What Spacers for stock 17" wheel set-up ?
#1
Lexus Test Driver
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Can anyone tell me what size spacers would work best for a Stock wheel and tire set-up ( 17's ) with a conservative drop ( Springs )?
Does anyone have pics?
Winter is coming and I will be going back to the stock wheels and tires, but I'd like to fill the wheel well up a bit.
Thanks in advance...
Does anyone have pics?
Winter is coming and I will be going back to the stock wheels and tires, but I'd like to fill the wheel well up a bit.
Thanks in advance...
#2
Lexus Champion
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I'm on Eibach springs with stock 18's and running 15mm front and 20mm rear spacers.
Here are pics of my set-up...
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=371272
Here are pics of my set-up...
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=371272
#3
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
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I'm on Eibach springs with stock 18's and running 15mm front and 20mm rear spacers.
Here are pics of my set-up...
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=371272
Here are pics of my set-up...
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=371272
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#5
Lexus Test Driver
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#6
Lexus Champion
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The total weight of my 4 spacers are less than 10 lbs. Adding more weight can't be a good thing for performance, so I will say it does but very minimally.
Also, as a result of the widen stance from adding spacers, the vehicle's stability and handling is slightly improved.
So to me, the looks and benefits are worth any loss in performance.
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#9
Lexus Test Driver
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Technical Question:
Wouldn't adding such wheel spacers will hurt the performance?
- You are adding more weight in the center inner portion of each wheel hence it requires more power to turn.
- The further the distance between the two wheels the more power it will require to deliver power to the ground.
This is a bad thing, guys... Our stock wheels are pretty heavy. Ya might want to reconsider (to those who care about performance). Well, it might not be as bad if the spacer is thin (0.5 inch) and made of full titanium...
This is why I don't use any wheel spacers. This also brings up the question, aerodynamics. The more gap there is between the wheel well and the wheel/tire the more air could be trapped. I don't know how much it can be affected.
Comments?
.
Wouldn't adding such wheel spacers will hurt the performance?
- You are adding more weight in the center inner portion of each wheel hence it requires more power to turn.
- The further the distance between the two wheels the more power it will require to deliver power to the ground.
This is a bad thing, guys... Our stock wheels are pretty heavy. Ya might want to reconsider (to those who care about performance). Well, it might not be as bad if the spacer is thin (0.5 inch) and made of full titanium...
This is why I don't use any wheel spacers. This also brings up the question, aerodynamics. The more gap there is between the wheel well and the wheel/tire the more air could be trapped. I don't know how much it can be affected.
Comments?
.
#10
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Technical Question:
Wouldn't adding such wheel spacers will hurt the performance?
- You are adding more weight in the center inner portion of each wheel hence it requires more power to turn.
- The further the distance between the two wheels the more power it will require to deliver power to the ground.
This is a bad thing, guys... Our stock wheels are pretty heavy. Ya might want to reconsider (to those who care about performance). Well, it might not be as bad if the spacer is thin (0.5 inch) and made of full titanium...
This is why I don't use any wheel spacers. This also brings up the question, aerodynamics. The more gap there is between the wheel well and the wheel/tire the more air could be trapped. I don't know how much it can be affected.
Comments?
.
Wouldn't adding such wheel spacers will hurt the performance?
- You are adding more weight in the center inner portion of each wheel hence it requires more power to turn.
- The further the distance between the two wheels the more power it will require to deliver power to the ground.
This is a bad thing, guys... Our stock wheels are pretty heavy. Ya might want to reconsider (to those who care about performance). Well, it might not be as bad if the spacer is thin (0.5 inch) and made of full titanium...
This is why I don't use any wheel spacers. This also brings up the question, aerodynamics. The more gap there is between the wheel well and the wheel/tire the more air could be trapped. I don't know how much it can be affected.
Comments?
.
And the further the 2 wheels becomes from each other has nothing to do with how much power is being put to the ground, I have no idea where that came from. The power is transferred to the wheels via gearing inside the LSD that changes rotation of crank from one axis onto rotation via another axis.
#11
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Well, the first part you mentioned, yes, you're correct about the physics, and yes the spacer will have less inertia than a heavier wheel since the spacer is very close to the center point of rotation. [did you happen to go to wikipedia and copy n paste?
]. But still, the spacers add weight and will require more power to turn the wheels. The difference in performance would be very small though especially for an half inch thick spacer...
As for the second part, the further the distance between the two opposite wheels (by adding spacers for example) the more power would be lost to the ground. Anything you add, can only make it harder. Think of it this way... try swinging a short 6 inch wood stick. Put down the stick and go grab a 3 foot wood stick and try swing it. Which one required you more power to swing?
Did you feel more resistance? Hell yah.![Stick Out Tongue](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/tongue.gif)
Maybe I'm just going too paranoid. I'm real picky in this regard and do not want anything that hurts performance. I have experienced this in the past and learned as I go along. Once again, the performance hit in this regard would be very minor. If I were you guys I would just get a super-light set of Volk RE30 wheels and be done with. No spacers needed.![Stick Out Tongue](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/tongue.gif)
.
![Stick Out Tongue](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/tongue.gif)
As for the second part, the further the distance between the two opposite wheels (by adding spacers for example) the more power would be lost to the ground. Anything you add, can only make it harder. Think of it this way... try swinging a short 6 inch wood stick. Put down the stick and go grab a 3 foot wood stick and try swing it. Which one required you more power to swing?
