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wheel spacers.... 1.5 or 1.25?

Covinog

Covinog

1️⃣ Getting Started...
will the 1.5 inch wheel spacers put too much stress on my wheel hub? I want the offset look of the 1.5's but I hear that the 1.25 are better on the hub? I wonder, only because its a quarter of an inch difference between the 2? I think I'm going to go with the Extreme Terrain 1.5 inch wheel and hub centric spacers, but before i pull the trigger i wanted to put it on this forum to get some feedback. has anyone installed these wheel spacers on their Tacoma? how do you like them?

as always, i thank you for any and all info.
 
MJ'sTacoma said:
Personally I hate and am incredibly scared of spacers, Ive been running spacers because of clearance issues for 2 weeks now and I order a whole new set of wheels because I feel like im going to die driving.... lol
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i know what you mean. iv heard that they can cause issues down the road on the wheel hub. i just purchased the 33's with a 20 inch rim and don't have the money to redo my wheels and tires, and I HATE the fact that my new truck and new tires rub! so i was looking into the spacers. IDK.
 
I put 1.25 in Spdertrax on my 2017 Tacoma Off Road about 400 miles ago. I added them when I put new tires (265 75 16) on it. So far I have no issues but I don't drive all that often since I'm working from home. I haven't taken it off road since so just city and highway driving. I've pulled a small 4x6 trailer loaded a couple times. The stock wheels look much better and are flush with the wheel wells. All that said. They make me nervous regardless. I don't see this being a long term thing.
 
Spacers, so long as they are hub centric, will be no different on hub wear than a set of high offset wheels. The .25” difference is negligible.
 
nickyreno said:
Spacers, so long as they are hub centric, will be no different on hub wear than a set of high offset wheels. The .25” difference is negligible.
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thanks for your info. this makes me feel a little more comfortable with the purchase. i know they are not ideal, but i do very limited driving each day and it will eliminate the rubbing until i can afford a new offset rim and tire set up. thanks again!
 
Covinog said:
thanks for your info. this makes me feel a little more comfortable with the purchase. i know they are not ideal, but i do very limited driving each day and it will eliminate the rubbing until i can afford a new offset rim and tire set up. thanks again!
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I’ve had spacers on almost all of my vehicles. From STi’s to daly driven SUV’s,to built Duramax’s. Not one issue with any of them. Currently have 1.25” on my taco and some smaller ones on the wife’s X3.
 
nickyreno said:
I’ve had spacers on almost all of my vehicles. From STi’s to daly driven SUV’s,to built Duramax’s. Not one issue with any of them. Currently have 1.25” on my taco and some smaller ones on the wife’s X3.
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thanks for that info Nicky. your post make me feel a bit better on the spacers. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the Spidertrax 1.25 and hope for the best.
 
My 2 cents on Spacers. Agree 100% with fore mentioned they apply no more stress than an offset wheel (same load) and for sure hub centric . Properly torqued they stay put, Loctite on the spacer bolt to the hub can't hurt.

However I have had to remove a couple sets that spun in the spacer when trying to remove the lug nuts for a tire change. This is grossly time consuming, messy as all hell and you are likely going to trash a wheel.

To avoid this I suggest avoiding the cheap bare aluminum products and purchasing an anodized coated spacer. The issue I found with the sets I removed (both bare aluminum) was the the Lug/Hardware head locked into the spacer slot had dissimilar metal corrosion eating away at the aluminum so the head spun. I am sure a coating between the metals would be helpful in this scenario and why found on the pricier units like Spidertrax.
 
Aven2rus said:
My 2 cents on Spacers. Agree 100% with fore mentioned they apply no more stress than an offset wheel (same load) and for sure hub centric . Properly torqued they stay put, Loctite on the spacer bolt to the hub can't hurt.

However I have had to remove a couple sets that spun in the spacer when trying to remove the lug nuts for a tire change. This is grossly time consuming, messy as all hell and you are likely going to trash a wheel.

To avoid this I suggest avoiding the cheap bare aluminum products and purchasing an anodized coated spacer. The issue I found with the sets I removed (both bare aluminum) was the the Lug/Hardware head locked into the spacer slot had dissimilar metal corrosion eating away at the aluminum so the head spun. I am sure a coating between the metals would be helpful in this scenario and why found on the pricier units like Spidertrax.
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Dissimilar metal corrosion. I like it. Gets rid of the tombstone name "Galvanic corrosion," and explains the phenomenon.
 
