LScowboyLS

my favorite cheap shop press
[Mod Edit]^Harbor Freight 20-ton Shop Press [/Mod Edit]

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

Exactly!
I hate it when people say spacers wear out wheel bearings. They only do if the centerline of the wheel in relation to the centerline of the bearing changes dramatically compared to stock. Running wide, low offset wheels does the exact same thing and running gangster camber on top of that makes it worse.

python

iTrader: (4)

Torque= radiusxforce.....better do some research before u speak. its basic physics

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

<= is in engineering, now 15 years as a master automotive tech, built race cars for the past 12years... I've done mountains of "research" with practical applications, while working with industry experts. Recently working with one of the world leaders in bearing design on a number of projects.

While torque = distance • force, the suggestion that spacers cause wheel bearing failures is false.

If you keep force through the theoretical bearing centerline, then spacer or not it does not matter. If you put the force outside the theoretical bearing centerline then you have problems. It's that simple.
If you spread the load over a larger area (wider wheel) but the point force stays within the bearings effective point load range from that theoretical centerline then you won't have problems. Issues arise when you deviate from this. But you can deviate from this with wheels alone, and then CORRECT it with spacers. You can also obviously make it worse with just spacers.

But to say "spacers will destroy wheel bearings" is simply false, just like the statement "guns kill people."
It's the idiot using the tool that causes the problem, not the tool.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

So does the age of the bearing play a part in premature failure when using a spacer?

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

Sure, if you have crappy old bearings and you space the stock wheels out by 50mm or something you are going to have issues, probably pretty quickly too.

But if you are putting on aftermarket wheels that are 15mm inside the ideal theoretical centreline and need 15mm spacers to make it look good then there won't be that much problem...

It's not a simple matter of yes/no like some make it sound, there are lots of things to consider. You can usually figure it out roughly yourself if you know the specs on the new wheels and the stock wheels. If you have a detailed understanding of physics, loads and forces involved and the specs on the bearings, you can get exact answers. But changes in huge roll centre, camber and CG will all change the answer.


In general, it is best to maintain the clearance between inside edge of the wheel and the knuckle/strut/shock (back spacing) compared to stock. Stock leaves a lot of room for tire deflection, but with larger diameter wheels and stiffer tires, you can get really tight to the knuckle. In most cases, if you are adding width, you want to do it as evenly to either side of the stock wheel centreline as possible. Obviously this is not always possible so getting your fitment as tight to the inside should always be the goal BEFORE adding excessive width to the outside.

This adds its own set of issues..

Realistically there is no one definitive answer. Just do what you want to do and deal with the issues when they arise, just don't do anything stupid like put the stock wheels at the end of a 50mm spacer!

python

iTrader: (4)

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=59143
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...aring-Question
http://www.e46fanatics.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=704679
obviously smaller spacer wont have the effect of larger ones..

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

Realistically everything outside of stock will cause bearing issues, it's just a matter of how much, how fast and if it's correctable or not

When a manufacture specs a bearing everything is accounted for, wheel weight, wheel Width, wheel height, corner loads, differential loads, centrifugal loads, how naturally occurring alignment changes lather those, harmonics the wheel, brakes, literally everything you can think is a factor. Any deviation from that recipe will change the result.

May as well chalk it up to you have to pay to play...

python

iTrader: (4)

agreed..some never have bearing issues..while others do.