20mm spacers are made to fit your vehicle while widening your track. If you put 20mm spacers on each wheel, that adds a total of 40mm track width. This is effective in reducing the center of gravity and increasing stability. Besides, you can also fill the wheel gap and make your vehicle look aggressive and sporty. The dimension varies from 98mm to 130mm which allows for fitting different vehicles. A hub-centric 20mm spacer ensures the center ring fits perfectly the vehicle hub and wheel mounting flange. It functions as an extension of the hub to prevent wobble or vibrations. The center ring’s size can be machined from 56.1mm to 110mm, which is made to fit a specific vehicle. 20mm spacers will push your wheels out about 0.75 inch. Increasing inner wheel well space allows you to install wider rims/tires or fix big brake clearance issues.
Does My Car fit 20mm Spacers?
Although 20mm spacers provide many advantages, not all vehicles are suitable. Whether 20mm spacers fit your vehicle, you need to verify:
- You have at least 20mm (0.75″) of wheel gap. Take a straight edge and place it against the outermost part of the rims/tires, then measure from the outside wheel to the fender line to see how much space you have available. If the value is above 20mm, then you are free to use 20mm spacers. If not, then you may meet rubbing issues.
- When using slip-on 20mm spacers, make sure you have the correct extended wheel bolts to fit. Since they will reduce 20mm thread length, the originally equipped wheel bolts will not fit anymore. For instance, if your stock wheel bolts are 27mm long and you get 20mm spacers installed, then you would need 47mm wheel bolts to keep safe.
- When using bolt-on 20mm spacers, make sure the wheel cavities have enough space to cover the protruding wheel studs. Giving an example, if the depth of the wheel pocket is 8mm, and the vehicle stud protrudes 6mm, then 20mm spacers will perfectly fit. If the cavity is shallow or even solid, you will likely need to change to thicker spacers or cut the protruding studs.
How to Install 20mm Spacers?
It is required to use some repair tools to install 20mm spacers, such as a torque wrench and a lug socket:
- Lift the car and remove the wheels;
- Clean the entire hub surface, ensuring it is clean and smooth;
- Place a 20mm spacer on the hub and ensure it is firmly seated and flush against the hub;
- For slip-on spacers, directly remount the wheel and use extended wheel bolts to secure;
- For bolt-on spacers, tighten the spacer with the provided lug nuts to the vehicle studs to the specified torque. Then remount the wheel on the spacer and fasten it with stock lug nuts;
- Torque the wheel bolts or lug nuts to manufacturer specifications.
While the installation process is simple and most knowledgeable customers can install themselves, we recommend installing in a professional tire shop especially if it’s your first time installing these parts. It is always recommended to use a torque wrench at the final torquing step. Untightened lugs (the clamping force is not enough) or overtightened nuts (the stud has been stretched past its tensile strength limit, so the clamping force has gone away) will cause most wheel spacer failures. After 50 – 100 miles of driving, check and retorque hardware.
