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Effects of increasing track width using spacers?

3K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  alistairolsen 
#1 ·
Due to arch clearance problems on my nova and the need to space the front wheels out to clear the coilover platforms (5mm), I have bought some wide arches. I want to use the wide arches to my advantage by increasing the front track width. I can't afford to buy the full wide track suspension kit, so that's not an option.
What are the negatives to using wheel spacers (25mm)?
I realise increased wheel bearing wear wil be one effect, but what effect will it have on the handling? :confused:
Any evidence to back up claims will be appreciated!

:beer:
 
#3 ·
Castor, camber, toe etc. would all be 'played' with anyway so finding settings wouldn't be an issue.
Tramlining, is this where the car has a tendancy to follow undulations in the road (eg. white lines) and am I therefore right in thinking it wouldn't be much of an issue on a track? :confused:

Cheers for the reply, Spanishfly! :beer:
 
#7 ·
alistairolsen said:
NOooooooooooooo:eek:
I know, I know, Its not ideal. But surely adding larger width rims (which everyone does) has the same effect, I.e puts a larger strain on the hubs/bolts etc by increasing the moment of the forces acting on the tyre?
e.g. The tyres outside edge of contact patch is further away from the hub so when cornering the leverage is greater. Surely all a wheelspacer will do is magnify this to a degree :confused:
 
#10 ·
Lee H said:
They would but then you somehow need to move the shock across at the top and not sure if eccentric top mounts would have enough adjustment in them.
not really, you can modify the shock holes and hub to compensate surely, and may have to use eccentrics too, although i have them and you need to grind out a fair amout of metal to have full adjustment on them.

just a thought too about steering arms, youd need to use a corsa rack, easy enough that one
 
#11 ·
dont know about nova, but on my tigra (which is basically corsa, right?) i had to put 10mm spacers to get any reasonable lock on as it on 18's (i know silly me :p), and it still felt like the ditches were pulling me in lol, received some 25mm ones in the post as i was going to do exactly the same thing with the arches as well, but seeing them i decided ill keep the 10's and put up with some scrubbage :rolleyes:

10mm - 20mm wider total - fair, sharper corners, at expense of tiny amount of added 'sway'
25mm - ridiculous - thats 50mm total wider, will sway alot, i would seriously worry about bolt strenght as its going on the track

:beer:
 
#13 ·
they'll work,and i cant see them being much weaker than a wheel with the right offset, but you will be loading the hub bearings alot more, which may lead to problems on trackand miuch as you can adjust the camber and castor, you will still be away from the offset the car was designed to work with
 
#14 ·
Haynzee said:
those are ok, similar to hubcentric adapters. except they don't adapt, just space out

by the time you've spent the £100 or so on those, you would be £100 closer to buying some proper wheels
But if i get a 25 offset pair of front wheels I can't swap them front to back as the rear arches aren't wide ;)

And as for wheel bearing loading, by fitting sticky wider
tyres, stiffer suspension etc etc the life of bearings is reduced. So reducing it further doesn't really bother me lol. Anyway a standard bearing in a standard car is good for 50,000 easy, I'd be more than happy with a tenth of that lol
 
#16 ·
think abou the movement of the wheel when you turn a corner ;)

Lower offset wheels ahve the same adverse effects, but avoid the bolt breaking issues.

leaving the rear Id imagine would feel quite odd, but dont know.

TBH id leave it all till you can afford to do it right.
 
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