Actually I agree with you. I would prefer no spacers and go with offset wheels, and in the future I’ll probably go that route. This is an interim solution to see if I really want a wider stance, I figure if I didn’t like it I could always sell them or go back to stock. I’ve only had them on for a few days so I’m still debating their effectiveness.
I have heard of wheel spacer failures, but then I’ve also heard of a lot of aftermarket wheel failures too, so either way there’s some risk. I like staying with OEM wheels because they’re probably better made than any aftermarket wheel out there. Many of the problems I was seeing was due to either stripped or broken wheel studs and/or vibrations. That is one of the reasons I went with spidertrax vs a knockoff brand. Wheel studs are grade 10.9 and I’m hoping American made means better quality control. We’ll see how well that turns out. And I was careful to follow the torque specs on the instructions.
I did consider wheel bearing and ball joint life. However that problem exists whether I go with offset wheels or spacers, the wheel bearings don’t know the difference. Looking at the design of the spindle it’s already offset, so the additional 1” does increase the stress, but it’s not like stock is centered about the neutral axis to begin with. I’d estimate it increases the moment arm about 20%.
To be honest the GX does need a little wider wheel track as it is quite narrow compared to other modern vehicles. Eventually I’ll go with a set of wheels with less offset, However I also agree with @r2m that at some point I’m going to want the long arm suspension anyways since a good set of wheels are already at 2 grand....slippery sloop indeed.
To all who are afraid of cheap wheels failing and think spacer is the better option..... the simple solution is don’t go buy the cheapest wheels from 4wheelparts!