I installed my new wheel / tire combo, and the previous owner had 255 width in the front. This is large but for the tread on the tires i am happy keeping it until they need replacing. I mounted them on the front with 5 washers for each front wheel and driving seems fine, but i was thinking that wheel spacers have that nice flat surface and presue distribution for a reason.....

Anyways, the washers provide adequate spacing, just wondering am i risking the front wheels being damaged with this setup like cracking a bolt or anything as opposed to a regular spacer setup?

 

did you put 5 washers, one on each stud???

oh man! you can not do that!! totally not safe!

you need to take those washers off!
first off you are loosing threads due to the space of the washers and you are just asking for the lug nuts to shear with a non bearing area surface. plus there is no way the lug nuts can maintain the proper torque with a loose fit washer installed!

this is very unsafe..

plus wheels are supposed to transfer load by being mounted on the hub, not through the lugs...
-j

 

 

no, 1 spacer for each lug, its maybe a 2mm gap between the hub

 

YA, READ MY POST....THATS BAD...REALLY BAD...

i think the first failure will be a stud snapping....then the others will follow...

-j

 

Agree. I have a picture in my mind of what you did, and its not good.

You are putting additional stress on the lugs. Remember you have a 40 pound mass (wheel and tire) that is spinning. And the only surface tension is the total area of 5 washers.

 

Do it the right way, and buy wheel spacers if you want a more flush look. Trying to rig it with washers is probably not a good idea...

 

You need to get to this quick buddy, taking short cuts is very costly. If you want the wheels a little out more, get the proper spacers NOT WASHERS!

 

it will work for a temporary solution. i did this when i first mounted my stoptechs, because the front wheels barely did not fit.

if you do this, make sure to torque the lugs every 1-2 days and get some some proper spacers asap.

 

exactly! you willl lose torque on the lugs due to the added stress passing only a small area......the 1-2 day thing is just random luck........it wont take much for a lug to snap and then the rest will follow and more than likely it will happen catastrophically !!!! resulting in a serious wreck!!!

you own a high dollar car, and just bought pricey wheels.....get spacers!

heck, ive seen guys not torque their wheels and during a 60 second autoX session, snap studs and loose a wheel........damage to car is horrible....
-j

 

relax, this wasnt a being cheap thing, the shop nearby didnt have what i was looking for, and i figure this was better than the inner tire rubbing against metal. Will take care of it today, why i asked.

Thanks for the help gents. Cheers.

 

What are your offsets , your width etc etc , and second, take the washers off. I could understand this kinda working if the washers were a nice set and perfectly machined, but we all know its not the case.