FAQ: Official wheel "SPACER" thread!

[JasonZ-YA]

On todays episode of "shade tree mechanic".........lol...

Here we are going to talk about spacers and hopefully have 1 thread that answers everyones questions!

Now, I'm gonna put everything in laymans* terms. I don't plan to get all technical and crap in the pics section. we can have time to answer those questions as they arise.

Also, I'm gonna keep it 350z specific. As there is more to the spacer world outside the Z community.

Enjoy......

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

Ok, for the most part concerning the 350z, you have two options.

1. Spacers with studs already installed.

[JasonZ-YA]

Now, as for slip on, they require you replace your oem studs with longer ones.

I have heard that installation of up to 5mm with out replacing your oem studs is acceptable and many have done so and have had no issues.

your a smart puppy, you decide......

Here are examples.

now, the 4th pic shown are the crappy ebay specials......non car specific, UNIVERSAL aluminum cast spacers. I would NOT run theses. If i were to consider a slip on style. i would purchase a machined spacer over a low void cast one any day.

once again, your a smart puppy, you decide...

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

Okay,

You can purchase spacers with our with out hub centric rings.

Some come with the hub centric ring "lip" already machined into the spacer. 2nd pic BELOW.

The use of the rings is again up to you. many have been fine installing wheels with out any issues with out the use of hubcentric rings.

The hub centric ring is great when adding spacers to oem wheels, as obviously the oem wheels have the same "bore" as the hub.

If i remember correctly the hub on the Z is 66.1mm, same as with oem wheel bore.


hub centric means that the hub size of the wheel (the circle cut out on the back side of the wheel) fits perfectly over the vehicle hub. same dimension.

Most aftermarket wheels are not hubcentric....you can ask the wheel manufacturer or you can test yourself...if you put on the wheel without lug NUTS and it starts wobbling around before you tighten it, then chances are its not hubcentric. As in, the wheel isn't sitting on the hub, or techincally ----> supported by the hub. get it??

MOST DON'T GET IT BUT:
Most purchase hub centric rings, put them on their spacers, but then the after market wheels they purchased have a hub bore of say 73mm, so your pretty much not doing anything as the wheel bore is not sitting on the hub bore or the hub centric rings you bought. GET IT??

oh, it is possible to get hubcentric rings with say 66.1 on the hub/spacer side and say 73 on the wheel/bore side....
SEE HERE: http://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-t...ric-rings.html
ONCE AGAIN - THATS 66.1 INNER DIAMETER, AND 73MM OUTTER DIAMETER ON THOSE RINGS? (yeah the pic sucks, or may just be a universal picture, but either way thats what you guys need if your aftermarket wheel is 73mm)

Below are examples of attached "lip" hub centric rings - 2nd pic, and separate hub centric rings(1st pic) you can purchase for your spacers.

Attached/separate, it doesn't matter, its to obtain perfect center when mounting the wheel, not a means to transfer load....your studs and lug nuts are your attaching fasteners and load transfer medium...

-J

EDIT:
Read my response to this guys question in regards to hub ring sizes, 73mm = Volks, works, etc center wheel hole....88mm is also common on some after market wheels.......

http://my350z.com/forum/7388199-post82.html

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

okay num nuts! (kidding, kidding)

you need a "gap" in between your mounting stud holes on your wheels in order to run wheel spacers under 25mm on your wheels.

I hope that the following pics help you understand this requirement for "some" thickness spacers.

pics below show an OEM TRACK wheel and the gap in the wheel and the other pic is a aftermarket wheel with no gap - boo! very sad!

now, thats nice of nissan to give us gaps there in our OEM wheel design........I feel those punks knew we would be slapping on spacers left and right.......I MEAN C-MON, Nissan had to have made this requirement to the wheel builder for all their oem wheels to have these gaps.......nice....

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

Okay, here i show the length of the oem studs on the 350z. As you can see, any spacer less than 25mm thick will result in oem stud protrusion!

