WHEEL SPACERS --- good idea? bad idea??

[mareakin]

I'm getting a set of lightweight wheels with an offset of +50mm

i would've preferred a lower offset (around +35 to +45mm)

my OEM steel wheel offset was +45 btw.

the car is a 2007 Corolla CE that came stock with a 15X6 steel wheel.

NOW, the Traklite's i'm getting (which are 16" and weight 12 lbs.) have an offset of +50mm.

I suspect these will fit. although the fitting will be an "innie"

someone suggested wheel spacers.

unless wheel spacers are PERFECTLY smooth, i suspect that they may not be a good idea.

any thoughts about this?

 

[AdRock]

Thay need to be hubcentric.

You might have to put longer wheel studs in.

The generic spacers you find at Autozone and places like that are not what you want.

 

[JohnBrowning]

On top of everything else they add unsprung mass to your suspension which is bad if you value your handles especialy bump steer and the like.Wheel spacers are a band aid fix for people that are too poor or too cheap to afford the proper wheel with the proper off set! They rank right up their with suspension blocks to lift a vechile instead of getting properly arched springs witht he added amount of leafs to bring the vechile to the hieght you want.Can you say axle wrap city and potiental failure point.

Their are always many ways to get around a problem andno matter how accepted something is like drinking a spoonful of kerosine mixed with sugar to cure a cold, swallowing Vicks chest rub to fix a soe throat, putting a quart of diesel in your crank case to flush the crud out etc........their is always a no so right way and a better way to do things so this is more a matter of your charcter and how you want to be? Do you want to be the guy that does things right or do you want to be the guy that just thinks good enough is fine!People that use blocks and wheel spacers are usualy the same people that use wire nuts on the wireing on their car or truck!

 

[Steve S]

Fancy wheels on a Corolla ? cool.

 

[Familyguy]

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
On top of everything else they add unsprung mass to your suspension which is bad if you value your handles especialy bump steer and the like.Wheel spacers are a band aid fix for people that are too poor or too cheap to afford the proper wheel with the proper off set! They rank right up their with suspension blocks to lift a vechile instead of getting properly arched springs witht he added amount of leafs to bring the vechile to the hieght you want.Can you say axle wrap city and potiental failure point.

Their are always many ways to get around a problem andno matter how accepted something is like drinking a spoonful of kerosine mixed with sugar to cure a cold, swallowing Vicks chest rub to fix a soe throat, putting a quart of diesel in your crank case to flush the crud out etc........their is always a no so right way and a better way to do things so this is more a matter of your charcter and how you want to be? Do you want to be the guy that does things right or do you want to be the guy that just thinks good enough is fine!People that use blocks and wheel spacers are usualy the same people that use wire nuts on the wireing on their car or truck!


Harsh....but accurate. That said, unless you have a rubbing problem you can probably skip the spacers without an problem.

 

[kr_bitog]

Originally Posted By: mareakin
I'm getting a set of lightweight wheels with an offset of +50mm

i would've preferred a lower offset (around +35 to +45mm)

my OEM steel wheel offset was +45 btw.

the car is a 2007 Corolla CE that came stock with a 15X6 steel wheel.

NOW, the Traklite's i'm getting (which are 16" and weight 12 lbs.) have an offset of +50mm.

I suspect these will fit. although the fitting will be an "innie"

someone suggested wheel spacers.

unless wheel spacers are PERFECTLY smooth, i suspect that they may not be a good idea.

any thoughts about this?


Why do you want to change the offset ? Does the width of the new and OEM rims different so much ?
If you really need spacer, it is better goes with the hub centric (comes with bolt and nut) but that need a high quality one, or else it can break easily.

 

[BennyRS]

I wouldnt do it. Ive tried spacers once and didnt like them. It seemed to make my car understeer too much and the handling was weird.

 

[IndyIan]

Are you sure the stock offset is +45mm? I though most little fwd cars are 35 or 38mm?
If your car is +45mm, a 5mm change in offset isn't huge and I'd try to to find a 5mm spacer and run it to go back to stock offset so you won't be loading the wheel bearings any different than before.
Are you going to be autocrossing or tracking the car with sticky tires? If not, I don't think you'll have a problem.

 

[bepperb]

The offset is 45. I'd run the 50's with little hesitation, especially if you're going to a wider wheel. Make sure you don't have any rubbing issues. I'd only run a spacer if you did.

Most Hondas these days are +55. Toyota's a bit of a mixed bag. My HL is +35.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Are you sure the stock offset is +45mm? I though most little fwd cars are 35 or 38mm?
If your car is +45mm, a 5mm change in offset isn't huge and I'd try to to find a 5mm spacer and run it to go back to stock offset so you won't be loading the wheel bearings any different than before.
Are you going to be autocrossing or tracking the car with sticky tires? If not, I don't think you'll have a problem.


My Mazda3 is +52.5mm and my mother's Sunfire is +47mm, so I don't think +45mm is unusual.

I agree with trying to maintain the OEM offset. I don't think a spacer is a bad idea if it brings the wheel closer to that.

How wide are the new wheels? How much wider will your tires be? If they're wider than stock, I'd see how they look before doing anything. They might fill out the wheel wells nicely as-is. An extra 5mm of offset shouldn't hurt anything enough to worry about.

 

[Familyguy]

Keep in mind that 5mm is only about 3/16" of an inch. We're talking about a tiny change.