Wheel spacers - what are the physical effects ?

[jordy]

Hi 

I'm thinking of putting 30mm - 40mm spacers on the front of my beetle.

quaestion is - are they dangerous ? Does this put a dangerous strain on the wheel bolts ? 

I'm thinking of having them made with a replacement lip to simulate the hub lip for the wheel with longer wheel bolts .  I have tested the look with some cheap 10mm spacers ( using 2 ) to see what they look like . They look good but need a bit more , the standard new bolts have have go into the hub 1cm so I don't think that's safe.  If I have proper ones made are they safe ? 

[steveg]

For the width you want it would be better to use bolt on spacers. I've got these on my car made by H&R.



If you can go for bolts to hold them on the hub/drum and studs like the ones shown. I don't know if the spacers supplied come with threaded inserts for wheel bolts but don't think wheel bolts into alloy will be a good idea. It will mean getting suitable wheel nuts to hold the wheel on though.

Do you particularly want to keep the wheels you have ? It would be better to go for wider ones as there would be less load on the wheel bearings. I'm assuming you are talking about an old beetle, lots of people narrow the front beams on them is that to gain clearance on lowered cars or just for looks ?

[lufbramatt]

For anything over 25mm I would go for the bolt on type shown above. I used them for years with no issues. Downside is increased unsprung mass so the suspension has to work harder.

You need to think of the spacer and wheel as a system, you're effectively increasing the positive offset of the wheels. Adding a spacer with the same wheels will increase the loads on wheels bearings and affect the steering geometry (increased positive scrub radius).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrub_radius

[jordy]

Interesting read - thanks guys .

The front has lowering springs on already so my give me a horrible ride - I'll have some bolt on spacers made and see how they are