Front & Rear Spacers

14x4 · Post by **14x4** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:25 pm

I was told that putting on spacers to widen the stance of the vehicle was a bad idea because they get loose every few hundred miles and need to be re-torqued. Is that true?
(I tried searching through the archives and I couldn't find anything bad about spacers.)

Thanks for the help.

Mike.

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 3:30 am

I have never had mine loosen up but I do check them and re torque them when i rotate tires. The only thing that does seem to happen is in areas prone to corrosion they occasionally need to be pulled and the mating surfaces cleaned so they don't cause problems. Could be the person you were speaking with was talking about the thin spacers that slip over the factory studs. The ones we use are true spacers with a second set of studs for the wheels, offset from the ones that bolt to the hub.

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:59 am

Mine is the same story. I check them when I rotate tires. I have eight years on one set and probably over 60k miles on them. Some of that pretty harsh treatment.
Corrosion/oxidation could play a part in them loosening, but I would think that they would have been installed over the corrosion causing the problem to begin with.

I think the horror stories really get blown out of proportion and then those who have never used them repeat the story. There are far more that have or are using wheel adapters successfully than bad experiences. They are no less likely to fail than a wheel.

There was one here who broke wheel studs. I am not sure what happened there, but the studs were replaced and I installed the wheel adapters in another truck who lived happily ever after.

I think "wheel adapters" is a better way the think of these. Spacers doesn't quite tell the whole story.

14x4 · Post by **14x4** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 2:46 pm

Alright, sounds good to me. I appreciate the help guys.

Horsehammerr · Post by **Horsehammerr** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 3:30 pm

You can also go to other wheels with less back spacing and use no adapters. Like what I use "V".

14x4 · Post by **14x4** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:10 pm

Horsehammerr wrote:You can also go to other wheels with less back spacing and use no adapters. Like what I use "V".

Hmm... never thought of that. But theres no turning back - I already spent around $170 on 1.25" front and 2.5" rear spacers. I just got them in the mail today.

I do plan on getting new wheels (Black Rock? Cragar?) so I hope the spacers work with those just as they would with the stock ZR5 alloy wheels.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:50 pm

14x4 wrote:so I hope the spacers work with those just as they would with the stock ZR5 alloy wheels.

They won't, I am afraid. You can keep the 1.25" spacers for the rear with Cragars. When you find a home for the 2.5" ones, let me know. I can send my new unused 3" ones to the same guy to keep them company.

Horsehammerr · Post by **Horsehammerr** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:09 am

Why could you not return the spacers to where you bought them ? I never heard of a no return policy on a part that " Does Not Fit ", and in this case they won't fit with the wheels you want to use. Send them back.

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:02 am

The reason for adding spacers , or wheel adapters, is to reduce the rear spacing to widen the track. The stock wheels have 6" rear spacing. Adding 3" adapters to the rear makes those wheels have 3" rear spacing or -1 offset. Adding 1.25" spacers to the front gives you 4.75" rear spacing or -2.25 offset.
If you buy wheels with 4.75" rear spacing, you need no further reduction in rear spacing for the front. Add 1.25" adapters to the rear and you have the same as the first combination description.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:33 am

Horsehammerr wrote:Why could you not return the spacers to where you bought them ? ..........

I forget the whole story. It has been 3 or 4 yrs ago but, a member here got a set as a replacement for some reason, he didn't need them and I picked them up for shipping costs.

14x4 · Post by **14x4** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 10:54 am

f9k9 wrote:They won't, I am afraid.

I should've known that things wouldn't go smoothly. However, its no ones fault but my own. I don't know why I didn't take the new wheels into consideration.

If I was to get Cragar wheels, these would be it - http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CRR-3525812/

So those would work with no spacers in the front, and 1.25" spacers in the back? Will I still be able to fit the 33" tires that I planned on in the Marvelous Mystery Lift?

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:36 am

Not enough rear spacing. they will be one inch further out board. You might be able to run 31" tires with those though.

14x4 · Post by **14x4** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 4:28 pm

f9k9 wrote:When you find a home for the 2.5" ones, let me know. I can send my new unused 3" ones to the same guy to keep them company.

Well, I'll ask around. I don't think anyone I know needs the spacers I bought - let alone any spacer.

I'm most likely going to send them back.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:02 pm

Send them back and use the money elsewhere.

fallvitals · Post by **fallvitals** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:49 pm

Well geeze, Reed coulda saved me some money by giving me his 3" spacers a few months ago for the cost of shipping!

But actually, I think I want a set of 2.5" spacers for my rear... my drivers side tire sticks out a good bit more then the passanger with 3" spacers....

14x4 · Post by **14x4** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:54 am

fallvitals wrote:... my drivers side tire sticks out a good bit more then the passanger with 3" spacers....

Why is that?

fallvitals · Post by **fallvitals** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 11:03 am

14x4 wrote:
fallvitals wrote:... my drivers side tire sticks out a good bit more then the passanger with 3" spacers....
Why is that?

http://www.s-10crewcab.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ide+spacer

Just the way chevy made em apperantly.

(I have put my flares back on since those pictures were taken, lol)

I was thinking about geting a singl 2.5" for the drivers side, and leaving the 3" on the passanger. But Reed suggested it wouldn't be wise. But, I really done see how it would effect any thing? Better safe then sorry though. I only worry about it since in WV tires cant stick past body work, all my tires do just a hair (i think the tread has to be under the body line, side wall is fine?) the rear drivers side is very close... I just dont want issues if it turns out i need to get a modified inspection sticker rather then normal inspection sticker next year.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:52 pm

If, you did the BL then things could have shifted during the process. I know that I an old and forgetful but, I distinctly remember some sort of TSB or official GM tech suggestion for rubbing issues on ZR2s. I have never been able to relocate it but, the recommendation was to shift the cab. There is play built into the body mounts and that is why you can shift the bed around to realign it. Take some careful measurements from the frame to the cab at known locations. I've been bumming around S-10 forums for five yrs and your situation is the first that I have heard of.

fallvitals · Post by **fallvitals** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:29 pm

Nope, not the first.

In that thread I linked earlier, somene else said theirs looked exactly the same. And Brule had posted link to two older threads, one Hobie started with the same issue.

Someone even posted the ammount of offset in the front and rear diffs that chevy put on em. Im definantly not the first. Its just a "normal" thing for us. But not to get off track, back the the thread.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:59 pm

fallvitals wrote:Nope, not the first.......

10-4!