![Smilie](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
![Stick Out Tongue](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/tongue.gif)
Maybe I'm just going too paranoid. I'm real picky in this regard and do not want anything that hurts performance. I have experienced this in the past and learned as I go along. Once again, the performance hit in this regard would be very minor. If I were you guys I would just get a super-light set of Volk RE30 wheels and be done with. No spacers needed.
![Stick Out Tongue](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/tongue.gif)
.
![Stick Out Tongue](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/tongue.gif)
The swinging stick method need not apply since different forces are being applied in the case of swinging a stick, and rotating a stick. Swinging a longer stick will feel harder (ignoring the fact that the stick might bend) is trying to move a large object around its pivot point by pushing on the pivot point (etc opening a door by pushing on the hinges).
I can tell you that it takes roughly the same force rotate a full length chopsticks and a half length chop stick axial wise. The only effect on torque due to load for a rotational system is (other than inefficiencies) is exactly torque due to load... the load of the wheels, the load of the shaft etc.
So feel free to get them spacers for a sicker stance, I can give you approximation forumlas for motor and the steady state final speed w in rpm, and for a motor of 300hp, you will reach exactly same rpm about 0.001 seconds slower. Say 4600 rpm is when maximum torque is reached, that means with spacers you will reach maximum torque exactly 0.001 second slower than a stock car given that you both accelerate at the same time.
Last edited by mikez; 10-21-08 at 10:34 AM.
#12
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That is correct, Carbon fiber although strong, has a low modulus, strained and stressed enough time and suddenly you might find your carbon fiber gearbox and flywheels snap off like how that plane crashed over NY a long time ago, the entire carbon fiber rear stabilizer just fell off due to over stress.
#13
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Wow. Engineers and stuff. Nobody mentioned the two biggest issues with spacers - stud failure and bearing failure.
Increasing rotating mass? Sure a tiny bit. Increasing unsprung weight? YEP. 10 lbs worth. Expect a small loss of ride quality with the additional weight the suspension wasn't designed to handle. But most guys putting on spacers are concerned about visual performance, not mechanical performance anyway which is why I generally don't comment on anything related to bippu or VIP. This is my only post about fashion mods.
So, from an engineering perspective, you're changing the stress on the wheel studs which has been reported to cause sudden failure, and you're changing the stress on the wheel bearings which has also been known to cause sudden failure. The thicker the spacer, the more you amplify the stress on the studs and the wheel bearings.
The rest of the arguments are pretty esoteric (altered scrub radius, altered suspension geometry, change in effective spring rate, etc.), and again, fashion mods aren't my thing so I generally don't concern myself with threads like this. And spacers are most assuredly a fashion mod. But I was asked for an opinion, so here it is. No need to flame, I'm not going to respond.
Increasing rotating mass? Sure a tiny bit. Increasing unsprung weight? YEP. 10 lbs worth. Expect a small loss of ride quality with the additional weight the suspension wasn't designed to handle. But most guys putting on spacers are concerned about visual performance, not mechanical performance anyway which is why I generally don't comment on anything related to bippu or VIP. This is my only post about fashion mods.
So, from an engineering perspective, you're changing the stress on the wheel studs which has been reported to cause sudden failure, and you're changing the stress on the wheel bearings which has also been known to cause sudden failure. The thicker the spacer, the more you amplify the stress on the studs and the wheel bearings.
The rest of the arguments are pretty esoteric (altered scrub radius, altered suspension geometry, change in effective spring rate, etc.), and again, fashion mods aren't my thing so I generally don't concern myself with threads like this. And spacers are most assuredly a fashion mod. But I was asked for an opinion, so here it is. No need to flame, I'm not going to respond.
#14
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So, from an engineering perspective, you're changing the stress on the wheel studs which has been reported to cause sudden failure, and you're changing the stress on the wheel bearings which has also been known to cause sudden failure. The thicker the spacer, the more you amplify the stress on the studs and the wheel bearings.
I don't know about the wheel bearing since I have no idea what extra force is being added on there
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#15
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The centerline of the wheel is in the same plane as the centerline of the wheel bearing with stock wheels. Using a spacer offsets the centerline of the wheel, so you no longer have equal lateral loading on the wheel bearing. Bearings are rated by service life at a given force. Moving the centerline of the wheel 20mm makes a HUGE difference to the wheel bearing's service life.
When I say centerline, think wheel offset as if you were slicing the wheel vertically between the beads on the rim.
Shear is not the only stress on a wheel and hub. There is considerable stress imparted by cornering - the forces are measured in tonnes. You don't seem to be considering the dynamic state of what the wheel does, and the leverage caused by the changes made when you add a spacer to the equation. The studs won't break while the car is sitting still. They'll break in the middle of a hard turn - probably the worst possible time.
When I say centerline, think wheel offset as if you were slicing the wheel vertically between the beads on the rim.
Shear is not the only stress on a wheel and hub. There is considerable stress imparted by cornering - the forces are measured in tonnes. You don't seem to be considering the dynamic state of what the wheel does, and the leverage caused by the changes made when you add a spacer to the equation. The studs won't break while the car is sitting still. They'll break in the middle of a hard turn - probably the worst possible time.
Last edited by lobuxracer; 10-22-08 at 09:02 AM.