Wheel spacrers, Bad for bearings?

[silverhorse]

I have always heard that wheel spacers or wide wheels put more stress on wheel bearings. the farther the offset the more the stress.............

opinions please..............

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Technically, yes they do... But not enough for you to worry about IMO.

 

[silverhorse]

Well i guess the size of the spacer would matter. I'm thinking 1.5" but i wonder about anything larger, say a 2" or 3"?

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I wheel the pee out of mine with 1.5" spacers and 37x14.50x17 tires without issue.

 

[Walking Eagle]

It depends on the BS of the wheels you're using. 4.5" BS wheels with 1.5" spacer is going to load just like a rim with 3" BS.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Good point! I should mention I'm running a 17x9 wheel with 4.5" BS.

 

[silverhorse]

4.5 for me as well (stock wheels). I like the stock wheels but i hate the look of the flare sticking out past the tires

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Just get them. You will be fine.

 

[Walking Eagle]

Just get them. You will be fine.

1.5" on stock wheels? Creeper's right

 

[kidglove13]

Get wider tires or remove the flares
I run rims with about 3 inches of back spacing without issue so far with 37x13 boggers

 

[80t0ylc]

4.5 for me as well (stock wheels). I like the stock wheels but i hate the look of the flare sticking out past the tires

I agree with you about the looks - more badass with the tires out side the flares. But, for practicality, the sides of your rig are gonna resemble the bottom for being dirty. There's a very good reason that the flares stick out past the tires. If you do much highway speed driving you're going be wearing what's on the road surface on the side of your rig. Just so you know ahead of time, what your sacrificing for the look.

 

[Schwein]

on my phone so i cant post pictures, but if you look at my sig you'll see photos of my truck with 305 70 r16's and 1.5" spacers, the align perfectly with the flair, stick just a tiny bit past but it looks great.

Just get some spacers and dont worry about it!

 

[silverhorse]

I think the 1.5 will work, I dont want to get crazy with the BS. (back spacing)

Thanks for the input as usual my peeps!

 

[93yotasr5]

i just bought brand new bearings from Marlin crawler, and ill be putting my 1.5" spacers on next week. ive never seen any crazy extra wear and tear on bearings from the spacers. not saying it wont add a little bit, but nothing im worrying about

 

[silverhorse]

Well, truth is I've turned into a worry wart whinny baby the last few years..
I had a daily driver 85' toyota truck when i was younger (20's) with 39's with 15x12, 3" backspace steel "monster wheels" and I NEVER had problems or worried about it. Now that I'm over 40 I'm a anal, political, 4 children under 5 having with NO spare time

 

[azTony]

I can not see any stress put onto the bearings from spacers. It is the exact same thing as replacing your wheels with different wheels with a different backspace. The risk involved is the spacer being centered correctly and they do not come loose.

 

[silverhorse]

In my case I'm going from stock wheel ( 4.5 backspace) to a 1.5 spacer which equals out to having a 3" backspaced wheel... Word has always been that the bigger the backspacing the harder it is on bearings...

Puts more leverage out there

 

[93yotasr5]

not a ton though. if your bearings are questionable and or your not sure about the condidtion id wait, otherwise go for it.

 

[azTony]

As with anything, going to the extreme is not good.

 

[silverhorse]

i dont think a 1 or 1.5 in spacer is much to worry about but a 2 or 3" spacer i probably wouldn't do....