mbsl98

I am curious if the use of spacers generally requires the car to be re-aligned to new, non-stock specs? In particular, I have 17" stock square 122's for winter, and square 18" 124's for summer on my '07 530xiT, and would like to add the typical 5/15mm spacers to the 18's. However, I don't want to need a re-alignment twice a year when I change wheels, and not comfortable with non-stock specs in any case if the technician choosing the specs is not a true expert. Thanks

Lotus99

Never heard of that for spacers.

info@trinityautosport

no need for alignment with spacers. spacers will only change the offset of your wheel setup by lowering the offsets.

narvselius

As I understand it, by using spacers (correctly) the center of the wheel remains the same no matter the width of the tyre, so the answer will be: No.

mbsl98

Sorry if this seems dumb, but I have never gotten into spacers before. I have read on another forum that I can't now remember that alignment was needed (no explanation given)- I hadn't seen that before although I have read spacer threads for some time.

I am dealing with OEM wheels with the correct offsets for this car, and thinking about adding spacers purely for the cosmetic effect of pushing the wheel out toward the edge of the fender. Would this be classified as using spacers "incorectly"? I could see that they would also be used to take a non-OEM offset wheel and bring it to the correct OEM offset, and perhaps this is what is being referred to as spacers being used "correctly" in the above comment? If so, I'd agree that no alignment issue is presented because you have reproduced the factory specs by combining the non-spec wheel and the spacer to bring it to proper spec. When using spacers with an OEM wheel, they will cause the vertical centerline of the wheel to be moved outwards from its stock position -it can't "remain the same" in the sense of remaining in the same absolute position. It will cause the contact patch to shift outwards, which must make some difference on the suspension geometry, particularly on the front? The threads I remember were apparently changing alignment to adjust for this outward shift. Is it fair to say that most of those using spacers as I am talking about (for cosmetic change) are not changing alignment and not having tire wear or handling issues either?

Lotus99

You're making this more complicated than it needs to be... Spacers, whether used cosmetically, or for a more practical purpose, do not require an alignment, is what everyone's saying.

Errowen

I think the important word in narvselius' reply is "correctly"

If spacers are sized to restore OEM offset, the center of load remains over the bearing. But spacers also get used to provide clearance from suspension parts without regard to OEM spec: if the load is moved out over the lugs it can cause premature bearing failure and alignment issues which will quickly show up as squeal and uneven tire wear.

I my youth I put some wider wheels and tires (laughably skinny in today's terms) on my Austin Healy Sprite. Looked special! Driving through the Rocky Mountains I watched in astonishment as somebody's wheel sped past me. More astonishment when I realized it was my right front: the stub axle had broken, probably because the new wheels, which gave me that wide stance, caused the bearing to seize.

norsecarnut

No. A spacer merely moves the wheel out. It doesn't change the cant of the wheel.

Goofy people often MUST play with the cant simply because they have pushed the wheel too far out to where the top of it will scrub the upper fender edge. So, like goofy people more concerned with looks than function, they have the wheel "re-aligned" to slant the top of the wheel more inboard to eliminate the rubbing.

As you can imagine, this also affects the handling geometry. For a race car they go strictly for performance, people going for cosmetics do the opposite it seems.

This is often compounded by dropping a car so low that without slanting the wheel back inboard, it will rub the fenders.

While many of these modifications look really cool, like a life size match-box car, they mostly ruin the real handling characteristics.

You don't sound like you are trying to go real extreme though, so, in essence a modest spacer, simply to bring the wheel "more" close to flush, will be no different than a wheel which already has a higher offset.

To me though, the potential for problems with having an extra layer/piece in between the wheel and hub are important to consider. I'd rather have a wheel with low offset than ad more parts in such an important part of the car in terms of safety.

Spacers require either a longer bolt = more stress on bolt due to force leverage on the bolt. Or they require being bolted on first and then your wheel bolts to the spacer.... does that even sound like a good idea??? Doesn't to me, at least not for real travel. It's fine enough for parading around town but for how long. I'd rather not be running 145mph wondering about the longer bolts or my wheels being bolted to some freakin plate that was made by who and then supplied with bolts from where....

Get over the flush thing or wait until you can get wheels that do the job as is.

Lotus99

Adding a 5 mm or 10 mm spacer and using accompanying longer bolts shouldn't be a problem... Porsche sells spacers for their cars, so they can't be that bad in concept!

Spacers - Wheels - Tequipment Boxster (Type 986) - Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG

I'm pretty sure I even saw them as a factory option/accessory on the Cayenne the other day I was playing around with their site.

Getting bigger spacers than that which require the spacer to be first bolted onto the hub, yeah, I agree is too risky, though lots of reputable companies sell them, so you'd think they've engineered them properly.