MadaboutKitcars

Anyone got any experience of wheel spacers and which are the best quality. I know hubcentric are recommended but wondered if there is much to choose between the different makes.

I picked up some unusual wheels for my Cabrio on ebay, they need a bit of work but I think should look really good.

They are 16" ronal "Wire Classic" Ford wheels which apparently were a rare option on the Cosworth Scorpios. The offset is a bit high for the Cabrio at 46 hence the need for spacers but I thought they were worth a punt.

They came with 4 very good tyres.

Have a look see what you think.


John

Hi John, I have wheel spacers on my Sportster, its the light blue one that comes up with all the other Marlins on the Owners website. I have 18" wheels and I had problems which can be read in my posts of July 2011. I have the hub centric type but had to modify things. I ended up with a 40mm [B]EIBACH[/B] spacer which is bolted direct to the hub and my wheel is bolted direct to the spacer. The bolts too are different in that they sit fully inside the wheel ( slim tapered ). I previously had two spacers, put in by the previous owner which caused problems and had to be changed.

All the good quality ones seem to be made in Germany. I'd go for anything that is TUV approved. But as you have Ford hubs I'm guessing you might need to go to Burton Power.
I got some very nice H&R's direct from a supplier in Germany.


Rear wheel spacers by marlinpeter, on Flickr

For thinner spacers the bolts go straight through the spacer but you need longer bolts.
...peter

Hi John

Your wheels look like an excellent choice for the Cabrio - wires look good on these cars, but the real things are incredibly expensive, and several people have told me from experience they are high maintenance too.

My alloys are 7" x 16" and have a 38mm offset. They also have a centre hub with a 73mm bore, rather than the Ford's 63.4mm. So I had to order spigot rings as well as a spacer, which concerned me. The guys selling the alloys said there would be no problem, - they were aware of drifting cars using them without problems. I thought this sounded ok, but would buy the best engineered spacers I could find.

After research, I concluded Eibach, and H&R were the best, (as Peter says being TUV approved) and could not find any reported difference. I chose H&R DRS15s in the end, - I think because they were easier to work out what I wanted on the website. These are the deepest bolt through spacers. if you go thicker then you will require the ones like Peter's, which are bolt on adaptors.
I am really pleased with the quality, but at £100 per pair they should be!

I've only fitted them at the rear to clear the tub, and am hoping they will not be necessary at the front once I get the suspension all set up correctly.
I would have problems with tyre projection for IVA, so I will have to use the standard Sierra Pepper Pot rims I have to get it through.

Simon Gregory chose the Eibach hub centric spacers with spigot rings, and has been happy with his choice.
I guess your new rims have the standard 63.4mm Ford centre so will not require spigot rings, so hub centric spacers should give you an even better set up (having less tolerance issues).

Thanks for the replies.

It looks like a choice between eibach and h and r, I think I will try to go for the bolt on type.

Although the wheels are e46 offset they are 6j rims running 205 tyres so I don't envisage any issues with them sticking out too far even if I use 30 or 40mm spacers.

John

John
Do you need such a big spacer?
Your offset is 8mm more than mine, but your tyre projection will be 10mm narrower, (I have chosen 225s) so a 15mm spacer would give the same projection (within 2mm) as mine, which is marginal. At 30-40mm your tyre is likely to be well outside the wheel arch if your bodywork measures up similar to mine.

Remember the old adage - measure twice, buy once!
Mike

Thanks for the words of caution Mike.

I put the wheels on the car today, it looks like they will need about 20 mm to give the required clearance. They do go on without spacers but the clearence is marginal on the rears. It's difficult to be precise until the suspension is carrying full weight and the camber etc is set up.

I decided I will delay buying spacers until I get the car substantially rebuilt and then I will be able to make a much more accurate choice on the right width spacer.

Wheels look good though.

Busy painting the engine and gearbox mounts I made up so I can hopefully put the engine back in for the last time. I'm getting quite proficient at pulling out the m20, it's getting to be like a pitstop exercise, engine in or out in 10 mins!


John

Nice wheels

Mine are also H&R, very good quality:

For 20mm spacers these look quite nice...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360588281469?_trksid=p5197.c0.m619


...peter