Thread: wheel spacers

Originally Posted by shad

does anyone know why these are illegal on roadyou would think with the extra width you get they would actually make the 4x4 more stable.as long as the wheels dont stick out from the gards etc.

(a) one extra thing to fail
(b) more than 50 mm track increase on a solid axle 4x4 is illegal.
(c) most are made of aluminium

Why not just change the offset of your rims?

I don't know, but I expect it is the result of some being poorly made and resulting in the loss of a wheel, possibly just a single really bad accident. Quite a few rules come about from this sort of history - the accident does not even have to be in Australia!

The improvement in stability from the small amount of extra track you can gain from them would rarely be significant. The usual reason for wanting to fit them is to maintain turning circle with wider than standard tyres rather than looking for improvements in stability.

John

It transfers the stress on the stud further from where the stud is fixed to the hub. Extra leverage, (like putting a pipe on a spanner) may over stress the stud, encouraging failure.

BTW most stud failures are caused by overtensioning, ie rattle guns.

I dont know about Tassie, but to the best of my knowledge, wheel spacers are illegal in QLD - unless fitted by the manufacturer. The only example of this I can recall is the XU1 Torana front end.

Paul

Potential overloading of the studs and bearings and possibly stub axle I suspect.

Funny that TUV approved ones are OK for Europe and the UK, and they are usually pretty fussy on mods

Some Porsches also run spacers...

As mentioned the wheel/load is transferred to the stud rather than the hub.


Matt.

Originally Posted by mudmouse

Some Porsches also run spacers...

As mentioned the wheel/load is transferred to the stud rather than the hub.
Matt.

They are illegal in Qld. I had set of 50mm ones made up, the guy would only make them in cast iron. He had tried Al and steel and had failures. They were machined on the inner side to centre on the hub, and, on the outer so the wheel centred on them. They bolted on the origional wheel studs and had their own studs to take the wheel. They worked well but very heavy. Don't use them anymore.

Originally Posted by 51jay

They are illegal in Qld.

They are illegal in every state of Australia unless factory fitted (AFAIK)