1" Front Wheel Spacers Added

[hoser]

Pardon my ignorance, but do you also have to replace the front hub studs with longer ones to utilize the spacers? Why would you need to shave the studs unless they are so much longer that the lug nut will "bottom out" with longer studs/thinner spacers?

If so, how thick (if any) of a spacer can you use with the stock (length) studs?

Damn..this rig is wide enough, I kinda like it 1" narrower in the front...

The 1" spacer that we are talking about is actually more commonly called a wheel adapter. Wheel adapters have their own studs. So basically, you fasten the adapter onto the existing studs and then fasten the wheel onto the new studs.

If you wanted to use spacers (the ones without it's own studs), I am guessing you could do 1/4" or so. Basic rule of thumb is that you want at least 6.5 turns on the nut when fastening wheels. But you also want the stud to protrude past the nut/wheel mating surface.

Here is a picture of the wheel adapters we are using. It is also called an adapter because it is commonly used to change the bolt pattern. Notice the special low profile tapered lug nuts--those actually fasten to the existing studs (and not where they are pictured) because you need to also need to get a socket wrench into that tight space.

 

[SINCITY100]

Hoser...

Thanks for the quick and VERY descriptive answer (not to mention the pic !!) !!

I now see why the thickness would be of importance when installing these ( if too thin, the new "studs" would be too long, and not allow the lug nut to seat on the rim)...it also puts the tire/rim further away from the ball joint/knuckle to fit a wider tire (mine is quite close, even with 33`s) and at the same time widens the track.

Do you think that widening the track (after lifting) is THAT important when using the vehicle mainly for off road use ? I imagine it would help a bit with off camber stuff, but how much? (I.E. worth the $$ ?)

 

[spressomon]

Thanks Hoser for the explanation...perfect! And great idea on the wax trick to determine what the minimum thickness spacer we could use without grinding studs!

My main goal was to gain some clearance between the tire and upper A-arm knuckle if I needed to use recovery chains. Don't know today how moving the wheels back out 'where they belong' to pre-lift stance will effect off-roading (should be able to answer that one after this coming weekend)...but it is a noticeable improvement after only 1-day of on-roading. I suspect moving the front wheels back out will benefit by adding stability on gravel roads, cornering at more than crawl speed, etc. Off-camber should be better...slow speed crawling, I would think, would not be much different.

 

[hoser]

I feel widening the track is important when lifting your cruiser but the problem is that you can only do so much before you scew up your steering/handling and/or run into interference problems.

I'm no engineer but the way I understand it is that if you raise your truck by 2 inches, in order to maintain the same stability as stock, you'd need to increase the track width by 4+ inches (depending on center of gravity) because 4 inches is actually only 2" from the centerline. Spresso raised his rig by 2.5" so he would need to increase the track width by 5+ inches plus what he lost with the IFS.

On a shifter cart (go-kart), changing track width by 2" makes a huge difference in handling as the shifter cart has a very low center of gravity.

Maybe a "real" engineer can chime in here but my summary is that a 2" increase in track isn't going to make that big of a difference but every little bit helps.

Edit: Here is an older thread where RavenTai has a better grip on the math. Somebody also mentions how an increased track width increases articulation... which makes sense.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=44249

 

[Greg B]

This is interesting stuff. How much do those adaptors cost?

Another option is to have some wheels built with extra offset/backspacing to put the wheel farther out from the hub. There was talk of having someone like Compton wheel to build some steel wheels for the 100. This could probably be taken into account at that time.

But, to be honest, I like the idea of the stock wheel with the apapter. It sounds like one would really feel the benefit on-road. Thanks for sharing Spresso!

 

[dclee]

But, to be honest, I like the idea of the stock wheel with the apapter. It sounds like one would really feel the benefit on-road. Thanks for sharing Spresso!

Especially since you wouldn't have to deal with the extra unsprung weight of a custom steel wheel.

OMG, did I just agree with Greg on something???

 

[Greg B]

Especially since you wouldn't have to deal with the extra unsprung weight of a custom steel wheel.

OMG, did I just agree with Greg on something???

Quit it man, its freaking me out!

 

[subspd]

I was just quoted be Slee $250+ for a pair of spacers. Too bad since on my Heep I got them off Ebay for like 100...