Will 1.5" spacers cause rubbing/scraping with my front tires on my stock 2021 Off Road?
 
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New to Tacomas and will be putting them on my 2021 soon. I had 1.5 spacers on my 2018 canyon with upsized tires for 3 years no issues, never seized on the hub or anything. the larger tires rubbed just a little until I installed a front leveling kit for +1". The Tacomas look like they have more space in the wheel so I don't think that will be an issue. Just install them correctly and re-torque them at least once a year to be safe (don't trust tire shops to do it right). I prefer to use a little bit of anti seize on the mounting faces and always make sure the mounting surfaces are clean with no rust before installing.
 
wheel spacers are completely safe when installed properly, and shouldnt provide any more wear and tear than a proper off-set wheel. I pre-run my truck with 1.25" spidertrax wheel spacers and not once have ever had a concern or issue, and have been running them for over 60K miles. I know plenty of Ultra4 and TT trucks and local pre-runners that use wheelspacers and none of them have a concern since theyre installed properly with high quality spacers. If your going to do wheel spacers make sure you buy hub-centric and those with a good coating (trail-gear, spidertrax, etc. all are safe to use) so you dont get weird corrosion issues.

If you rub then just start chopping away and make the room, a good heat gun and a body chop is a quick afternoon fix to make the spacers fit if they rub.
 

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This has to be the best advice I've read for spacers . I'm looking at bds lift 6in and I don't want to get rid of my method 16" wheels. My back spacing is 4.5" which is what the lift calls for. I can get spacers just to make sure I get away from the spindle
 
shotgunbilly420 said:
This has to be the best advice I've read for spacers . I'm looking at bds lift 6in and I don't want to get rid of my method 16" wheels. My back spacing is 4.5" which is what the lift calls for. I can get spacers just to make sure I get away from the spindle
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I have 1.25” for sale if you want.
 

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Covinog said:
i know what you mean. iv heard that they can cause issues down the road on the wheel hub. i just purchased the 33's with a 20 inch rim and don't have the money to redo my wheels and tires, and I HATE the fact that my new truck and new tires rub! so i was looking into the spacers. IDK.
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You're fine--- use locktite. I run 1.25 and was freaked out at first too. I wheeled hard as fuck at moab. Tore boots and bent spindles. Then repaired TieRods and drove home 1200 miles no issues. I wouldn't worry. And 1.25 looks great to me. Until I get -38 beadies and do my CMR I'll have these.
 
I have over 100,000 miles on several different vehicles with hub centric spacers, not a single issue.
As long as you buy hub centric, a decent brand, and check the torque when you rotate tires, spacers are fine. The problems you normally hear about are the crappy auto parts store spaces that are generally 1/4 and thinner. They slide in between the wheel and the hub over the studs, with no bolting. Those are garbage and prone to breaking, leaving a gap between the wheel and hub. Huge Fing problem.
 
I was the same way before. Went 16x8et0 because 16x8et-20 was gonna rub and I didn't want to deal with it.
Let's just say CMC, random cutting, plastic melting and 1.25" Spidertrax later... I think it's just. -20 would have been cool, but I think I liked the outcome of this better.
Only other thing for preventative is ditch the pin bearing.
 
Had 1.25 on the back of an '04 GT mustang I was nervous at first and checked torque every couple hundred miles did blue locktite and lots of burnouts never had a problem in the 5 years I owned it I'd use them again.
 
Monte said:
Has anyone used 1.5'' hub centric wheel spacers on stock BFG K02 and experienced rubbing / wobbling ?
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you won't rub with stock sized tires and 1.5 inch spacers, but you will if you go up in size.

Wobbling means you didn't install a quality (hub centric, like spidertrax) spacer or you didn't install them correctly.
 
Biohazard said:
you won't rub with stock sized tires and 1.5 inch spacers, but you will if you go up in size.

Wobbling means you didn't install a quality (hub centric, like spidertrax) spacer or you didn't install them correctly.
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Could also be uneven wear of tires from before the spacers.
Since it places the tires further out, it amplifies vibrations. Possibility.
 
So hard to read through all this. Which I did, I think. I have 2017 Tacoma with 285.75/16s. I cut the small plastic back of front fender. Still rubs a lot, on frame. I was told that a .25 spacer would take care of this. True? would a larger spacer make it rub more?
 
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