How to achieve the well balanced look (1 Viewer)

[isellfords]

Hello again,
I am still weighing my decision on selling the non winch bull bar, to any that have inquired. almost leaning another direction now, but i will keep you posted. anyways, my question is about spacers for wheels. what do i need to do to make my wheels stick out a little bit. im not talking the squatty look, i just would like them to be even with my fender flares. i have 285/75/16 bfg ats. should i just go to a 315? would that help? i have a ome lift and i love the way it looks. but i just want to widen the wheels a bit. i think it would improve the ride. thanks, chad

 

[Texx]

Any hispanic in West Texas can tell you how to make your wheels stick out! They can also tellyou how to run those itty bitty gold rims!

 

[skyshark186]

Wheel spacers. Youll find a whole bunch of information if you google em. Just keep in mind you can only use ONE per tire. Ive seen people stack em(thin are MUCH cheaper than thick) and get some pretty neat results. Neat to watch, not neat to own.

 

[shocker]

Ughh....

If you go to 315s, you better be ready to re-gear.

I personally HATE the skateboard look. If you're running a 6" lift and 315s, it looks good because then it IS balanced.... and possibly necessary to regaind lateral stability in off camber stuff.

But for a 285'd Cruiser with a standard OME lift?

Ughh....

 

[Pete483]

I've been thinking about spacers as well. It seems the present wheels line up nicely with the body sans flares, but the flares stick out over a lot of thin air. Nothing extreme, maybe only 1" spacers? That should pull the wheels out to about even.

 

[isellfords]

Shocker,
you mention regearing if i go to a 315? is this necessary? will a tire size that big really wear my ride out that quick? im no mechanic, so i definetly dont want to screw something up. if so, thanks for the advice. guess i will stick to the 285, maybe 295.

 

[mooker82]

You could go to a 305. Same height. No need to regear. About 1 inch wider.

 

[clarkrw3]

My fathers cruiser has the OME lift with 305/70-16 MTR's and it looks great...see my avitar. My LX has the 6" and 315's and also looks very nice. I think both look a little better with 1-1.25" wheel spacers.

 

[Dr Gonzo]

Not all "Hispanics" fit that stereotypical profile. Some of us actually drive 4x4s just like you Texx.

 

[Texx]

No offense intended, just a daily fact of life here in West Texas...hundreds if not thousands of em right here in town w/ the wheels/rims like that. Doesn't bother me any...I just don't get it. A cultural statement on their part, nothing wrong with that.

 

[IdahoDoug]

FYI,

Adding pure offset can dramatically degrade handling and ride. You may find your front end darts around and is highly sensitive to bumps and pavement cracks. If the wheel bearings are not in good shape, you also risk damaging them due to the large increase in offset forces (prying effect of longer lever, basically). And emergency handling can suffer greatly - something you may only take note of as you're losing control.

A lot of people do this, but on an SUV it's worth a second thought.

DougM

 

[shocker]

Shocker,
you mention regearing if i go to a 315? is this necessary? will a tire size that big really wear my ride out that quick? im no mechanic, so i definetly dont want to screw something up. if so, thanks for the advice. guess i will stick to the 285, maybe 295.

It really has nothing to do with longevity or wearing anything out, and more to do with turning your vehicle into a dog.

315s are too tall a tire for stock gears with a normal engine (i.e. not turboed or supercharged).

 

[Kaderabek]

Run 305s with a Tru-Speed, and remove your flares. Done.

TJK

 

[BOUNDER]

Not all "Hispanics" fit that stereotypical profile. Some of us actually drive 4x4s just like you Texx.

Whoa - easy - he didn't say all but even here on the East Coast it's largely the hispanics that create that look. Nothing offensive meant

 

[nakman]

I hate to bring this down further but I too thought the Hispanic comment was a little over the line. Hopefully no harm done, intended, etc.