 

[hoser]

I was just quoted be Slee $250+ for a pair of spacers. Too bad since on my Heep I got them off Ebay for like 100...

You mean set of spacers (4), right? These spacers are different than heeps. First, they start with a larger 8" piece of billet aluminum instead of 6" because the bolt pattern is larger. Also, heep adapters are produced in large volume. There might be a total of like 15 sets out there for the 100.

Btw, I will have a pair (2) of 1.25" wheel adapters for sale. PM me if interested.

 

[subspd]

Nope, $250 for (2) a pair... I wish I needed your spacers but right now my suspension is stock, too bad... hmmmm

 

[sleeoffroad]

Yes, unfortunatelly they are custom made low volume. That with the cost of the studs and the lugnuts puts it at a higher cost. We have three suppliers we source from and it is pretty much the same in all cases. Tough to compare with Chinese made mass produced spacers for other vehicles.

 

[Landpimp]

I just gave up washing my black 100..........going on 6 months of grime......I kinda like the new color

Man, and it's a dark color, too. Worst for showing dirt!

 

[spressomon]

Did some off-roading this weekend while hunting. Total win-win on the spacers. Adding the 1" spacers on the front made the front end handling much more secure than before. And it eliminated the 'nervous' feeling front end at highway speeds that cropped up after the lift, etc. And with my 285R75-16 MT/R's the additional overspray, when compared to sans wheelspacers, when going through mud/water is negligible. Now I can imagine with Hoser's big wide 35's there would be more mud on the doors...

 

[calamaridog]

Bumping this thread to the top. Anyone find another supplier for less $ and what width are you running.

I need to do something soon.

 

[hoser]

Try http://crowautomotive.com/

Make sure they supply the low profile nuts too. They are not so easy to find locally.

 

[spressomon]

For correction purposes run the slimmest width you can...which I think (Hoser chime in here please) is either 3/4" or 7/8" with factory wheels (assuming you don't want to shorten your wheel studs).

It would be nice to have 1/2" spacers...probably gets the front track with lift back to stock and keeps those darn 35 inchers inside the wheel wells. May attack that someday when I get all the other mods completed and am looking for some more pain and suffering

 

[hoser]

I'm 90% certain a 7/8" wheel adapter would work with stock alloy wheels. I'm 75% certain that a 3/4" wheel adapter would work. Worse case scenery, you'd have to grind down the stud a little. But there is that issue of heating the studs.

I don't think it would be safe to run any wheel adapters that are thinner than 3/4". There is a minimum thickness of metal you want in order to keep the adapter's studs from pulling out. This thickness would also depend on the quality of the metal/alloy they are using.

You could probably run 1/4" wheel spacers (no additional studs) without swapping in longer studs but I haven't measured it yet.

 

[beachcruiser]

So, the clifts notes version is...

Okay, after reading the above posts, what size/ configuration/ vendor/ price did you guys come up with (esp. spressomn)... Did you only add the spacers at the front? I am running the OME 2" heavy with 866's in the rear... 18" factory alloys with Toyo Open Country AT 325/60 r18... I currently have approx 1/4" clear at the top of the inner sidewall and the a-arm assembly...
I am leaning towards 1" spacers each side...

Thanks in advance!

 

[spressomon]

Okay, after reading the above posts, what size/ configuration/ vendor/ price did you guys come up with (esp. spressomn)... Did you only add the spacers at the front? I am running the OME 2" heavy with 866's in the rear... 18" factory alloys with Toyo Open Country AT 325/60 r18... I currently have approx 1/4" clear at the top of the inner sidewall and the a-arm assembly...
I am leaning towards 1" spacers each side...

Thanks in advance!

Got my spacers through Christo (sleeoffroad) who had them sourced. I am running 1" spacers in front only. If I knew I could run 3/4" thick spacers I would do that...mostly because I want my new 35" MT/R's to sit inboard a little more for mud spray. I didn't do the rear because only the front track is effected by lifting (although to my knowledge no one has actually measured or calculated the exact track width loss when lifted)...albeit probably less than 1" per side or even 3/4" per side...but 3/4" I think is the thinnest spacer we could hope for...

 

[beachcruiser]

Thanks.. I actually sent Christo an email earlier today to ask him about spacers... Approximately what did they run (ballpark)

Thanks again