wheel spacers? good? bad?

[bpoifvet]

I know this is a very sensitive topic, but I generally want to know people's thoughts on wheel spacers, good or bad? Most of us want that aggressive wide-stance on our Tacoma some of you go with spacers, some go with the wider offset wheels and tires (did I get that correct?) I'm not the most knowledgeable when it involves wheels and tires, but I'm eager to get learned!


For those 'for' or 'against' spacers:

1.If you have wheel spacers, have they caused problems? Do you have them installed just for looks and regular commuting and pleasure driving? Or just installed exclusively for off-road?

2.If you are against wheel spacers, why?

For those owners not using spacers, but have the wider offset wheels to get that wider stance:

1. What make and model wheels did you buy?
2. What kind of tires do you use?

Again, forgive me if I didn't get the language right, I'm still learning about it all.

No snotty comments, no trolls! Looking for some good advice and comments from you all!

 

[Boghog1]

Not a fan of spacers or wheels with negative offset, went through too many wheel bearings and ball joints on vehicles in the past and I am getting too old to get out there to replace them and too cheap to pay someone

 

[New Holland Overland]

I run Method 702 (4.75 backspacing with 0 offset) paired with Spidertrax 1.25" spacers. Ive been running this setup for 70K miles without any issues. I abuse the truck, run it hard off-road pushing the truck to its limits, as well as daily driving the truck every day...and no issues.

My opinion: if installed properly you wont have issues with wheel spacers. Make sure you get hubcentric, use red loctite, torque properly and youll be good. I understand the differences in load on the wheel bearings when adding in spacers, but Ive yet to experience an issue myself where its caused damage or problems to the vehicle.

 

[RevN3]

No snotty comments, no trolls! Looking for some good advice and comments from you all!

This isn't TacomaWorld, we're all friends here.

I'm curious to hear the responses to this thread. I'm also on the fence. It seems like a good way to do a relatively cheap visual mod. At the same time, it seems TOO easy.

One other question I had about them. I've seen the expensive ones and I've seen the SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper ones. The only difference I've head between the two is that the cheaper ones are "Cheap Chinese Metal" but there are no moving parts, it's just a hunk of slag so I don't see how the metal quality is all that important as long as it is, indeed, metal. I'd like to see and actual comparison that can show differences that would warrent the price drop. I expect you are paying extra for pretty paint and a "brand name".

 

[Biohazard]

I've run wheel spacers on the last three rigs over the last 6 years, 2016 taco, 2018 JL, and now 2020 taco. Spidertrax on all three, and I've not had problems. It is important, as new Holland mentioned, to torque correctly, use red loctite, and have hub-centric pieces.
There are lots of examples of heavy duty trucks driving down the highway and watching a wheel bounce down the road, sheared off right through the spacer. But then there are an equal number of folks who have gotten into wrecks with parts of their axles sheared off but the wheel/spacer totally intact. This is probably because of the quality of spacer and installation.

I use the spacers (and only one set in the back on my Tacoma) for one primary reasons: wider stance makes the ride just a bit more planted on the road. I don't use it on the front at the moment because with my current setup (stock trd pro), the tires I'll be getting (285/75/16) when my first set wears out will rub on the cab mount with them on.

 

[Tacomadad18]

I run spacers, on 37s and no issues here.

I also took the time to clean the rotors/ drums for proper fit and put loctite on the truck studs through the spacer. As long as you make sure the studs are flush, countersunk from the edge of the spacer and keep them torqued down properly you should be fine.

Also, use only hub centric spacers. Using lug centric spacers and improper installation is what causes issues.

 

[VMan31]

Just installed spacers within last month, I wanted that added stance that my wheels did not.This is my first experience with spacers on a vehicle, had used previously on quads. I did install with anti-seize, Loctite and torqued to specs. I look at it like anything else, you’ll hear of the incidents that say a failure was related to wheel spacers and you will hear others never experiencing an issue.

