Spacers, Any use?

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billy187

Member
Are there any benefits from running wheel spacers?

I have some longer studs fitted with open ended nuts along with some 17" wheels and a set of gabs so i could probably get away with using some if they would help. If there are any benefits which type do i need and what size's could i get away with front and rear.

There not needed just yet to clear my brakes as my Ap's just about clear my wheels but i guess if i was to use certain types of wheel they would come in handy.

Any links to some for sale would be good...
 
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hkspulsar

New Member
Upside and a downside to spaces.

Upside is they make the track of the car wider, which in theory should make it handle better ( but this is so minimal its not worth worrying about) and can make wheels look better on the car

Downside, they can alter off balance the wheels so at speed you can judder on the steering wheels.

I run them when I have my 16's on for clearence on the brakes, if I didnt need them I wouldnt use them!! Or get precise machined ones
 
johnsy

johnsy

Active Member
i had 15 front and 32 rear, but the rears rubbed like fook on the arches, now running 7 front and plan on running 15 rear,

i think the rule of thumb is double(rear)whatever the front is to eliminate understeer
 
Braveheart

Braveheart

New Member
I have always been against using wheel spacers due to putting extra strain on wheel bearings, bushes, steering rack and balance issues.
I had to use 10mm spacers on my pulsar so 15" rims would clear breaks and was surprised.
The car felt much more stable on track. More planted and cornered better. Also got more feedback through the steering wheel. Car did not feel as nimble! I use eibach spacers but they are not cheap!
 
johnsy

johnsy

Active Member
shroom said:
32 on the rear good lord :)
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was to counter the 15mm that was on the front, same setup that pulsar boby was using on his trackcar,

come to think of it i have those 15mm H & R hubcentric kicking about some where, i was going to fit on the rear but i may well sell them!
 
Trip

Trip

New Member
johnsy said:
i had 15 front and 32 rear, but the rears rubbed like fook on the arches, now running 7 front and plan on running 15 rear,

i think the rule of thumb is double(rear)whatever the front is to eliminate understeer
Click to expand...

Are you sure about your last comment ? or is it opposite.
 
johnsy

johnsy

Active Member
this setup is what pulsarboby had on his track car, 15mm front, 32mm rear

i can honestly say it went from understeer to oversteer
 
jaygtir

jaygtir

Member
i have just fitted the 32 mm spacers i bought off you johnsy (on the rear) i will let you know in a week or so if it does cure the understeer just finishing off putting a new box in .
 
williams

williams

New Member
From personel experiance id say a wider front gave more oversteer. I had 15mm spacers on my old saxo track car to fit wheels over my brembos and the turn in on that was very quick. And earlier this year i put a 172 engine into a 97 1.2 clio using the wider williams subframe and steering rack. That was the twitchiest car ive ever driven. You want more grip on front to reduce understeer. Simplest was is to fit a thicker rear arb.
 
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pulsarboby

Guest
haha im not going in to all this again with regard to spacers but i certainly found that wider rear track massively reduced understeer.
you cannot compare a clio fwd to awd vehicle as the handling characteristics are completely different as with every single car and the mods to suspension its running.
if you want to go down this route....f1 cars use a wider rear track as do reliant robins:lol::lol:

this quote from jim campbellju just about sums it all up really from the other thread.
in other words its what best suits your car and driving style!

Bob is right on this one at many levels.

The first is the suspension mathematicians seem to argue at length on this one as the effect of widening the track effects other parts of the geometry and has a different impact at different times.

Bobby has tried it one way and then the other and concluded that adding extra track at the back of the car compared to the front has improved things.

In short I'd agree with Bob's findings but as the man himself says, it might not work for you depending on how you drive.

Increasing rear track width, overall it will improve rear stability, good for accelaration and braking but bad for turn in.

It will also increase rear roll resistance and throw more weight to the front, a bit like an ARB. Less rear grip.

Before I packed my bags to go to eastern climes I was looking at using spacers as a tuning tool.

My starting point would have been to match the rear track to the front track as with modern EVO's and Scoobies. This would mean adding 10 or 12mm spacers to the rear on our cars depending on what you can get.
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johnsy

johnsy

Active Member
jaygtir said:
i have just fitted the 32 mm spacers i bought off you johnsy (on the rear) i will let you know in a week or so if it does cure the understeer just finishing off putting a new box in .
Click to expand...
you'd be better off with 15mm on the front then:thumbsup:

after 4 laps round cadwell in pulsarboby's old trackcar id say they there good enough, better than my car handled round there thats for sure

i fiited a whiteline rear arb which made a big difference too,

id of kept those 32mm on if i had smaller wheels, iv removed the 15mm hubcentric ones too, there up for sale at the moment , but i may fit them to the rear as im now running 7mm up front
 
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pulsarboby

Guest
dont flog them dan, try them first with the 7mm up front, youll notice the difference
do a few laps with them and then remove them and youll see what difference it makes;-)
 
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