same width wheel with different offsets.

The right 2: I copied them both over without dimensions to make it easier to see.

I didn't show taking the spacer off of the right one because i assume you all can tell that the wheel moves in closer to the hub when the spacer is off, therefore being a less stressful setup on the bearing.

If i have more free time at work, i can make a better picture.

[motoman399]

[mattblancarte]

So it can be agreed upon that:

1) Given the chance, buy wheels with the appropriate offset and fitment.
2) In the case that you need them, spacers will not destroy your wheel bearings if properly installed and maintenance is performed appropriately.

[Ender_Zero]

<sings> ... CAN You feel THE LOve tonight ...

Dangit now I'm humming that hahaha my cube mate made a weird face at me. I think thats what I needed to step away from this. Thanks Scotty.

[scotty-2-forty]

<sings> ... CAN You feel THE LOve tonight ...

Dangit now I'm humming that hahaha my cube mate made a weird face at me. I think thats what I needed to step away from this. Thanks Scotty.

Bringing joy to the masses in times of turmoil ... it's what I do.

[thomasjamal]

So it can be agreed upon that:

1) Given the chance, buy wheels with the appropriate offset and fitment.
2) In the case that you need them, spacers will not destroy your wheel bearings if properly installed and maintenance is performed appropriately.

That seems like a going place to kill this thread....