Guest Grenade300 Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 I have been looking through the archives and talking to some of my gear-head buddies. A lot of people seem to be weary about wheel spacers/adaptors. Saying how they were so worried about their wheels falling off. However, these same people seem to only be afraid of them because a friend of a friend of a friend who knew a guy who used them (and didn't tighten down the spacer bolts correctly) and his wheel fell off. I would like to know if anybody has personally seen this happen, not counting incidents with adaptors that were made in somebody's back yard. I am planning to get an adaptor(from a reputable company) to change my bolt pattern from the 4x4.5 to the 5x4.5 and change my offset. As I said, I would like to know before I do this, has anybody ever personally seen an adaptor fail? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 I have never known anyone who told me that their wheel adapter failed. I have never had anybody tell me anything about their wheel adapters. I'm not sure if anybody I've known has used wheel adapters except maybe one person and he has never commented to me about them. I've never used wheel adapters. That being said, You can accomplish what you want without using adapters. Ross sells redrilled five lug rear stub axles and there is a later Z five lug front hub that is a bolt on for the S30. Sorry I can't remember right now what year that is, but Ross can help you there too. There are other, more objective, reasons for not using adapters beyond annecdotal evidence of lost wheels. Anytime you add a bolt-on part between the bearing and the wheel you add tolerance error to the wheel balance and run-true. Granted, you may never notice any differance in handling or ride quality, but it is there none the less. You can find Ross's site here: http://www.modern-motorsports.com/catalog/default.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 I have had a wheel spacer fail, and I have heard of one other failing. That being said, I wouldn't hesitate to use them, and have some on my Z right now. The reason for the failure in my case, and I suspect in both cases, was the failure to check that the wheel spacer fit properly. Both were Mr Gasket cheesy auto parts store spacers, and mine failed because the inside hole was about .005" too small. It looked as if it sat flat against the hub, but in fact it was tweaked between the hub and the wheel. I fought what I thought was a tire balance problem for over a year. I couldn't figure it out, neither could the tire shops and alignment shops I took the car to, neither could any of my racer/mechanic buddies. I finally figured it out when the spacer cracked. It didn't fall out luckily for me, just cracked. I replaced them with a set of billet spacers from Coleman, and machined the front spacers so that they were lug centered, not hub centered. For this reason I recommend a lug centered spacer and not a hub centric spacer, unless the hub centric is made for your car, and I mean FOR YOUR CAR, not for a Z, or a Mustang or whatever. IME as a Porsche wrench, I saw many factory and race modified Porsches running THICK spacers. None were bolt on, all were slip ons, and judging by the looks of the material all were cast aluminum. Never saw one fail. The only warning I would give with spacers is that you should have a GOOD set of wheel studs. Aside from that I've seen 500 hp roadrace 911's with 335/35/18 slicks not break a 1 1/2" spacer. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 Very good posts above. I'd like to add that I have been using the 4 to 5 lug adaptors/spacers for 5 yrs now on my turbod Z, which has plenty of tourqe, and have not had a single problem. It's very important to keep an eye on all parts related to using them though... joel s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Grenade300 Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 Thanks for all the info guys. I looked at the cost of changing my bolt patterns from 4 bolt to 5 bolt, but after I added it all up it looked like it was goint to cost close to $1000 for all four corners if I got the equipment from Modern Motorsports, not to include the cost of the actual wheels and tires. I really don't see a point to spending that much money for such a thing when the same effect can be safely achieved with adaptors. When I get the wheels that I want to mount on the hubs I am going to call Ross and see what he will charge to make custom adaptors/spacers for my purpose. I am not just going to pick any old set of rims, I plan to do a lot of measurements and calculations to ensure that the rims will fit the car and the purpose with the fender flares I'm going to use. Again, thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Perry Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 I've run spacers for a while on the back of my malibu. 2 cheap spacers each side for 5/8 total thickness. the spacers were about the worst design I could think of, not hub or lug centric, too thick for the wheel to locate on the hub, and I used autozone stock replacement wheel studs that were longer than stock. I was nervous about them for a while but I have punished them suffeciently to say they are fine. no problems, surprisingly the lug torque hasn't backed off and nothing has broken. for most street applications a less than optimal setup will work I think. That being said the engineer in me likes hub centric spacers tightly fit to long studs that also provide some hub for the wheel to center on. I don't really like the ones you bolt to the hub then bolt the wheel to, I keep thinking eventually you may fatigue that aluminum and break it, or have a stud get loose or something. I have also noticed road race and circle track cars with big spacers and long studs, but have never seen one with the pattern changing spacers. like I said for most street cars either probably works well. I tend to drive my cars very hard so I'm gonna avoid them when I can, and use long studs when I need the spacers. Perry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2002sentraSER Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 where did you get 4 to 5 lug adapters and how much were they ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 I ran the honda wheel spacers without any issues except when I forgot to locktite one of the inside nuts. No damage done, but I recommend blue locktite on the hidden nuts if you are using a bolt on spacer. I've never heard of any of these failing, not even ones in serious front corner collisions. (wheel ending up where the top of the hood should be... spacer was fine) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z_Master Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Anyone know the stock offset of the slotted mags? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 I have a set of 4 to 5 spacers , some pix at http://www.v8zcar.com/s30z/brakeswheels.htm Someone please buy them from me. I'm not using them cuz I ended up getting new wheels. That page is over a year old, I'm currently using the new wheels with 5 lug hubs and some one piece spacers. Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilRufusKay Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Anyone know the stock offset of the slotted mags? I have a set, I could measure them tonite if you want. Rufus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2002sentraSER Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 do you know where i could get some close to me with a little less spacer in them or how much do you want for yours shipped over here to va 20147 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zguy95135 Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 grenade300 whats that pic of?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Grenade300 Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 ZGuy95135, If you are refering to my avitar (the picture next to my name) it is a guy photo shopped with his head up his own a$$. If you want a full size picture of it to cringe at, I can e-mail it to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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