My question has to do with the alignment of the wheel and the fender. I would like to bring my wheels out a bit so they line up a bit better with the body lines. I know that with regular wheel spacers, I would need longer studs, but my question is what if I make a set of spacers to go behind the hub? I have a rear brake kit, and the way it is designed (wilwood internal drum) I could easily make and fit a spacer between it and the original mounting point on the trailing arm/axle assembly on the car. What would this do to the strutctural integrity of the susensions and stuff though? Would this be a better idea then traditional wheel spacers (which I hate the site of) I know it would be a wise idea to get longer bolts and stuff which would not be a problem, other then that would this affect the integrity of the hub or the the way the wheel spins or anything?
I see this as a solution because I do not want to get different offset wheel. I still want to be able to rotate them as needed.
anyone? WOW i thought people would JUMP on this...lol
This idea is actually much better than a traditional spacer. With the traditional one, you put more stress on the unit bearing by moving the center of the wheel out. Similar to changing offset. This causes premature wear and failure of the bearing. By moving the actual bearing out, you aren't changing the relationship of the wheel to the bearing, so all the extra stress is placed on the bolts, which are rated. You could even go one step further and permanently attach the spacer to the axle, totally eliminating the extra stress placed on the bolts. IMO, go for it. Its what I'll be doing in the spring.
Cool Cool. I got the material already, maybe i will make a few sets and sell them then, so people dont have to get diff offset wheels to accomplish the same thing i am going to be doing...
what material are you using??/
that is going to be important for this application.
but why not just order staggered wheels?
I will be using 3/16th and 1/4 inch cold rold steel... although i was thinking about aluminum.....but the steel would be better no matter what..
I am making two sets to see what one i like more....i know a 16th of an inch isnt much, but ill see...
I am not ordering stagered wheels because i just bought new wheels and i want to be able to rotate as needed.
Shadowfire wrote:John Benham wrote:but why not just order staggered wheels?
EVOFire {DesertTuners} wrote:I still want to be able to rotate them as needed.
reading > me
what grade steel? I would use a high grade aluminum, or high grade steel. I would not get cheap stuff they sell at home depot or something.
Nope, this will come straight from the machine shop at my work. I work for Honeywell Aerospace. They "junk" 12 by 12 inch sections all the time..... for aluminum i was thinking 6061 t6, for steel probably 4140...i think the aluminum would be fine, and i could anodize that...so maybe aluminum it is...
Do u think this is something others would be interested in?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Friday, October 24, 2008 2:23 PM
i would depending on price. but. i do have to ask. why does it need to be such a strong steal. your just sandwiching it between 2 seperate parts. why couldnt you just use thick washers between the bolts to bring it out a little bit further????
it needs to be one solid properly machined piece...otherwise i wouldnt use it...lol...im probably gonna use 6061 aircraft grade aluminum instead....ill let you know...price wont be that bad as all material will be cheap or free....
Instead of making a new post I am going to add another question to this one....
Is there a PROPER way to roll fenders. With my new strut mounts and my rear setup, I have the car at the height I want it right now, but the fenders hit the tires
JUST barely....if I rolled them, the tire would tuck under full compression, and it would be EXACTLY what I want...My dad said to make a few relief cuts in the fender, and roll them with a piece of wood and a hammer... Yes!!, NO!! Whats everyones thoughts on this matter?
For rolling the fenders, you'll have to use a heat gun to heat up the paint so that the paint will actually stretch. This way, you won't have cracked paint.
You'll also have to do this in sections, working it section by section with small angles initially, and then adding more angle as you work your way back to the starting point.
Doing the IRS swap or adding spacers may warrant that you roll the fenders, especially if you're car is lowered with lowering springs.
I'll probably wind up rolling the rears because I'm using 25mm spacers for the rear and at times, the Prokits allows the tires to hit the fenders but not in a major way.
With more weight reduction that I've done and c/f trunk, this should be enough to keep me from having to roll the fenders.
But in trying to learn on what to do, I spent a couple of days researching the 'how to roll fenders' for the car.