 

[bpoifvet]

This isn't TacomaWorld, we're all friends here.

I'm curious to hear the responses to this thread. I'm also on the fence. It seems like a good way to do a relatively cheap visual mod. At the same time, it seems TOO easy.

One other question I had about them. I've seen the expensive ones and I've seen the SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper ones. The only difference I've head between the two is that the cheaper ones are "Cheap Chinese Metal" but there are no moving parts, it's just a hunk of slag so I don't see how the metal quality is all that important as long as it is, indeed, metal. I'd like to see and actual comparison that can show differences that would warrent the price drop. I expect you are paying extra for pretty paint and a "brand namfd

This isn't TacomaWorld, we're all friends here.

I'm curious to hear the responses to this thread. I'm also on the fence. It seems like a good way to do a relatively cheap visual mod. At the same time, it seems TOO easy.

One other question I had about them. I've seen the expensive ones and I've seen the SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper ones. The only difference I've head between the two is that the cheaper ones are "Cheap Chinese Metal" but there are no moving parts, it's just a hunk of slag so I don't see how the metal quality is all that important as long as it is, indeed, metal. I'd like to see and actual comparison that can show differences that would warrent the price drop. I expect you are paying extra for pretty paint and a "brand name".

Good to see someone else feels the same way about Tacoma world forum!

 

[bpoifvet]

These are some great comments and opinions! Thanks everyone!

 

[nickyreno]

Wheel spacers/reasonable neg offset will not prematurely wear out your hubs as bad as people think. They’ll prematurely wear sure, but negligibly sooner. I’ve run -44 offset for 80k miles without having to replace hubs.

I’ve run spacers on several of my vehicles with no problems. At all.

A lot of the 99-07 2500 Duramax guys have to run 2” spacers on the rear end to match the front track width. I’ve done this on a twinned Duramax with -24 offset wheels running 11’s on track days. No issues.

 

[Harvo]

I've had Spider Trax 1.25 inch spacers on my 17 for right at 70,000 miles now. They have seen plenty of off road use, and the dealer has done a rotation every 5k miles. Zero issues, and the dealer has never mentioned anything about them. I also tow a Jeep on a double axle trailer with the truck. Again... no concerns. I use a set on a jeep as well that sees much more hard of road use.

 

[ARCHIVE]

This isn't TacomaWorld, we're all friends here.

I'm curious to hear the responses to this thread. I'm also on the fence. It seems like a good way to do a relatively cheap visual mod. At the same time, it seems TOO easy.

One other question I had about them. I've seen the expensive ones and I've seen the SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper ones. The only difference I've head between the two is that the cheaper ones are "Cheap Chinese Metal" but there are no moving parts, it's just a hunk of slag so I don't see how the metal quality is all that important as long as it is, indeed, metal. I'd like to see and actual comparison that can show differences that would warrent the price drop. I expect you are paying extra for pretty paint and a "brand name".

There's a huge difference between the China crap and Spidertrax spacers.
The steel studs and nuts to proper strength metric class, the dimensional accuracy, the aluminum used and the anodizing all matter and you get best with Spidertrax, Ive used them for a few years and 15,000 miles, not a single issue and no vibration.

Being hubcentric and made in North America is critical in the selection

 

[Trudog]

There's a huge difference between the China crap and Spidertrax spacers.
The steel studs and nuts to proper strength metric class, the dimensional accuracy, the aluminum used and the anodizing all matter and you get best with Spidertrax, Ive used them for a few years and 15,000 miles, not a single issue and no vibration.

Being hubcentric and made in North America is critical in the selection

And required for Archive Garage shock relocators or you rub your shocks!

 

[Teton Taco]

I'm using spridertrax spacers on the front only in order to clear my UCAs from the 35" tires. The front sits narrower than the rear in general so it evens up the look of the stance as well. The truck is my daily driver and weekend warrior and they have held up on and off road.

 

[Oc Taco Charlie Beach Bum]

very informative post, ty