I have been searching around and haven't found much, but i remember not to long ago i read a post that said wheel spacers will mess with the handling of a car in a negative way. Can anyone verify this? I have been reading around on some different forums, but no one seems to have a solid answer. I read on one of the wheel spacer websites and they say since it widens the stance of the car it improves the handling, which makes sense, but then again they are trying to sell a product.

Any input would be great!

-Sean

 

if your spacer is 2 feet thick and 150 pounds then it might.


by slightly pushing the wheels out you theoretically improve your handling.

 

Sean, I just installed a front and rear set two weeks ago and have no issues. Keep in mind that the closer you come to flush with the fender, you run the risk of rubbing the tire. My rears are rolled so I have no issue and after the spacer install, I'm at +8 with -1.6 camber max lowered on Tein basics with a top mount spring mod. I had to raise my front coilovers to eliminate rubbing up front. My primary concerns were fitment of the built in studs but wasn't and issue for the Volks I have (cavity on the wheel allows for the built in studs to mount the wheel flush against the spacer) and vibration at speed. I have torqued the spacers and wheels twice since the install and ran the car up to 100 without vibration. I haven't noticed a postive impact on handling but more importantly, there is no negative impact.

 

adding wheel spacers is like lowering the wheels offset. it may also shorten the lifespan of the wheel bearings

 

If you push out the rear more than the front, I believe it tends to induce more understeer. Conversely, if you push out the front more than the rear, it tends to oversteer a little more.

I guess if you do not want to change your oversteer/understeer characteristics, use the same thickness spacer on all four corners.

 

I agree that it's more stress on wheel bearing since your applying pressure similar to a cantilever effect.

...but then again, it's like mounting a very low offset wheels with huge lips. Those people don't seem to have any problems.

 

read up on scrub radius

 

everyone will tell you something different but rule of thumb if you are only adding 5mm or less you wont notice much of a change its when 10+ you will notice some change. depending on your wheel size, tire size, camber and toe settings it will be different.

 

http://www.hawaiitalks.net/showthread.php?t=28850

 

Thanks for that thread Jeff! Helped quite a bit!

-Sean