Wheels with spacers - Yes or no?

Ian,

I feel your pain....I finally decided just to put original 355 wheels on my car because it was all too confusing for me... it gives me a headache trying to figure it all out...

Mike in Kuwait

 

The way I understand it is , that it is all about kingpin inclannation ( upright top and bottom ball joint relationship to stub axle ) This is a fixed angle you cannot change it by schimming . If you draw a line through the top and bottom ball joint where this line touches the road should be more or less the center of your tyre contact patch .( standing behind the wheel not looking at it from the rim face ,that's castor ) If its not when you hit a bump you are creating a longer leaverage arm ,which then tends to knock the wheel in that direction .So to answer your question as long as you are using spacers to put the rim where it was designed to go there should be no problem .If you are using a wheel spacer to move the wheel 2 inches further out this is a complete no no ( let alone the extra load it puts on the wheel bearings )
When I say bump I mean a bump in the road surface ,not to be confused with bump steer which is suspension bump .Or toe change when the suspension moves to full bump or droop . ( bump = shocks reach full compresion (hard braking ),droop = shocks reach full extension ( wheels come off the ground ))
Just to clarify I'm talking front wheels they are more important because of steering .

 

As your wheels are "hub-centric" you will need the PROPER spacers. Just going to Autozone to get a set of spacers won't work. Also you will need longer wheel bolts.

There is nothing wrong with spacers if they are the proper ones.

 

Spacers are a tool, when properly used, they arnt terrible. There are limits to how much spacer until you have to replace your wheel bolts. Then there is the question, of where the center line of the wheel/tire is. If you are after an increase offset off the factory centerline, you have changed the geometry of the suspension. To me, thats not a good idea at all. These cars arn't built with a bunch of alignment adjustment and it's excess load on the wheel bearings.

A suggestion would be to use a larger diameter wheel if it's a clearance problem.

Good luck in your decision

 

Also consider that there are spacers that incorporate a different bolt pattern into them (as a type 2 spacer). So your typical 5X108 or whatever std. Ferrari bolt pattern can be modified to a 5X100 on a type 2 spacer with 10 holes. These spacers bolt with a 5x108 pattern to your hub (using short bolts), then allow holes for factory bolts to go through a wheel with a different hub bolt spacing. See http://www.ezaccessory.com/Wheel_Adapters_s/25.htm . If you are buying wheels with the same bolt pattern a type 1 spacer is best if you can get it to work without being too thick, because you can check the bolt torque without removing the wheel. If it is over about 15mm often they use type 2 spacers as described above, but you can't check how well the spacer is torqued to the hub without removing the wheels.
I think spacers are fine but they do make me nervous, because I install them myself, and have little trust in my skills.
BT

 

spacers, like a thick washer are a hazard, you cant bolt the wheel up correctly. A hub adapter which bolts to the hub and has its own wheel studs are acceptable(at least your wheel will stay attached).

 

If you used washers as spacers, yes HAZARD. Standard spacers are pre drill spacers of varing thickness the diameter of the hub are fine, they support the entire wheel face to the hub.

Wheel adapters are a definite non no on a ferrari unless you can keep the center line of the wheel/tire in the same location as the original. If you do that you will have the same force on the wheel bearings and not screwup the suspension geometry

 

basically spacers increase the lever between the wheel centre and the outer wheel bearing. This, for instance, increases stress on the axle shafts. At least on the older cars this has led to occasional failures / breakages.
meaningle
But if the wheels together with the spaces, like you said, will match the offset of the OEM wheel, there's no problem.
But many folks forget about this and put OEM wheels together with spacers onto their cars.

Best Regards from Germany

Martin

 

These are for a Toyota MR2 to 355 replica, the owner saw no harm in using them:
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Hill Engineering of the UK is a good source for spacers.
They are represented here in the US by Ricambi America and when they supply the spacers they will also supply the correct bolts to go with them.
They know exactly what you need for your model of Ferrari and if in the specs you provide them with there is something unclear or that does not make sense, they will call you to verify the information.

 

I have spacers on the 360. I like the way they enhance the low wide stance and how the tyres are more flush with the bodywork.
I would assume there is no problem with this mod, especially as these were fitted by a Ferrari dealer. Ferrari also had to get the front guards lipped (folded back) to avoid tyres chewing out on the guards.
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Those MR2/355 spacers are getting a bit ridiculous, though.

 

if you're using spacers to maintain the factory track, absolutely no problem. if you've fitted aftermarket brakes and now need some more clearance (altering the track) you have to start thinking about how this affects the geometry.

 

This thread:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119568&highlight=stub+axle

Spacers do cause other effects sometimes, and not always positive ones.

 

Wow. That car should absolutely not be allowed on the road. The steering on that car must suck now, and poor wheel bearing all around. Also, he most likely did not put in the much stiffer springs that are now needed.

 

If using spacers, I wouldn't recommend changing the offset more than 10mm from stock. Try to get the wheels in an offset that's very close, or have them made to the proper specs as most modular wheel companies will do.

 

I got the image from this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OtDLyRn5a8 Beautiful from the outside but if you only knew what horror is under the skin.

 

He was not using any wheel spacers

 

WOW!!

 

They did a pretty good job in building the Toyorrari, I would say and I absolutely loved the video and the music!

 

I have spacer on the fornt of my QV to make the 550 wheels work. It's been that way for 6 years, maybe 20k miles and a couple dozen autocrosses. Before the 550 wheels I had aftermarket rx7 wheels with spacers/adapters on all 4 wheels, again no problem. Just make sure to use hub-centric stuff so everything centers up properly.

 

I have 5/8" ones on my Mondial with 348 wheels. No problems.