Wheel Spacers. 20mm or 25mm?????

[Xantom]

Are there any downsides to spacers? I'd like to widen the stance on my '15 GT 50th appearance wheels too.

Road debris getting thrown into your rear quarter panels. Premature bearing wear.

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[JayC]

Premature bearing wear.

Got anything to back up this claim or did you hear it on the interwebs?

 

[Xantom]

Got anything to back up this claim or did you hear it on the interwebs?

When I was doing research on them, before I bought mine, I can remember numerous people mentioned that you will get premature bearing wear. How much wear and how soon you will notice it, I have no idea ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Here is a video of someone explaining some of the dynamics of wheel spacers. Go to the 5:00 mark for the bit about how spacers affect your bearings. It makes sense to me, but I am not an engineer, and this is the first set of spacers I have ever used. My car is in my garage 99% of the time, and not my DD. For me it was an acceptable risk until I find a set of wheels that look good and aren't $2000 a wheel. So yes I did hear it on the interwebs

[ame]

 

[Fordever]

When I was doing research on them, before I bought mine, I can remember numerous people mentioned that you will get premature bearing wear. How much wear and how soon you will notice it, I have no idea ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Here is a video of someone explaining some of the dynamics of wheel spacers. Go to the 5:00 mark for the bit about how spacers affect your bearings. It makes sense to me, but I am not an engineer, and this is the first set of spacers I have ever used. My car is in my garage 99% of the time, and not my DD. For me it was an acceptable risk until I find a set of wheels that look good and aren't $2000 a wheel. So yes I did hear it on the interwebs

The guy in the video makes some interesting points. But, by his theory, it seems that a wheel with any offset could do the same thing. I am not sure I can buy into the theory that a slight offset will do much damage to my bearings under normal use.

But if he is right, if you buy rims with a positive offset, you would need spacers of the same offset installed to compensate for to offset wheel center.

So looking at the in below, you would need 1" spacer to prevent any damage?????:shrug:

I don't know much about spacers and offsetting, but I am quickly gathering information about it.

As you have stated, its an acceptable risk...

 

[JayC]

When I was doing research on them, before I bought mine, I can remember numerous people mentioned that you will get premature bearing wear. How much wear and how soon you will notice it, I have no idea ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Here is a video of someone explaining some of the dynamics of wheel spacers. Go to the 5:00 mark for the bit about how spacers affect your bearings. It makes sense to me, but I am not an engineer, and this is the first set of spacers I have ever used. My car is in my garage 99% of the time, and not my DD. For me it was an acceptable risk until I find a set of wheels that look good and aren't $2000 a wheel. So yes I did hear it on the interwebs]

Damn that video was hard to watch!!! :headbonk: I agree it's an acceptable risk. I have been owned and been around Mustangs longer than I want to admit and have never seen a bearing failure due to wheel spacers or wheel offset changes. I have the 1" Coyote spacers on the way with no worries.:cheers:

 

[Mustang_Lou]

All good points on the risks but I'm going to make the assumption that Ford engineers built into the bearing load rating the ability of an aftermarket wheel or spacer moving the wheels out to the edge of the fenders ... so about an inch.

Having said that, if I was tracking my car, I'd play it safe and take the spacers off. And not because I don't believe the bearings couldn't take it but because of the severe stress it'd put on the spacer lugs, which are not OEM.

My car's a weekend toy and not a DD so minor risk accepted as well!

 

[Fordever]

All good points on the risks but I'm going to make the assumption that Ford engineers built into the bearing load rating the ability of an aftermarket wheel or spacer moving the wheels out to the edge of the fenders ... so about an inch.

Having said that, if I was tracking my car, I'd play it safe and take the spacers off. And not because I don't believe the bearings couldn't take it but because of the severe stress it'd put on the spacer lugs, which are not OEM.

My car's a weekend toy and not a DD so minor risk accepted as well!

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[Dsquared]

If you have to cut the lugs, maybe you could put a die on the lug, cut it then turn the die back off it? I've heard people doing that with an open end lug nut.

Either way, best of luck. Sad you can't drive it for so long.

