SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

Guys,

Any of you that have used spacers to add big brakes, how did the car drive afterwards?

Did you get increased tramlining afterwards?

What type of spacers did you use?

Did you get increased vibrations in the wheels?

Was it more difficult to turn the steering wheel?

Thanks,

Ryan

Sleeper97

i had 5mm spacers on the volks to make the rims more flush against the car, but i didnt like the spacers. It made the car feel less stable and caused vibrations at speeds over 65mph. I dont think i would use spacers again.

SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

Were they hub-centric spacers?

Neo

iTrader: (3)

I doubt it. I don't know of any 5mm spacers that retain hubcentricity.

jeremyp111

H&R 5mm spacers do. If you don't use a centered spacer, like the cheapo spacers at the auto parts stores for $10, then it will cause problems. I used the H&R 5mm spacers on a set of ADR Kasai's with the LS400 calipers and I didn't notice any problems or difference in the handling of the car.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Really? Is this new? I know a few people with H&R 5mm ones and they don't come with the lip to mount the wheels.

JTJerryls400

more road imperfection are feel on steering wheels, no harder turns or another sensations. Only more road imperfection can be feelig on stering wheel. perhaps is for added unsprung weight (my 22 mm spacers are from steel not from alu for durability)

Car brakes MUCH MUCH better than before.

Jerry

jeremyp111

The H&R 5mm spacers are centered on the bore of the hub and also leave enough of the stock hub exposed for a hub centric ring to fit. A little grease on the ring helps. The most important thing is for the spacer to be centered on the hub to keep the weight balanced. Cheap spacers that don't sit centered will cause vibrations because it won't be balanced. Most aftermarket wheels are lug centric so a hub lip isn't that important.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

OK. This makes more sense but it still does not make the 5mm H&R spacers retain hub-centricity for a rim. You will need a matching hub centric ring to do so (like you said).

I agree that weight distribution is important but I think the lip is. I personally will not buy a rim that cannot be made hub-centric, either as part of the design or via a ring, with the former being preferred. Without that lip on the hub, the rim hub-centricity becomes useless. The star technique to tighten lugs helps but I would still rather have it centered physically. Of course, this is just my preference.

London Bill

Fitting spacers has to be done with some regard for the wheel offset, despite some who say it dont matter, adding track width with spacers (in effect reducing the wheel offset) alters the steering/handling.

5mm may not sound like a lot but if your flash wheels are already reduced in offset (less than 50mm) then adding spacers will be askng for trouble.

Fitting spacers or wheels which do not have concentric location is even worse! I have seen several sets of alloys fitted to cars with either no spigot rings or simply oversize, no way on earth will these wheels run true on the hub.

stevechumo

iTrader: (5)

This is my hands-on experience. I'm using 1/4" spacers on the front and 1/2" on the rear. The spacers that I'm using are custom machine cut which cost $65/piece. Each spacer is made by aluminum and has a hub centric ring on it. This ring centers right on the hub. The hub centric ring is a must; or the wheels will cause vibration, or the wheel studs might break. By using these spacers, I totally eliminated the vibration caused from the hub centric rings come with the aftermarket rims. With these spacers, the ride and total handling have improved to its best in my opinion. I did 130 mph on a curved 210 E freeway with no problem. However, I had to use longer wheel studs to fit them. I used Kragen studs(each costs $2.49) for the front and ARP IS300 studs(each costs $9) for the rear. The total parts cost $114.9 plus $200 labor. I had to ask for help from a friend from a Toyota dealer, then he had to ask another 3 mechanics to help him pull out the rear hubs. The rear hubs are stuck so bad. It's becaue my car has 130,000 miles on it. I didn't save money by using the ARP studs, so I recommend that you contact some TRD online stores to get some studs from the Supra. The stock SC stud size is: 14.20 mm(knurl diameter), 11.27 mm(shoulder length), and 43 mm(underhead length). Basically, all Toyota & Lexus use the same diameter, except the length or some SUV. They'll come from England for around $65 per 20 studs. If you use 1" spacers, then you don't need extra studs because the studs are installed on the spacers. Before I had these spacers, I thought the vibration came from the wheels are off balance. But I found out that the vibration came from the cheap hub centric rings that I bought with the aftermarket rims. Don't use cheap $10 spacers or you'll regret later. You can find more info at www. wheeladapter.com. They can custom make any thickness of spacers for you. If you're around L.A. area, they're near you. If you contact them, please tell them that the guy with a black 1995 Lexus SC refered. I'm not sure but perhaps they can give you some discounts.

stevechumo

iTrader: (5)

You're right. After using the spacers, the car has to be realigned. It's because the SC has a differential which makes the wheels tilted in when going straight and tilted out when cornering.

London Bill

Re-alignment will not cater for or cure the effects of reducing the wheel offset (by using spacers or shallow offset rims).

The steering design includes an angle called "scrub radius" changes in the wheel offset also changes the scrub radius angle, this will alter the way the car steers and handles. Alignment cannot cure this.

The suspension and steering are designed to work in unison to create the handling characteristics of the car, any deviation from the factory settings causes changes in the handling. As the body rolls in cornering the suspension/steering angles change, it is this design which attempts to keep the wheel in the best position during this period hence the wheels lean in/out during cornering and body roll.

Incidentally, the in-board rear differential which is fixed to the rear axle cage, plays no part in the suspension geometry.