Hi Jason,

I've got a very basic question for you. I got some hubcentric ebay spacers and went to put them on my car tonight after I took off my autocross wheels. I ran into a simple problem and wanted to know how you handled it.

Simply put, how do you keep the front hub from rotating when you are trying to torque down the spacers?

 

Have someone press the brakes.

Working alone - I have used a piece of 2x4 on the brake pedal and pushed my seat forward shoving the 2x4 on the brake pedal holding the brakes down....

lol, it works....

your the 2nd person to ask me this week........the other guy called me....


-J

 

Thanks Jason. Yeah, if I had a helper it would be easy. The 2x4 idea is a good one. I'll try that.

Edit: I was looking around in my garage tonight and spotted the kids old crochet set. A crochet mallet is the perfect fit. The handle snugs nicely into one of the divots in the brake pedal and the mallet head is easy on the front of the seat. I always have the seat all the way back and didn't have to move it a bit. Thanks.

While I was at it, I used Rust-Olium Rust Converter on the hubs and put some anti-seize on as well. I'll be taking off the spacers every couple of weeks for autocross so I doubt they would seize up, but it doesn't hurt.

 

Awesome, ya thats some good work for sure..........i cleaned up my hubs and then sprayed them with a gun metal duplicolor paint and it ended up with a really really good oem look....no more rusty hub..


-J

 

Ok I'll be the first to admit I didn't do my research before I picked up a set of wheels on craiglist last week. Hoping to get some good advice.
I love the wheels, but they are set back too far for my taste, and I need a spacer to push them out. Here are all the specs I could find on the wheel:
Motegi Racing DP10
20X7.5
+45mm offset
backspacing 6

Here are pics of the car with the wheels installed.

Any idea what size spacer I should go with? The rear looks worse than the front. Please see pics here:

Any advice is appreciated...I've been weeding through here and couldn't find a clear cut answer.

Thank you very much!
John

 

clear cut?? did you do the measuring to determine???

First off, the wheel width at 7.5 is horrible...but it looks like were past that as you already own them.

At the very least purchase 30mm rears and 25mm front.

Get the spacers with the studs attached to them....

-J

 

That "other guy" sounds totally kick ***

Dhays I can tell you what I finally did. I used a breaker bar handle (a long wrench handle would work too), and placed it between the wheels studs, and used the caliper to brace it.

I think that would be easier than pushing on the brake with a board and the seat, but I could be totally wrong. My way took no time at all, and very little pressure was placed on the studs, or caliper.

 

LOL....

-J

 

Thanks Jason...I take it I should have gone wider?

And you mention at the minimum...what would be the maximum, or what would you suggest?

Thanks again.

 

ya, well oem z wheel is an 8 inch wide wheel.........

I say that only because the best way is to measure from the tire to the fender and convert it to millimeters......to determine wheel spacer thickness needed....

see im thinking that +45 minus a 30mm spacer is gonna result in +15, but that half inch you lost in wheel width comes into affect...........in the end, its what your happy with.........in comparison to what you have now, i bet 10 fold you will be super happy with some 25mm front, 30mm rear spacers that you'll probably call it good after that...

-J

 

Understood. Thanks for the explanation!

 

I added 20mm front and 25mm rear for wheel sizes of 18X8+30 and 18X8.5+33 respectively.

It looks absolutely perfect.

My racing wheels are 1/2 inch wider all around, so hopefully I'll gain a bit of extra width.

Jason's right. If you're sporting 7.5's you'll most likely need the 25mm/30mm combo spacers.

 

'08 Z to be lowered with Eibach pro and d-specs. Stock tires/wheels. I'm looking to install 25mm spacers up front (because I don't want to get shorter studs, or cut the OEM ones), and 30mm rear. Fenders aren't rolled. Will I rub up front?? On the back? Or should I go with 25mm all around? I love the looks of 20mm rear, 25mm back, but again, don't want to mess withthe OEM studs.

Thanks for any ideas, suggestions.

 

WELL, YOU WONT have to mess with the oem studs with a 20mm spacer up front so long as you have the "GAP" between the mounting holes on your wheels...

and your stock wheels have gaps all day long! so if you really want 20/25 combo, then your fine!

re-read the first page about the "gaps" that are on oem wheels...

-J

 

Thank you!! Even '08 wheels have gaps, Great! Now I gotta research about how safe these spacers are Oh yeah, will I rub with 20mm Front, 25mm Rear? Car will be alligned within specs- front and rear.

Thanks

 

yeah...20/25 youll be fine with stock tires.....the eibachs don't drop it enough with stockers to rub iirc...

im certain you should be fine...

as for safety.....i think we covered some of that on this thread a few pages in.....nothing to worry about so long as you torque them down when installing..

as for alignment:
Rear:
depending on how low the drop is, you may need the rear camber kit and rear toe bolt installed..

Fronts:
depending on how low it drops them, youll most likely end up with -1.5 to -1.7 camber......which is fine for a daily and all....

most dont replace front upper control arms for mild drops....ie 0 to 1.25 inch drop or so.

To review what im talking about here on alignment, check out these threads:
FRONT:
https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-...questions.html
REAR TOE:
https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-...-protocav.html
REAR CAMBER ARM WITH TOE BOLT PURCHASE:
http://www.iapdirect.com/product.php...3&cat=0&page=2


-J

 

Sorry if this has already been covered, but im a newbie just needing a quick answer! I got some wheels 19x8.5 front and 19x9.5 rear, all offset at +35, now im going to buy some spacers but wanted to know what size is suggested, just a close guess will be perfect! Thanks for any and all help!

 

I see your semi near by.........come to the DFW TECH DAY and test fit some spacers and decide before you buy? I have 15,20 and 25mm sets you can try...


https://my350z.com/forum/meet-ups-ev...-tech-day.html

-J

 

Yes!! 7.5 is more narrow than OEM. Your Z probably handles like crap now with those wheels.

The best thing you could do for yourself is SELL those wheels and buy something at least 8 inches wide, but I personally wouldn't buy an after-market wheel that wasn't a min. 8.5 inches wide +30 offset... any less offset OR width and your car looks wacky. Those wheels have no place on a 350z. Throw 'em on craigslist or something.

It pays to do your homework.

 

I would say I completely agree..............best to chaulk it up as a lesson learned and sell and buy another set of wheels...

Also, you want a less positive offset, but as Blackspeed mentioned 8 - 8.5 inch wide wheel, but I would say more like a less positive number like a +15 offset or so.

+30 on an 8.5 inch wide wheel would still call for a spacer...........

factory wheels are 8.0inch wide with +30 offset and people are throwing 20mm and 25mm spacers all day long!


-J