Agreed! 20 MM Eibach spacers here on PP wheels. I put lug nuts on the wheel studs first, measured and using a cutoff wheel, removed about 6mm off front and back wheels studs. I checked, then double checked to make sure clearance was good between pocket in the wheel and exposed stud. Cleaned them up with a file, then removed the lugs to further clean them up and painted the exposed end of the stud. When I installed spacers the lugs went right on without a problem. Personally, I think the 20 mm spacers are perfect. I didn't want any of the tire to extend beyond top fender lip. I also recommend swapping out the chrome lugs for Black Gorilla lugs, just because they look much better on the PP wheels..

 

[jbailer]

Agreed! 20 MM Eibach spacers here on PP wheels. I put lug nuts on the wheel studs first, measured and using a cutoff wheel, removed about 6mm off front and back wheels studs. I checked, then double checked to make sure clearance was good between pocket in the wheel and exposed stud. Cleaned them up with a file, then removed the lugs to further clean them up and painted the exposed end of the stud. When I installed spacers the lugs went right on without a problem. Personally, I think the 20 mm spacers are perfect. I didn't want any of the tire to extend beyond top fender lip. I also recommend swapping out the chrome lugs for Black Gorilla lugs, just because they look much better on the PP wheels..

You might be the one I was thinking of if you posted about that when you did it. I remember reading that. That sounds awesome and I agree 100% on the fitment. That extra 1/4" (5mm) would be perfect to set the tire just back far enough and still be aggressive.

If a die is available that might be better than a lug nut for cleaning up the threads. It sounds like you did a good job with the file though. My concern would be every time you go to put the lug nuts on, it would be awkward getting them started. I've never done it with lugs but I've cut off screws several times and always eventually replaced the screw with one the correct size.

 

[Dsquared]

Yeah, I got some great info off another thread, asked some questions and got good advice from you and others. Thanks for that!

True, a die would probably have been the best choice but I didn't have one on hand. Being very careful with the threads, in cleanup, my lugs went right on. Also, I found the pocket in my wheels to be 5mm deep, maybe slightly deeper on the front wheels. When I test fit the 20 mm spacers, the studs stuck out about 9-10 mm beyond the face of the spacer, hence cutting off 6 mm. While a mm here or there doesn't seem like much, one would be asking for trouble if they are not spot on with their fitment.

 

[Fordever]

I am probably beating this to death but......

My curiosity got the best of me and I started thinking about 20mm vs 25mm on my CS with OE wheel setup. My wheels are 8.5"X19 with 42mm offset and tires are 255-40-19. Mind you this is the CS setup and others are different.

I just went out in the garage and measured the thickness of a 2x4. It turned out to be 38mm. I cut it to height from top of wheel well to floor...approx 28"

I then propped the 2x4 flat against my rear wheel and measured the thickness of the 2x4 end sticking out from the top of the wheel well. It measured 18mm.

So by my math 38mm (full thickness)-18mm(distance measured from wheel well to edge of 2x4)=20mm. So by my calculations, a 20mm spacer would have brought the inside of the 2x4 perfectly flush with the top of the wheel well.

25mm would have brought the tire wall out by 5mm.:(

If you are a CS driver with the OE wheel setup and want a perfectly flush setup, 20mm's is the way to go....:clap2:

 

[AMChief5.0]

Is anyone running 20mm in rear with stock PP wheel and 25mm up front? If so, thoughts and did you have to cut/mod anything?

 

[Mustang_Lou]

So I recently bought the Coyote brand 4x25 mm spacers from American Muscle and with some mild'ish weather, finally got around to putting them on and taking some measurements.

The 25mm on the front where perfect but with the Pirelli's bulge they stuck out past the fender too much for my liking. I'd heard that 23mm was as small as you'd want to go in the rear. I did some measurements and that seemed to be the case but I thought I'd get the rear set milled down to 22mm. I figured I could always grind the top of the wheel studs 1 mm if I had too.

So I took my 2 rear spacers off and brought them to a machinist I know and he milled them down to 22mm for me. He had to press out the splined studs from the spacers to get the spacer on the lathe but that was a breeze. When they were done being lathed down, he pressed the studs back in and home I went to give it a go.