So the above should be the way to go or you could spend about 300 bucks for a device that will roll the fenders for you but that to me is a bit much for something like this.
Oh and Wojo, using washers is not the way to go with doing this spacing on the back of the hubs.
Also if you use grade 8 bolts, I seriously doubt that there would be an issue with having to weld the plates to the hub or axle.
The bolts should hold with no issues or shearing possibilities.
Listening in for further information.
Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO! 
Well the fender roll idea is jsut to get the ball rolling. i can not to the spacer unless i roll the fenders. so i figured i would start there. i am gonna wait a while and work with what i have. the OEM solid mounts i put on and the gravana coilovers make the rear of my cara ton better then the stock mounts, and stiffen it up a lot so i dont have to worry about it reall. I moved yestereday and when my car was packed the fenders were rubbing on the tires over big bumps thats what got me interested in knowing.
You could probably engineer some camber into the spacers to alleviate the fender issue. Maybe 1 degree or so. You'd need to do out the math to see if it would fit.
i would be interested in aluminum wheel bearing spacer plates depending on prices
ʇı ɹǝʍo7 | ǝcoMonstǝrs
ok guys let me check some priceing and get a design drawn up and ill see what i can do...
How thick are you going to make them? I ask because you have to consider how the ABS wire plugs into the bearing. Offhand, I don't know how thick you can go without the plug hitting the axle. Maybe like 3/8"? You could always ditch the ABS entirely.....
i'd imagine since it fits through the hole anyway you can just plug it in then bolt it up because it would be counter-sunk into the spacer
ʇı ɹǝʍo7 | ǝcoMonstǝrs
i personally do not see what the problem with a nice billet aluminum wheel spacer other then the bearing issues that have been stated... other then that, what's your problem with them?
i like your idea though....
i haven't yet had to do anything with the rear brakes on either of my cav's so i am rather un-familiar with that area. i can remember some of what things look like and how they go together, but not much.
would your spacers work on a completely stock setup? neon rear disk swap?
i hate how the j-body rear tucks the wheels in further then the front, it not only irritates and annoys me but the sheer sight of it makes me cringe every time i see it. i've yet to try a spacer of my own to try and counter this though... there's something about adding a huge block of weight to the spinning mass that always steered me away from doing them...
z yaaaa wrote:i
i hate how the j-body rear tucks the wheels in further then the front, it not only irritates and annoys me but the sheer sight of it makes me cringe every time i see it. i've yet to try a spacer of my own to try and counter this though... there's something about adding a huge block of weight to the spinning mass that always steered me away from doing them...
I'm very happy with the rear spacers I'm using for the 'blu.
They're 6061 billet aluminum, 25mm or 1 inch, and weigh very little.
Although now that I've had them on the car for a while, I'd like to lessen the spacing by about 5mm. 20mm would be the ideal spacing for most aftermarket rims and stock.
My only concern for the spacing being behind the hubs would be that the holes would have to fit perfectly with no gap in the bolt holes. They also present the problem of some shifting which with the spacers outside the hub like I'm using would eliminate any of these problems. Plus, you have 5 bolts holding the spacers where the inside the hub spacing would only have 4. 5 would have less likely movement than 4 because of the design.
Either that or have some specially made offset wheels for the rear with stock offsets for the front.
Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO!
I think most of you are forgetting the most important part of why a space between the hub and axle is a bad idea.... ALIGNMENT. You're guaranteed to throw the alignment off with this idea, and unfortunately with the J body the only way to correct an alignment is with a full contact shim that would be put in that same exact place. Might be creating some serious issues for yourself there.
Now on the other hand, i'm not a fan of normal wheel spacers either. But to each their own. Just thought i would help you cover all your bases before you decide on what route you wanna go.
Quote:
I think most of you are forgetting the most important part of why a space between the hub and axle is a bad idea.... ALIGNMENT. You're guaranteed to throw the alignment off with this idea, and unfortunately with the J body the only way to correct an alignment is with a full contact shim that would be put in that same exact place. Might be creating some serious issues for yourself there.
how can this change alignment if the spacer is a machined flat piece- it would not change toe, camber or castor- just track width- ???????
