Recommendations on wheel spacer size....PICTURES ADDED

[g60jaime 10]

Just wondering if anyone might be able to recommend a suitable sized wheel spacers for my G60.

 

The car has just been lowered with KW V1's by 35-40mm and has some ACT 15x7.5" offset et37 alloys with 15 195 50 tyres. The front tyres rub the front of the inner arch when on full lock. The work was done by G-werks a month or so ago and they have suggested either 8mm or 15mm either side, H&R or Eibach. I have no problems with the rears.

 

Just wondering if anyone else is running a similar set up and what size can be used to fill the arch out without getting rubbing on the outer arch or causing increased strain on any components (if any?

 

Thanks in advance.

[g60jaime 10]

Does anyone have a suggestion in which way to go here?

 

I know its only a choice of two but was wondering if it is best to keep any spacer depth to a minimum or whether i could fill out my arches with the thicker 15mm ones without detrimental effects.

 

Any opinion is appreciated.

[D-Pete 0]

IIRC 8mm will not be hubcentric, 15mm should have a lip to centre the wheel correctly which will put less stress on the bolts as they are not the only thing holding the wheel on and in place. Go big!!

[Henny 0]

I'd agree with D-Pete about the hub-centric spacers... so much so I run 11mm hub-centric ones on my Corrado which I had custom machined to fit the 40 offset wheels I use! :lol:

 

Do the wheels you use have spiggot rings fitted, or do they just fit straight onto the Corrado hub as the standard wheels did?

 

If they use spiggot rings, you can get some spacers machined up pretty cheaply (I think mine cost about £20 per spacer) to any thickness you require... ;)

 

(A spiggot ring is a small, usually plastic, spacer ring which sits inside the center hub of the wheel so that the wheel can be used on multiple different vehicles with different hub sizes simply by changing the spiggot rings)

[g60jaime 10]

Thanks for the advise guys.

 

The wheels do have spiggot rings, little green plastic rings that sit between stub axle and the back of the wheel. Having some machined up for £20 to any spec is very competitive, I doubt i could get my local fabricators to do it for the same. What do you reckon the widest is you could go with the spacers without starting to foul the arches with the wheel spec already stated.

 

At the mo i am opting for the 15mm due to the hub-centric bit.

[Henny 0]

I run 7.5 x 16 ET 40 all around with 11mm spacers... this leaves me with the wheel just inside the lip of the wheel arch both front and back (effectively ET29) on my early bodied G60...

 

With an ET37 and the same width wheel, you'll be looking at either 8mm if yours is an early car to guarantee that your wheels don't foul the arches, or around 16mm if yours is a late one (there's around 8mm difference between early and late front wings...) 8)

[g60jaime 10]

Thanks Henry, thats great to compare specs.

 

My G60 is a 92 and it is the late spec one (bumpers and bonnet definitely, wings i believe are late don't know how to check?). Pretty sure it is a cross over one as it has early spec interior.

 

Armed with that info I am going to order up some 15mm hubcentric spacers either H&R or Eibach's.

 

Thanks everyone

[g60jaime 10]

When i went to order 15mm hubcentric spacers i was informed that i will get rubbing on the outer arch if used. From what Henry said i wasn't expecting this. Instead it was recommended i got a set of Ripspeed 9.5mm spacers from Halfords and fitted them using the original bolts, not longer ones!?

 

I know these Ripspeed items are not hubcentric and are a universal fitting, am a bit concerned over the wheel not being supported on the spiggot ring and increasing shear stress on bolts.

 

So I'm now back to selecting a spacer thickness to fit, whether they can be hubcentric or not (preferable), and the need for new bolts.

 

I've added some photos to demonstrate what I've got. I just don't want to buy the wrong thing. Thanks

[g60jaime 10]

Pictures added to help assessment.

[g60jaime 10]

After considering everything that people have contributed on this thread, and no further responses that included the photos, I bought some 9.5mm Ripspeed spacers for £15 to guage size requirements at the least.

 

All I can say about them is that that is about all they are good for. Really difficult to centre the wheel, almost impossible and only had 8mm of bolt thread left when tightening the bolts. Can't imagine ever using them.

 

However they do look to improve the clearance but couldn't really tell properly.

 

Can anyone confirm 15mm (or more) Hubcentric spacers with new bolts will be the way to go? At over £100 for a pair with bolts don't want to buy the wrong thing, i want to buy the right set up, just once.

 

Please use the previously attached photos for assessment.

 

Thanks in advance.

[D-Pete 0]

You'll always need longer bolts with spacers, just add the thickness of the spacer to the length of the shaft of the OE bolt to give the length required. I'd get hubcentric spacers every time if I needed anything over 10mm. Is that negative camberor is the car on a slope? NC could cause rubbing on the inside of the wheel at the top as well.

[g60jaime 10]

The car was on a bit of a slope when the photo was taken. When the suspension was changed I'm pretty sure all the geometry was adjusted on the front end due to the drop, i think has been set to have a bit of neg camber on it.