Back on topic, it depends on what you want to do with your truck- if you want to really wheel, A big thing to consider with larger tires are those real steep descents- if you don't regear you'll be standing on your brakes a lot of the time. 315's is too big to go with stock gearing, IMO.. not only is it slower and less efficient around town, but it'll be wicked fast out on the trail going down hills and you'll find yourself right on the ass of whatever 40 or 60 happens to be in front of you. But I think spacers with less that 4" lift is too squatty looking, not a "well balanced look."

 

[dclee]

When I went to 6" I got 1.25" wheel adapters ("spacers"). You don't want just the shim type spacers, make sure they actually bolt onto the hub, for safety reasons. Also, 1.125" is the minimum thickness due to the length of the stock wheel studs. However, I couldn't find those but Marlin had 1.25" and that was perfect for me. Didn't want to get too wide, but that minimum width is still tasteful but more importantly doesn't add as much stress to the driveline while adding some much-needed stability with the top-heavy 6" lift. A better option IMHO would be 10" wide aftermarket wheels with the same backspacing. But I wanted to keep my OEM wheels because they look nice and are very strong, light, FORGED wheels.

BTW, this truck is not a daily driver, so I didn't have the (very valid) concerns that DougM raises. But I have found that with the proper lift, it handles as good as stock, I just can't take a corner as fast as before. No tramlining, darting, etc. Though I could use better brakes, but that is more a function of the bigger tires rather than the lift itself.

 

[hoser]

Derek, I've used 1" spacers on 80 series and 100 series OEM wheels. The studs/nuts fit into the little "pockets" between the other studs.

 

[NorCalDoug]

It really has nothing to do with longevity or wearing anything out, and more to do with turning your vehicle into a dog.

315s are too tall a tire for stock gears with a normal engine (i.e. not turboed or supercharged).

I got used to my set up.

I'm running OEM gears with 315s. Have been for about a year. It's true that you lose a bunch of power when accelerating from a dead stop, but so far, i haven't had problems off-road. Until I do, I think I'll keep it where it is...until I make the leap to 37s

Highway mileage improves with stock gearing and 315s...so that's a plus (if you do a lot of hwy driving).



Switching from 285/75 R16 to 305/70 R16 will get you an extra 20mm per tire in total tire width. This means you'll get 10mm closer to the flare. 10mm is a little less than 1/2 inch.

315 will take you right to the edge of the fender flare. Unless you can live with the lack of power in city driving (with stock gears), I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. Some can live with it...some can't.

 

[dclee]

Derek, I've used 1" spacers on 80 series and 100 series OEM wheels. The studs/nuts fit into the little "pockets" between the other studs.

On my truck I measured my wheel studs and they stick out of the hub assembly by 1.125" which means in order to mount my wheels flush to the spacer/hub/disk, I need a spacer thickness of at least 1.125." Sure, it could be done with a 1" spacer, but then the rear surface of the wheel is only being supported by the tips of the original wheel studs, and not sitting flush against the face of the spacer/hub/disk assembly. And I suspect that over time those steel stud tips would really mess up the aluminum mounting surface of my wheels. My truck is a `94, maybe on other years the studs were shorter.

EDIT: Oh, now I think I see what you mean. You mean pockets on the inside mounting surface of the wheels, correct? Yes, this would work fine with OEM wheels, but I also wanted to be able to go aftermarket eventually, and did not have a guarantee that those "pockets' would be there in an aftermarket wheel.

 

[hoser]

EDIT: Oh, now I think I see what you mean. You mean pockets on the inside mounting surface of the wheels, correct? Yes, this would work fine with OEM wheels, but I also wanted to be able to go aftermarket eventually, and did not have a guarantee that those "pockets' would be there in an aftermarket wheel.

Doh! I just ran downstairs to snap a photo before I read your edit. Well, I'll just post it for others. But, yeah, if I had plans to use other wheels, I'd get the 1.125" spacers but then again, if I was buying new wheels, I'd probably just buy the offset I needed and not use spacers.