SO, you must have wheels that have the "GAPS" in-between the mounting holes.

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

Okay, this example:

Shown are 20mm project kic spacers. We are definitely going to have thread protrusion and NEED "gaps" between the lug mounting wheels on our wheels of choice for this application.

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

Here is a buddies car. He is running after market extended studs. So now his gap requirement is much higher. He is running OEM TRACK WHEELS with 25 mm spacers up front and 30mm spacers in the rear.

Shown is 25mm front spacers. difference of about 19mm shown.

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

okay,

once again, your options are:

1. Buy spacers with studs.

2. Buy spacers that slip on and install longer studs.


Please try and stop there.

************************************************************ *************
Alternate options:

3. If you have spacers with studs but the stud protrusion is too much, your only option is to replace your studs with shorter studs. NAPA - see ahead to link i provide in post #14, title number 13.

4. Or cut down your oem studs to less than the surface plane of your XXmm thickness spacer. XX = anything less than 25mm....get it??

Come again? well, if you need to run 15mm spacers. But have no room for thread protrusion, then you "could" if you decide to. Cut your oem studs down to max 15mm length, then your studs wont stick out past your spacer? get it?

Also, if your gonna do this,

I suggest, installing a sacrificial nut all the way to the hub. Install another sacrificial nut at the point of cutting. have washers in between so that the nut doesn't move and cut away.

Use the closet (2nd) nut as a guide to cut with out removing more than needed. cut using a air tool die grinder. after cutting, slowing back out the two nuts one at a time and the "backing out" process should clean up any grinding/cutting imperfections on the just cut threads.

your a smart puppy, you decide.

DO NOT DO WHAT IS IN THE PICTURE BELOW - BELOW IS A 15MM SPACER, AND TWO EACH 5MM SPACERS ADDED. NO, JUST NO!

[JasonZ-YA]

OKAY, SO THERE ARE A FEW OPTIONS.

YOU DECIDE.

1. PRESS ON NEW STUDS - REQUIRES YOU TO REMOVE THE HUB, REMOVE ORIGINAL STUDS, PRESS ON NEW STUDS. SEE PIC.
HARBOR FREIGHT SHOP PRESS: (ITEM 4711-7VGA - about $80 bucks). They have this on sale many times and any small shop press will do the job on spacers....doesn't take much force to install or remove.

2. WHEEL SPACER INSTALLATION TOOL - Google it. You can drive all over town and try and find one. or you can even use a big enough C-clamp and a socket if you have one big enough. see 2nd pic below of actual tool in schematic.

3. Hand crank them on, see this thread - Done very well here:
http://www.my350z.com/forum/body-int...e-of-pics.html

Edit*
Added this for help in removing the rear rotors (when stuck) in order to install longer studs to the hub: courtesy of Guitman32:

Originally Posted by guitman32

You need to loosen the parking brake shoes. There is a little rubber plug on your rotor. Align this plug so it is at 11 or 12 o'clock. Then remove the plug. Now, with a flathead screwdriver, you need to turn the adjuster to loosen the parking brake shoes. If you do this, the rotor will come off freely just as the fronts. I see too many threads of people pounding away, when that is totally unnecessary and probably damages your parking brake system and rotors. The FSM is your friend:



Once you have replaced your rotor or completed whatever work you are doing, you need to re-adjust the parking brake. From the FSM:



I thought I would add that it takes quite a few turns to loosen the rotor, so just keep at it!! Also, a flashlight helps in locating the adjuster if you have never adjusted it before...no pounding necessary!!

Cheers

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

Buddy of mines car.

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

take a look. This is the actual car we have been working on in some of the previous steps.

