Most people use wheel spacers to accommodate bigger rims and wider tires. It is generally better to use the proper offset rims, but for a small clearance adjustment, wheel spacers can be used. If you want to keep the same wheel offset, you must have spacers installed on the front and rear wheels. Every car would leave a certain wheel gap for slight changes in tire size. However, most cars look better when the wheel gap is not so pronounced and tires are flush to the fender.
By installing proper wheel spacers on the front and back wheels, you can easily make the vehicle look sporty and aggressive. Besides, wheel spacers increase the track width hence improving stability. The contact points with the ground stand wider apart, increasing roll resistance. You will experience better handling of the curve.
Are Wheel Spacers Worth It?
Wheel spacers improve both performance and appearance of your vehicle. People are always trying to make their cars look outstanding. When installing a wide body kit, the wheels should be wider apart to match the wide fenders. Because nobody wants the car to look like there’s a huge hole in the fender. Sometimes, people like their wheels, they really don’t want to change to new wheels. By pushing the wheels out a few distances, wheel spacers make your stock wheels perfectly fit the wide-body kit. This provides a better wide-body look.
When it comes to big brake kits, wheel spacers are very useful. Aftermarket brakes are going to require more space between the wheels and the hub assembly. With wheel spacers, you can add more backspacing to accommodate bigger brake calipers. The thicker the wheel spacer is, the more the backspace of the wheel. This is effective to prevent the caliper from contacting the inner wheel spokes.
Do I Need Longer Wheel Bolts?
Some people want to bring the wheel out by just 3mm, or some people would like 2-inch wheel spacers to fit a wide body kit. If you’re trying to achieve a unique sporty appearance, consider a proper set of wheel spacers. Normally, bolt-on wheel spacers don’t need extended wheel bolts. The spacers are bolted to the hub assembly with provided wheel bolts, and then the wheels are secured on the spacers with the stock bolts. There are two sets of wheel bolts, and each one can achieve a full thread engagement.
But when it comes to slip-on wheel spacers, extended wheel bolts are a must option. If you are using slip-on spacers with factory wheel bolts, the thread parts will be not enough to safely lock the wheels. As time goes by, your bolts are likely to loosen. This may cause the wheels to fall off. Anytime you run slip-on wheel spacers, you exactly need longer wheel bolts. Simply add up the spacer thickness and the stock bolt length, the result value is the length of the extended bolts. Giving an example, if the OE wheel bolt length is 30mm and you get a 7mm wheel spacer installed, then you would need longer wheel bolts with 37mm length.
