Wheel Spacers Pros and Cons

The wheel spacers come as an aftermarket component that has one goal: moving your wheels away from the body of your vehicle. They’re an easy and cheap upgrade that can provide both street-oriented cars as well as off-roaders.

What are Spacers on Wheels Do? Spacers Do?

Wheel spacers fit onto the wheel assembly. Through slotting between the wheel and the assembly the spacers create an opening which places the wheel further out. This expands the space between the hub structure and wheel. It is important to remember that spacers do not move the hub assembly; they simply shift the wheels. The result is a wider space between the wheel as well as the wheel well.

The advantages of having wheel spacers also make them a favorite option for people who are in the off-road and street scenes. Wheel spacers can only be found as an aftermarket component and aren’t pre-installed on any vehicle.

Wheel spacers range from 5mm (0.20 inches) at the narrow end, to approximately 45mm (1.75 inches) or more. The larger sizes are typical for off-road vehicles.

Wheel Spacer pros and cons

While they generally offer benefits but there are some things to think about before you put the wheel spacers.

Wheel Spacers: Pros and Cons

Pros

Improved Handling

One of the most important benefits of a wheel spacer for drivers who are performance-oriented is better handling. Through extending the distance between both wheels the vehicle is more secure. This enhances the overall handling, grip and turning.

Allows for wider/larger wheels or tire sizes (without Rubbing)

For cars that are designed for road use wheel spacers allow owners to put on wider tires for extra traction and better handling. Off-roaders typically choose tires that are higher than the stock ones. Without spacers, the tires may cause friction with wheel wells or flares of the fender.

The addition of larger wheels could be another motive to buy spacers. Drivers usually opt to use bigger rear wheels the car, and that’s why certain wheel spacer sets come with an extra pair of wheels to the rear or are sold in a set with rear wheels only.

Allows for larger Brake Calipers

Performance brakes tend to be bigger than stock brakes. The wheel spacer can make room for a larger caliper which could not fit in the factory wheel space.

Gives Vehicle a Unique Stance/Look

No matter if you’re a fav or not, it’s not going to be said that wheel spacers alter the look of a car. Small spacers can make your wheels into line with original fender flares that some find appealing. Spacers that are aggressive will give your vehicle more of an aftermarket look and create a design that is distinct from the stock vehicle. Buy your VW T5 wheel spacers at Just German Parts…

Cheap

A set of quality four wheel spacers will cost about a hundred pounds. With the huge impact they have on performance and appearance the spacers are a good value for your dollar. There aren’t many aftermarket upgrades that offer this much of a difference in dollars.

Easy to Install

Wheel spacers are easy to put on. It’s about the same as installing the wheel on a new. You can complete the task at home in your garage or in your driveway using a few basic tools. Every wheel is blasted out in around 15 minutes, which makes this an easy project to do on all days of the week.

Cons

Steering Efficiency Increased

The better handling offered by wheel spacers has a drawback that is a greater effort to steer. When the wheels are further from each other, it requires more input from the steering wheel for the tires to turn. This is because of the greater radius of the tire’s scrub or degree of angle that the steering wheel axis is to the tires. The effects are most noticeable when driving at lower speed. But, with modern power steering technology, this disadvantage is easy to ignore.

Reduced Quality of Ride

The engineers who built your car did an amazing job of optimizing it right from the beginning. But the addition of spacers puts things out of balance. Being able to set the wheels further from their suspension components will result in less performance on the road. The bigger the distance between the wheels and the more detrimental the effect on comfort.

More wear on suspension components.

Because the wheels are further in relation to the automobile, greater tension is put upon the suspension. With a more pronounced design, parts like the wheel bearings wear faster.

Are Wheel Spacers safe?

If installed correctly, top-quality wheel spacers are extremely safe. However, using wheels that aren’t protected in fenders and the wheel wells could be considered not legal in your locale. The codes for vehicles are created to reduce the risk of rocks or debris hitting pedestrians or drivers. You should check your local laws to find out what regulations are in place.

As previously mentioned wheel spacers also cause suspension components to wear faster. This can cause problems over time however, it’s not inherently dangerous.

Sometime, the wheel spacers could make your tires rub the other side. In lieu of your tire’s inside edge hitting the flare of your fender the outside edge may rub against it. This is based on the design of the wheel wells. If your tires rub even after you’ve installed spacers it’s a sign that something is wrong and should not be overlooked.

Wheel Spacers against Wheel adapters

Wheel adapters and wheel spacers appear similar and are connected in numerous ways. Wheel spacers can be used to push a wheel to the side. This is for performance as well as aesthetic motives. Wheel adapters can also be used as spacers due to their design. They provide a further benefit by altering the lug nut design of wheels. This allows the owner of a vehicle to purchase new wheels that they like.

For instance, someone who has four-lug wheels could use an adapter for five-lug wheels. They could also alter their five-bolt pattern from 5×4.5 to 5×4.5 to 5×5. This will allow them to fit aftermarket wheels that would otherwise not be compatible.

Although each has its own advantage, wheel spacers as well as adapters can sometimes be put together into a single product. At a cost that is comparable to standard wheel spacers you can purchase an adapter kit for your wheel spacer. It will allow you to space your wheels, and allow you to modify how bolts are arranged in a single swipe.