Unbiased: Are Wheel Spacers Safe? (Pros And Cons Included)

If you’re into car modifications, you’ve probably heard about adding wheel spacers. While many people consider the extra clearance a risky factor, in reality, are wheel spacers safe? Today, Driverevolve will answer that and list some pros and cons for your consideration. 

What Do Wheel Spacers Do? 

Unlike coilover and lowering springs which help lower your vehicle, a wheel spacer is a simple accessory fastened to the bolts of a car’s wheels to increase the clearance from its tires to its hubs. 

This extra clearance they provide helps protect your wheel inner lining, braking system, and shock absorbers from damage caused by your wheels and tires grinding against them.

These spacers fit between your hub flanges and your wheel flanges, pushing your wheels out even more. You may install spacers on either your frontal or your back axles, but which you choose depends on the make and model of your automobile, as well as the dimensions of the wheels you plan to use.

5 Pros Of Using Wheel Spacers 

Improved Traction And Grip

Wheels with more space between them and the hub casing have improved grip and traction. Do wheel spacers improve the performance of SUVs and other 4×4 automobiles? Sure, they enhance traction and grip, making them ideal for 4×4 vehicles.

They allow for better efficiency, which is especially important when turning. Many racing drivers put wheel spacers on their vehicles specifically for this purpose. Yet, invest in a high-quality spacer if you plan to use them for races.

Easy Installation

Any vehicle owner or driver should have no trouble putting on wheel spacers. In fact, it’s as simple as inserting a new wheel. 

You only need a few everyday household items to set it up in your garage, auto repair facility, or even on the sidewalk. A wheel spacer only takes 10 to 15 mins to rig up, so you can complete it in your leisure time any day.

Increased Aesthetic Value

Adding wheel spacers to your ride is a popular modification many car lovers do for purely stylistic reasons. Wheel spacers could be aesthetically attractive and impressive in many settings. 

Look at the pictures below to see how your car’s appearance changes before and after wheel spacers are installed. 

Installation Of A Bigger Brake Kit

Wheel spacers will provide extra room for a larger braking system if you’re having trouble locating an OEM unit for your car.

It will be challenging to put a wider brake kit onto your standard rim because most of them are designed for wheels that are 17 inches in diameter or greater. This solution might not work for you, but it’s still worth looking at.

Proper Wheel Fitment

More and more drivers, for various reasons, are switching their focus to installing customized tires and personalized wheels.

Because of this trend, a few customers purchase wheels with incorrect offsets, which poses difficulties with the vehicle’s suspensions and structure. Putting in wheel spacers is the cheapest and simplest solution to fitting problems, notably for sports cars, pickups, or off-road vehicles. 

3 Cons Of Using Wheel Spacers

Premature Component Wears

Premium original equipment (OEM) wheels are built to last and work admirably with the car they were designed for. However, the operating stress on your suspension unit parts increases when the car’s wheelbase increases. This causes components like axles, ball bearings, and tires to deteriorate faster than they usually do.

Heavier Steering

Adding wheel spacers might make it more challenging to maneuver, depending on their diameter and weight. Because of the larger turning radius demanded by your longer wheelbase, handling the vehicle will be more difficult.

Once again, the diameter of the spacers employed will determine this. Wheel spacers under 1 inch won’t affect your driving, but those of 2 and 3 inches might.

Wheel Vibration 

Manufacturers strive to make every car comfortable to travel in and easy to maneuver. They manage that by ensuring that the frontal geometry of all their vehicles is ideal; thus if you add wheel spacers, things might be a bit different. 

Intense wheel shaking is a common side effect of using aftermarket parts like wheel spacers on a vehicle. Still, it’s not the only reason your wheel shakes; therefore, contact a mechanic if you notice car tremors.  

Are Wheel Spacers Safe?

For Everyday Driving 

They are risk-free when properly fitted and may even improve your vehicle’s safety in some ways.

After placing spacers on an axle, the wheel’s path will widen. As a result, you’ll have a better scrub radius, which may offer more safety while turning.

While this isn’t a huge advantage for daily driving, the benefits remain. You’ll feel the difference in the mountains.

Even though this isn’t a significant perk for everyday driving, it does have certain advantages. Mountains are where you’ll notice the difference the most.

For Race Tracks 

You should utilize hub-centric spacers instead of lug-centric versions on the racetrack. Extra stress from racing around the tracks at higher velocities can tear off lug-centric spacers, posing a severe safety risk.

For Trucks 

Their lightweight design makes them ideal for application on small cars; however, what happens when they are fitted to heavier vehicles like trucks?

This is another case where the answer is conditional on the specific spacer in question. Although lug-centric spacers might buckle under the added load, hub-centric wheel ones are up to the task.

4 Different Types Of Wheel Spacers

While several varieties exist, the 4 most popular are:

• bolt-on hub-centric
• bolt-on lug centric (floating)
• slip-on hub-centric
• slip-on lug centric (floating)

The load distribution of several options determines which ones are better for your car.

Bolt-On Spacers

As the name implies, bolt-on spacers fasten to your hub using bolts. Bolt-on wheel spacers offer many benefits, including that you rarely need to think about your wheel screws being too short.

Furthermore, the installation of bolt-on spacers is significantly closer than that of slip-on ones. Owing to the need for a more precise fitting, bolt-on spacers are often made for a particular make and model of car and work with the preexisting bolts.

Nut-and-bolt-on-spacer assemblies screw directly to your hubs, and the wheels are then fastened to the spacers. The standard range of adjustment is 20 mm or greater.

Hub-Centric Bolt-On Spacers

Hub-centric bolt-on wheel spacers on your car are safe and function just like standard wheels.

They feature a rim that goes around your car’s hub and is bolted on, ensuring that your wheel screws can slip right on. This redistributes the force back to the center, which is the most solid part of the wheel.

Lug-Centric (Floating) Bolt-On Spacers

Similarly, lug-centric bolt-on spacers go straight to the bolts on your axles. While they still feature a stud pattern for the car’s lug nuts, they lack the rim found on hub-centric ones, which transfers all of the car’s pressure to the center.

Instead, that pressure is transferred straight to your car’s wheel bolts. This type of spacer can be risky since the manufacturers did not develop their lug nuts to support a whole load of your vehicle — they designed the hubs to do so.

As a countermeasure, some companies providing wheel spacers also produce lug-centric or “floating” versions of their products, which you can install on automobiles with thinner axles.

Smaller cars may be able to withstand the additional load on the studs, but it’s not worth risking.

In addition, it could be challenging to align such a spacer on the axle. In most cases, you won’t sense this until you’re going over 60 miles per hour.

There is a workaround involving wheel-centering pieces, but we recommend buying a spacer.

Slip-On Spacers

Slip-on wheel spacers are the easiest to set up of the several types of wheel spacers. They simply slip over your existing bolts, allowing you to reattach your wheels without removing any lug nuts.

FAQs 

Wrapping Up 

Are wheel spacers safe? No doubt. They are risk-free if properly fitted. 

However, consider the number of spacers and choose the right type for different purposes for the best effects. You should also refer to your specific region’s laws before installing extra spacers – they might be illegal in some jurisdictions.

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