Wheel Spacers

[Matt]

I have recently had the rear arches rolled on both of my Nova?s and was wondering what width spacers to use to stop the wheels rubbing on the inner arches.

I?m running:

Speedline Allesio?s - 16X6.5 with ET195/45 tyres

and

Compomotive MO?s - 6X15 with ET195/45 tyres

Have found that the rear passenger wheel tends to rub on the inner arch with both sets of wheels but the drivers side is fine. The only problem I have with the rear drivers side is with the Speedlines as they rub slightly on the damper and have cracked the plastic a bit.

Can anyone help?

I?m thinking 10mm to be safe or can I get away with 7 or 5?s?


Cheers, Matt

[Adam]

10mm, fook that,miles too big.

Id start with 3mm, and see if that stops it.
You want the smallest spacer possible.

[Matt]

I've 3mm in before and still rubbed

[Adam]

This may sound obviosuly, but keep trying larger ones till they stop rubbing :)

[chimp007_uk]

try little by little, you dont want to go too extreme!

i went to the extreme running 32mm spacers lol i'm a tw*t :(

[Matt]

This may sound obviosuly, but keep trying larger ones till they stop rubbing :)

Just wondered if anyone else is running the same setup and knows exactly which spacers are best. Don't want to keep buying different spacers, fitting them and trying them until I get the right size if I don't have to.

:thumb:

[Adam]

Maybe got a friendly car shop that stocks spacers, and see if they'll let you try a couple of sets, and then buy the ones that fit best....

[chimp007_uk]

be careful as well about the bolt sizers, the bigger the spacer the less thread will be going into the hub!

a guy who worked apposite me had a chav tastic merc diesel and had spacers. had his tyres changed and they buzzed the bolts up with an air gun and it stripped the thred.. he drove off down the road and a wheel fell off...

[Clean 2.0 nova]

I wouldn't go larger than 7mm. I selected this size for mine because if you go any larger your alloys won't find the centre flange on the hub - And you will end up with slightly off-centre wheels. You can get hub centric spacers but I can't see how they work unless they are over 15mm IMO.

For a test you could fit washers behind the wheels for test purposes only.

Iain

[Dar]

I wouldn't go larger than 7mm. I selected this size for mine because if you go any larger your alloys won't find the centre flange on the hub - And you will end up with slightly off-centre wheels.

Once you bolt up the wheels they are central and not going anywhere. They don't have to locate on the centre flange. I know this because my wheel centres are wayyyyy bigger than the flange on the hub. However this is only the case for the wheels. Brake discs have to locate snug on the flange.

I have two sizes of spacers for my car 3mm & 5mm. Some wheels need the full 7mm some 5mm and others only 3mm. It really does depend on the wheel, car, coilover springs (If you have them) and arches.

[Clean 2.0 nova]

Once you bolt up the wheels they are central and not going anywhere. They don't have to locate on the centre flange.

I appreciate that, I just didn't like the ideal of the wheels held latteraly in place by virtue of the snuggness of the bolt thread in the wheel. But maybe its just me. I'm sure plenty of people have done as you've suggested and suffered no ill effects:thumb:

Iain

[Dar]

Yup, I can see where you were coming from but they are held firmer than you may first think.

[Lee]

If your going to be running spacers, id also suggest a stud conversion. It makes the job of swapping wheels a lot easier, and you will never have the problem of running out of thread if you go for a larger spacer :)

[Dar]

Good call Mr Lee!
I forgot about that one. Extreamly worth while conversion and only costs about ?20 from eBay:thumb:

[Matt]

Appreciate the help, Thankyou!


I've gone for some 6mm spacers so will fit them and see if it's any better when I get them.

Think I'll get some extended studs aswell to do the job properly.

[simz]

Wheel spaces??? i was rolling on 4inch spaces on the rear & 3" on the fronts on 18's! been told it was the widest nova ever made, i think it was 6'1ft wide at the rear, it went to most shows last year!

[Jack]

Not built for handling then? lol

[Stuart]

I appreciate that, I just didn't like the ideal of the wheels held latteraly in place by virtue of the snuggness of the bolt thread in the wheel. But maybe its just me. I'm sure plenty of people have done as you've suggested and suffered no ill effects:thumb:

Iain

so you dont understand the physics/engineering behind how the wheel/brake discs are held in place...

you HONESTLY belive that the bolts dont do much and that all the force is put through the tiny little flange on the hub to the innder bore of the wheel?

we had this very discussion on the vx220 forum when the supplier of TD wheels with the perfect bore machined in was trying to put people off buying the cheaper wheels with palstic spigot rings..... its the clamping force from the wheel bolts that presses the wheel/brake disc and hub flange together to transmit your power/braking etc.

you dont even need to have hub centric brake discs, it just makes life infinately easier if they are thats all.

[Clean 2.0 nova]

so you dont understand the physics/engineering behind how the wheel/brake discs are held in place...

you HONESTLY belive that the bolts dont do much and that all the force is put through the tiny little flange on the hub to the innder bore of the wheel?


No you are missing my observation. It is the centering of the wheel whilst you tighten up the bolts I had reservations over, I know the thread clearance in wheels is only fractions of a millimetre, and indeed they are also bevelled on the face.

Your point is true that in reality some alloy centres probably have as much play as the bolt holes themselves. In which case hub-centric only becomes an aid to getting the wheel on rather than anything else.

My alloys however have quite tight tolerances on the flange and I want to keep it that way - It's hard enough as it is tightening the bolts up so they don't keep coming slack without any other undue pressure.


Also:

tiny little flange

Mine seem quite beefy (flanges that is), I bet my wheel bolts would snap before the flange does - yours must be made out of kit-kat wrapper!