Proper mm Spacers for Ray's Track 18"?
 

Hey Guys/Gals:

I'm looking to either buy some RH J8's for my Z, or go with spacers for my Ray's Track wheels, and just replace tires. If I stick with my Ray's, what size spacers do I need to duplicate the offset I see in the J8 package made for the Z, which I believe is +19front and +26rear? What I want is the proper offset - I find the Ray's are too tucked into the wheel well. TIA~

Track 18":
F: +30 offset
R: +33 offset

So I would go with a +10mm spacer in the front and a +5mm spacer in the rear. That would come close to duplicating the offset of the J8 but you gotta factor in rim width as well.

That's the thing, Tut. the J8s are 19x9 front and 19x10 rear. Given that fact, a 5mm spacer in rear wouldn't be nearly enough I believe. So: how do I determine how to adjust for rim width? This is the part that confuses me.

I like this website:

http://toy4two.home.mindspring.com/offset.html

It says the 19x9 +19 will extend 24mm and the 19x10 +26 26mm over your stock Track wheels. So that means you would need to run a 25 mm spacer to have the wheels come out equally. I don't even think you can run a spacer that big.

25mm sounds about right. If the J8 rim sticks out that close to the wheel well, why wouldn't I be able to run a spacer that does the same for the Ray's wheel? It just wouldn't extend in 1.5 inches as far as the J8 at rear, correct? Torsion on the hub would be equal, would it not?

I stand corrected. I thought the biggest H&R made was 20mm, but they make 25mm spacers. Definitely going to need new wheel studs with those. :D. Check out this thread:

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....hreadid=111370

Thanks for the assist King!:icon19: :D

torsion on the hub would be correct, but your center line would not since you've shifted the wheel outwards (i.e. the weight of the car is now moved further out than it was designed to)

this produces extra wear on your bearings, hubs and suspension components

a calculated risk if you don't track your car, but an expensive one if you do

I hear what you're saying on the center point, but that factor is greatly reduced by the fact that while the center point is now about 1" more outbound, the plane (read: vector of force) on that point remains the same - meaning (er...hehe) that the tire still sits flat, and as such transmits upward force to the bearing roughly the same way. The stiffness of the wheel itself forces the tire to stay flat on ground, and as such the bearing wear should be nearly exactly the same....

....I think.:icon8:

In short bearing wear only starts to become a major factor when the inner sidewall begins to fall in line with the hub itself - and my last name isn't Rodriguez, and I don't have a chevy cavalier with 12" rims sitting entirely outside the wheel wells of my car. hehe...(I can get away with that joke because I'm over 50% Puerto Rican). hehe

:D