Wheel Spacer Question

[jari]

First of all, are you guys using wheel spacers to get the wheels out of the wheel wells? Any dangers or down sides to using them?
I have a 1999 Cobra and in my opinion the stock wheels disappear in the wheel wells.
I would like to get 2000 Cobra R 18x9.5 wheels with 245/40-18 in front and 275/35-18 in the back. Both with BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 2 tires.
Now the actual question if any of you would know:
How thick spacers should I use to get these wheels as far out as possible but not hitting the fenders.
I'm switching to 3.73 rear at the same time so I'll have some speedo calibration to do.

[1slo5.0]

I wouldn't run wheel spacers. That is a potentially dangerous situation. Guys have sheared wheel studs off using wheel spacers. The further out your wheel sits on the wheel studs, the more leverage it has on them. Think of it like like grabing a tree branch right where it meets the stump and trying to break it off. Now grab that tree branch towards the end and try to break it off. Its much easier to break when you grab it at the end because you have more leverage. Same principle.

[onewickedstang]

i'll second what Darrell stated, and also add that your wheel will no longer sit on the center mounting flange of the axle. if the lugs ever came loose it would gall/break the studs that much quicker.

[markstang]

I run with wheel spacers on my car & it goes 1.32 60' on a bad day..... never busted any studs off on my car. I do keep the lug nuts tight, but have made a run or 2 with them lose, just a little sway on the top end thats all.

I make custome wheel spacers if you need any. they are about $75 bucks for the pair & look kick ass.


Mark

[jari]

I thought that there could be some issues with the spacers since I seldom see them for sale on web sites.
I'm hoping to add a blower for next season, so I may have to put safety ahead of looks.
I'll buy the wheels and see how they look before deciding on the spacers.
Thanks for your help!!

[TheRealStubot]

First of all, are you guys using wheel spacers to get the wheels out of the wheel wells? Any dangers or down sides to using them?
I have a 1999 Cobra and in my opinion the stock wheels disappear in the wheel wells.
I would like to get 2000 Cobra R 18x9.5 wheels with 245/40-18 in front and 275/35-18 in the back. Both with BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 2 tires.
Now the actual question if any of you would know:
How thick spacers should I use to get these wheels as far out as possible but not hitting the fenders.
I'm switching to 3.73 rear at the same time so I'll have some speedo calibration to do.
First of all... sell me your old rims!

Second... The BFG KDW's wear forever ( I got 28k miles out of mine ) but don't stick very well, and the ride is unnecessarily harsh, especially if you get the KDWS with the sidewall inserts. I just put on Nitto's and I'm never going back to BFG.

What you want to do with spacers, you should be looking at wheel offset. Correct me guys, but you want less offset to bring the wheel away from the centerline of the car? So if your current rims have 6" of offset, and you need an inch, for example, you would look for a rim with a 5" offset?

Also look at a 255mm tire for a 9.5 inch rim. Even that may be too small. 255 is the minimum recommended for a 9 inch rim.

[dave bandt]

I've been running wheel spacers for the last 4 years and never had a problem. The Moroso ones cost about $15 a set from Summit/Jeggs, are made from aluminum, and are available in VERY small increments.

[Jesse James]

I ran rear wheel spacers on my 03 Cobra 7/8" true bolt on. Made the rear tires look like they filled the rear wheel wells perfectly. No issues whatsoever.
They're still in my garage :cool: