wheel spacers. huge ones. i really need advice here.

[ff_drift_lol]

so i have a cobalt, i have sawblades which are 9.5 wide with 215/45 r17 falken 512's
i want mean fitment and lots of poke here. i'm measuring that i need a 1.75" spacer/adapter to fit properly in the front, and i have lots of camber adjustability so that won't be too much of an issue. the guy i am dealing with says i cannot return these spacer adapters because they are a very one off and odd ball spec which i can totally understand.

the rear i am measuring that i want a 2.5" spacer. is this even safe? the guy says he's done 3" spacers and guarantees them if they break. i will upgrade studs for good measure, and always lock tight.

i have a solution to this though, but i need the advice of my fellow stanceworks members to know if this is doable. can i just order 1.5" spacer/adapters all around and add spacers to that to achieve my desired fitment?

halp!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kielan]

1 solid piece of metal will always be stronger than 2 individual.. I don't see why this would be bad. I mean yeah its thick, but its really not crazy.

[ff_drift_lol]

if they are hub centric i don't see why not either, but this guy is telling me it's dangerous and can't be done!

[Ollie]

I definitely wouldn't add spacers on top of the 1.75" spacers. That's like a 20mm spacer on top of a 45mm adaper... bad news.. Get it right the first time and order the right size adapters and you'll be fine.

Who's telling you it can't be done? The guy making them? I thought he said he's done 3" and garauntees them?

[hotdoghogie]

Only problem with 3 inch spacers is the leverage it puts on your OEM parts. Sure the guy can gurantee his spacers but if somthing on your car fails due to the massive leverage then its slolemly on you. Wider wheels help spread the leverage and proper camber helps fill in the gaps which is the best way to attack flushness.

Get you some vette wheels.

[ff_drift_lol]

yeah i already know the deal with hubs and stuff it's gunna be a little pricey but i love it so whatever. i ordered 1.8" wide spacers for the front and one 2.3" wide spacer for the rear just in case it doesnt work with the camber like i want it to. if it works ill order the other one and be done. i got them from adaptit.com and it was a lot cheaper than i thought i was dealing with someone else all week and they almost got me to spend about 600 dollars on this setup i just paid 180 for 3 fat spacer adapters shipped.

[Ollie]

Only problem with 3 inch spacers is the leverage it puts on your OEM parts. Sure the guy can gurantee his spacers but if somthing on your car fails due to the massive leverage then its slolemly on you. Wider wheels help spread the leverage and proper camber helps fill in the gaps which is the best way to attack flushness.

Get you some vette wheels.
How would 17x9.5 with 3" spacers and an effective offset of 20 be worse than a straight 17x9.5 +20? Or were you just saying spacing a stock spec wheel is what causes stress? Because that would make sense to me.

yeah i already know the deal with hubs and stuff it's gunna be a little pricey but i love it so whatever. i ordered 1.8" wide spacers for the front and one 2.3" wide spacer for the rear just in case it doesnt work with the camber like i want it to. if it works ill order the other one and be done. i got them from adaptit.com and it was a lot cheaper than i thought i was dealing with someone else all week and they almost got me to spend about 600 dollars on this setup i just paid 180 for 3 fat spacer adapters shipped.

adaptitusa? No way they're hub centric...

[ff_drift_lol]

vette wheels don't need to be, they have those conical lug nuts. the hub bore on my cobalt will be centric. i'm glad you pointed that out, most people would have never known.

[hotdoghogie]

How would 17x9.5 with 3" spacers and an effective offset of 20 be worse than a straight 17x9.5 +20? Or were you just saying spacing a stock spec wheel is what causes stress? Because that would make sense to me.


I dont know if i was clear here. What i ment to say is if you have a lower offset wheel, it is better then a wheel that is spaced out. The low offset wheel still bolts flat to the hub and doesnt create as much initial stress on the hub/ lugs as a spacer would. Technically by giving a rim more offset or spacer it is going to add stress and the wider your rims width is the longer the leverage arm will be also creating yet more stress. This is multiplied for those whole like to run excessive negative camber.

[JVC]

my friend has 2" spacers on his mustang... I don't see why that wouldn't be fine.

[ff_drift_lol]

i'm saying to add a spacer to a spacer/adapter to widen the adapter

[Kielan]

Just order the correct size adapters.. I would have thought that would have been fairly obvious.

[projektzwo]

when we talk about 20-30mm spacers, is the best choice the BOLT-ON ones? Which are safer?

[Ollie]

when we talk about 20-30mm spacers, is the best choice the BOLT-ON ones? Which are safer?

Bolt-on for sure.

[ff_drift_lol]

no no no guys, i am saying i can only order up to a specific size before they are non returnable and non refundable. i would like to get them a tad smaller than i measured and then add 5mm or so spacers to them for the option of going wider if i need to. but is adding a spacer to an already existing adapter a dangerous thing to do?

[ff_drift_lol]

when we talk about 20-30mm spacers, is the best choice the BOLT-ON ones? Which are safer?

totally the bolt on

[cobrawannabe]

no no no guys, i am saying i can only order up to a specific size before they are non returnable and non refundable. i would like to get them a tad smaller than i measured and then add 5mm or so spacers to them for the option of going wider if i need to. but is adding a spacer to an already existing adapter a dangerous thing to do?

You can always have them welded together:cool

[ff_drift_lol]

haha, this is true.

[firelizard]

vette wheels don't need to be, they have those conical lug nuts. the hub bore on my cobalt will be centric. i'm glad you pointed that out, most people would have never known.

Conical seat lugnuts are not a substitute for hubcentric mounting. They do center the wheel, but they don't take any weight off the lugs.

Given the option, hubcentric spacers are always better, and giving them a flange for hubcentric wheels to sit on is even better. If I could do it over again, when I ordered my spacers I would have ordered them to be milled hubcentric to a common factory hub size so I could use hub centering rings to mount wheels.

[ff_drift_lol]

yeah idk the guy at adaptitusa.com said i wont need them hubcentric and they dont make that bolt pattern like that for that reason. i see what u mean by stress factors but whatever theyre grade 8 studs

[ff_drift_lol]

im just tryin to figure out if it's safe to put a spacer on top of an adapter!

[ff_drift_lol]

anyone? theyre grade 8 studs.

[cobrawannabe]

No, it is not particularly safe to do so. If you would like the two pieces welded together and blended to make one safe piece, let me know.

[cardoza]

If you're talking ab a 5mm spacer it's not a huge deal. But if you are talking a 20 or 25mm spacer then I would highly recommend reconsidering. Welding is another option but why not just order the size you need in the first place?

[Spooled]

Its just hard with these damn cobalt's cuz not many ppl do it so him being the 1st its hard to know, Trial and error i guess....

[horizons]

but why not just order the size you need in the first place?

Of course that's the best thing to do but it's not that easy.

It's hard to know exactly how much mm he will need.

If the adapter/spacer comes up a bit short he will have to add another spacer on top of that which i don't think he wants to do.

And those adapters/spacers cannot be returned since they are custom ordered.

[padraigmk3]

you're probably going to go through a lot of bearings if you're total offset ends up being grotesquely negative. it isn't necessarily a deal breaker, you'd just have to be willing to replace them more often

[hi its me alec]

Spacers on top of adapters is a pretty bad idea...

Sure it could end up being harmless in a year of driving around. Or... you could go flying off a bridge the first bad pothole you hit.

I need to buy adapters for my e30 and I'm going through the same issue - high offset corvette wheels. Just do your homework and calculations the same way anyone else does, should end up with the right number if you do it right. I'm actually scared to death of running 25-30mm bolt on adapters by themselves.

[4DGS]

Your bearings will be pooched in weeks.

[e36cruiser]

order the adapter and some spacers, bolt it up until you find what you like. Measure it... order the correct size adapter and then sell off the ones you bought.