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

Nice look!

taken from here: http://my350z.com/forum/6961568-post30.html

Thanks for the pm.
-J

[JasonZ-YA]

REPLACING SPACER STUDS:

*Edited
Okay, I remove spacers from my car over and over and over again. Attending drift events and owning 18 wheels, i have removed my spacers TONS of times! i couldn't guess how many. reason being - while drifting, I have wheels that require spacers - and some that dont! so im often mounting and dismounting spacers along with WHATEVER wheel im running the course with at that time......

so to be clear! - I drift/autoX on spacers quite aggressively - have never had an issue other than having to replace a stripped stud....

like i mention in the linked thread - some spacer studs are not that high of quality and its easy to cross thread at times...


So, in case it ever happens to you...and a spacer stud gets cross threaded, etc.

See this thread:
http://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-t...ent-studs.html

************************************************************ **************************************

SILLY BOLT ON YOUR HUBS WHEN INSTALLING SPACERS - FRONT WHEELS ONLY:

See the two each attached pics(about 6 O-clock position)..........the bolt is there so you don't rotate your OEM (FACTORY) wheels front to back, but it needs to be removed to install spacers of any kind. It's perfectly ok to remove this bolt! Proceed with spacer/wheel install.

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

Okay guys!

"What size should i get questions are somewhat rediculous on the forum"

Spacers are a measure and mount kinda thing.....

You mount 25mm then think:
"oh man, thats too much! i dont like it.....blah, blah......so then you end up selling them and purchasing 20mm's"


Only other thing you would need, depending on how "meaty" your tire is, you may need to roll your fender "LIP"

See attached pics!

WHEEL OFFSET:
For those looking for wheels with the correct offset, this is a reference for how offset is measured on wheels.
From Center of wheel to the mounting surface!

http://og-made.com/archives/2174

3rd pic on that link:
The wheels are multi-piece wheels - and in this example the face of the wheel eliminates wheel lip to move +22 mm closer to the outside of the barrel, thus eliminating flushness.....

-J

[JasonZ-YA]

oh, and i figured you guys would want to know what smart puppy ive been referring too.........

sorry...here..

-J

[militia]

rays 18+19 with spacers

http://my350z.com/forum/media-share/...michelins.html

[JasonZ-YA]

^ nice addition militia........

thanks,
-J

Edit*

Wanted to add this:

GREAT INFO HERE ON USE/NEED OF THINNER SPACERS - USUALLY TO CLEAR BBK (BIG BRAKE KITS)

THANKS TO HKS for a good thread and link to manufacturer of custom built spacers --

http://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-t...l-spacers.html

-J

[jdella681]

from my other thread:

http://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-t...l-spacers.html

Can we get some negatives on spacers? Thanks!

[JasonZ-YA]

Originally Posted by jdella681

from my other thread:

http://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-t...l-spacers.html

Can we get some negatives on spacers? Thanks!


here:

Ok, so after researching and checking out wheel spacers I decided to do either of the following: 30mm rears 25mm front, or 25mm rear 20mm front (either Concept Z or Ichiba v2's). However, I've been hearing mixed things about running with spacers, esp when I asked the guys at firestone lol (just wanted to hear what they had to say).

So with that I'd like to know the drawbacks of having them installed? And does the ride quality suffer (eg. shakey steering.. things like that)? Is there more maintenance required to make sure my wheels don't fly off lol? My friends say they wouldn't do it b/c you're putting more stress on the hub and could wear out faster, which makes sense. But I see so many people on this site run them so it seems as if you guys are comfortable with these.

Here's my driving habits: I don't drive the car hard and take corners at insane speeds, it's not my daily driver I rotate with another car '98 Maxima (I prolly drive it 3-4 times a week).

If anyone has opinions and/or cons about driving with spacers I'd greatly appreciate it

No dude, dont worry about it, many have run spacers and for the most part our hubs can take the added strain no problem. bearings havent been failing left or right to warrant telling you other wise. Could a bearing fail........sure, weather it was the sole cause of a spacer........i highly doubt it...

only con really, is dealing with them, removing them, etc...one more thing to mess with......

-J