Wheel spacer question, ¼ inch or 1-inch ones?

[Newps]

I am having some minor rubbing in the front and rear of my 2001 LC. I am running the Tundra aluminum wheels with 295/70R18 wheels, OME torsion bars and OME 865 rear coils. Rubbing is happening on the upper A-arm and frame. It looks like it is only happening at full lock with some suspension flexing but I am not 100% sure. I think the only time it happened was entering a drive way with some speed. I am going to Pismo this weekend for Surf and Turf so I will do some testing and determine exactly when it is happening. On the rear I see some very minor tire marks in the wheel well. Look like the same scenario here too, minor rubbing only during hard flexing of the rear suspension. The rubbing is so minor I think I can get away with a very small spacer. I found a guy local ( wheeladapter.com ) who would make me a set of (4x) 5mm or ¼ inch (my choice) wheel spacers for $180 shipped. This should push my wheel out enough to resolve the rubbing. My other choice is to purchase 1-inch wheel adapters. Here’s my dilemma, I want to keep my wheels as tucked in as far as possible. I do not want to damage my front fenders from wheel contact. This truck will see high speed wheeling where the suspension will be bottoming ( on Timbren's ) and it need steering impute. Unfortunately in these situations you have to turn while a tire is stuffed in the wheel well or you will crash. For those running 1-inch wheel spacers do you make contact with your wheel well under full compression? Has anyone damaged their fenders with 1-inch spacers? Also since I will be upgrading my suspension down the road will I need 1-inch spacers to run aftermarket upper A-arms? Thank you for your impute, I will post up some pictures of the rubbing post Pismo trip.

 

[Mxndrnks]

I dont have any input on the spacers. Sorry.

I was running my 295/75/16's with the Slee medium lift and the only rubbing I got was on the front end. There were signs of some slight frame rub. Quick adjustment of the turn stops fixed that. I havnt made the switch to 18's yet. So, I dont know what impact those have.

On the rear I was running OME 860's and never had rubbing issues until I added the BOIR rear bumper. I ran the those with 30mm spacers until I upgraded to 863's.

So, where am I going with all this????? If you are planning to upgrade your suspension down the road and dont want to wheels to sick out further, maybe try adjusting your front turn stops and add some spacers in the rear. See if that fixes the problem until you are ready.

 

[Newps]

Thanks for the impute, I will make some adjustments to my turn stops in Pismo and see if this helps. I know it will fix the frame rubbing but I still have the upper A-arm to solve. One thing that is nice, lying on your back to check your suspension in sand is not that uncomfortable.

 

[TheFuzz]

Since you are running a less common wheel, it's hard to say how much spacer you need relative to how much rubbing you're experiencing. I'd say that $180 for a set of four spacers is a good price as long as they are quality made pieces...Slees are very nice, but run around $200 just for a set of two. You get what you pay for, but that is a good price relative to current market options.

A 1" wheel spacer can cause the tire to contact the fender at full compression, but I'm not sure where the threshold is. If you are just doing 1/4 spacers then you may still be able to stuff the tires ok, but everything is magnified at the speeds you plan on running so I can't say that there isn't any risk. My opinion? Get the 1/4" spacers to solve the rubbing issues, then find some terrain or obstacles to get the rig off kilter a bit and stuff a tire or two. Hop out at that point and see where you're at.

Not exactly scientific, but if you want to keep the wheels that you're running then you need to stop the rubbing first and foremost.

 

[Newps]

By, "Get the spacers to solve the rubbing issue..." you mean the 1/4 inch ones, right?

 

[TheFuzz]

Yes, if you think that's all you need to solve your problem (post above edited for clarity). For us with OEM wheels, we need 1" spacers to clear 315s (or some types of 305s...). Any spacers smaller than that really don't provide much benefit since most other tire sizes fit fine without them. Issues such as yours are a bit of a rarity. So, if you think a 1/4" spacer will get you off the UCAs, give it a try - just check your tire clearance when fully compressed before you go running the Dakar Rally.