I cleaned the face of the hub with some 100 grit sandpaper and likewise the back of the rear wheels. I put a thin layer of anti-seize on the back of the spacers and on they went on 1 side for a test fit. Torqued the spacers to 120 ft-lbs and then the wheel onto the spacer at 150. Took the wheel off then to see what the pockets on the back of the wheel looked like and you can see the stud's left a mark on them so 23mm seems ideal IF you don't want to cut the stud or do what I ended up doing below.

First pic is the spacer on the wheel with the stock silver studs sticking out a bit.

2nd pic is the back of the wheel after I removed it showing the marks left in the wheel pockets.

3rd pic is what I did to allow the studs to seat themselves into the pocket safely (I drilled a small pocket within the pocket).

I still think 20mm is the perfect stance for the back on the Pirellis. However, my next set of tires will have a less bulgy sidewall so who knows ... I'll spend more time looking at it and decide if I want to try 20mm but deepen the mini-pockets I made.

So, for those of you running 20mm on PP wheels you've likely pressed the stock studs out the back of the hub by 3mm ... not sure I'd worry about that as the nuts will keep them on nice and tight regardless.

Anyway, curious to see what you do with your 20mm Fordever.

IMG_20170122_153057 by lbvsvt, on Flickr

IMG_20170122_154254 by lbvsvt, on Flickr

IMG_20170122_155048 by lbvsvt, on Flickr

 

[jbailer]

So I recently bought the Coyote brand 4x25 mm spacers from American Muscle and with some mild'ish weather, finally got around to putting them on and taking some measurements.

The 25mm on the front where perfect but with the Pirelli's bulge they stuck out past the fender too much for my liking. I'd heard that 23mm was as small as you'd want to go in the rear. I did some measurements and that seemed to be the case but I thought I'd get the rear set milled down to 22mm. I figured I could always grind the top of the wheel studs 1 mm if I had too.

So I took my 2 rear spacers off and brought them to a machinist I know and he milled them down to 22mm for me. He had to press out the splined studs from the spacers to get the spacer on the lathe but that was a breeze. When they were done being lathed down, he pressed the studs back in and home I went to give it a go.

I cleaned the face of the hub with some 100 grit sandpaper and likewise the back of the rear wheels. I put a thin layer of anti-seize on the back of the spacers and on they went on 1 side for a test fit. Torqued the spacers to 120 ft-lbs and then the wheel onto the spacer at 150. Took the wheel off then to see what the pockets on the back of the wheel looked like and you can see the stud's left a mark on them so 23mm seems ideal IF you don't want to cut the stud or do what I ended up doing below.

First pic is the spacer on the wheel with the stock silver studs sticking out a bit.

2nd pic is the back of the wheel after I removed it showing the marks left in the wheel pockets.

3rd pic is what I did to allow the studs to seat themselves into the pocket safely (I drilled a small pocket within the pocket).

I still think 20mm is the perfect stance for the back on the Pirellis. However, my next set of tires will have a less bulgy sidewall so who knows ... I'll spend more time looking at it and decide if I want to try 20mm but deepen the mini-pockets I made.

So, for those of you running 20mm on PP wheels you've likely pressed the stock studs out the back of the hub by 3mm ... not sure I'd worry about that as the nuts will keep them on nice and tight regardless.

Anyway, curious to see what you do with your 20mm Fordever.

Great info and validation. Just a heads up, you're torquing the wheels to the adapters too much. Read the chart on the side of the Coyote box. You should only be torquing the wheels to about 95 lb ft. Be careful or you'll strip those adapters.

 

[Mustang_Lou]

Thanks but the booklet in the box actually says "30 ft-lbs" believe it or not so I don't trust that. Although further down the booklet is a chart with varying torque specs depending on the lug diameter. I didn't measure the cars lug diameter so can't comment on what it'd be.

Having said that, 150 seems aok after taking the wheel off and on a few times. No issues and the spacer lugs appear made of a harder steel then the OEM ones actually.

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