 

I want to get some 4-wheel laser alignment done but only once i have the chassis sorted and am happy with it, therefore want to get the spacers bit done first.

 

Not noticed any rubbing on the inner top of the arch, I did spot a bit of rubbing on the driveshaft where it must have rubbed on the arch tunnel under compression at somepoint, car may be a little low but its not exactly slammed!

 

Another thought I did have was whether it was necessary to make sure the offset was the same for all four wheels or just treat the wheels in pairs. Therefore just because I've got spacers for the front doesn't mean I have to for the back.

[KipVR 1]

i've used 15mm hubcentric spacers to clear my calipers, no clearance issues at all, and looking at your photos you should be absolutely fine. If you want on the rear you can cut up a piece of 15mm plate and drill four holes in it, then mount it between your stub axle and rear beam. This way means your bearings don't get an increased load, much cheaper, and no spacers every time you take your wheel off....

[pt_corrado 0]

i've used 15mm hubcentric spacers to clear my calipers, no clearance issues at all, and looking at your photos you should be absolutely fine. If you want on the rear you can cut up a piece of 15mm plate and drill four holes in it, then mount it between your stub axle and rear beam. This way means your bearings don't get an increased load, much cheaper, and no spacers every time you take your wheel off....

 

hello, can you explain better how it works?

 

i´m not seeing how it is and my english isnt so good.

 

regards

[g60jaime 10]

I think it is great how easily opinions and solutions are shared on this forum.

 

KipVR, in response, I think i will be opting for the 15mm hubcentric spacers like I initially wanted to, will go back to the supplier and re-explain prob in case something was initially missed, and therefore mis-advised. As for the rear spacers looks a great idea, do you manufacture those yourself? They have a nice finish and would cut a lot of mucking about right down. With all the "home-made" parts (doesn't sound very complimentary) how do you know that isn't all going to end in tears when making the part then fitting it and leaving it? Faith in the material and it fixings, or is there often more to the persons background in terms of engineering etc? Have you got any more of these spacers you may want to sell?

 

Thanks once again.

 

pt_corrado, it looks like you take off the brake caliper, carrier and shield, then the stub axle that the wheel fits on. Then you'll have the rear beam just looking at you, then fit the spacer to the beam once you have made the appropriate size and shape. Build back on everything you took off in the reverse order! Repeat for the other rear corner.

[KipVR 1]

I think it is great how easily opinions and solutions are shared on this forum.

 

KipVR, in response, I think i will be opting for the 15mm hubcentric spacers like I initially wanted to, will go back to the supplier and re-explain prob in case something was initially missed, and therefore mis-advised. As for the rear spacers looks a great idea, do you manufacture those yourself? They have a nice finish and would cut a lot of mucking about right down. With all the "home-made" parts (doesn't sound very complimentary) how do you know that isn't all going to end in tears when making the part then fitting it and leaving it? Faith in the material and it fixings, or is there often more to the persons background in terms of engineering etc? Have you got any more of these spacers you may want to sell?

 

Thanks once again.

 

pt_corrado, it looks like you take off the brake caliper, carrier and shield, then the stub axle that the wheel fits on. Then you'll have the rear beam just looking at you, then fit the spacer to the beam once you have made the appropriate size and shape. Build back on everything you took off in the reverse order! Repeat for the other rear corner.

 

Jaime, ...I've not bothered to save the pattern, but if you get yourself a bit of 15mm plate then you can just hack/jigsaw it out yourself, it's a square with four holes and a cutout, about an hours careful work, you can order the plate (6082 t6 aluminium) from Smiths metals online. It couldn't really be any easier, but don't forget you will need some longer bolts to bolt the stub axles back on, they are M8's. Get M8x50's if you're spacing by 15mm and they need to be 10.9 bolts minimum, I allowed extra and put nuts on the back too just to make sure! To be sure I'd measure it yourself though!

 

I don't know about others on here, but i know many are very competent engineers, personally I trust everything I have done myself to be fit for the purpose, if I'm in any doubt I run it through a finite element analysis program just to make sure it's up to the job. I'm an automotive design engineer for the day job which helps though!

 

Thanks for answering PT-corrado for me too :D :D

[g60jaime 10]

Thanks for the added details, I might well go down that route once the front is sorted.

 

As for undertaking it, I hope you didn't think i was questioning the validity in manufacturing your own parts for use on the vehicle, I've a lot of respect for the time and effort some members have evidently put into their cars. Not something I have had to do at this point. As I slowly upgrade and replace parts with parts that aren't necessarily OE I feel there might well be the need to to a bit of this, its probably just a confidence thing, something i think in your case being an automotive design engineer might well help with, haha! Its the sort of thing when you see some stuff done and you think crikey, don't know how I would go about that. Anyway, thanks again for your help, its appreciated.

[KipVR 1]

No worries pal :D

[pt_corrado 0]

pt_corrado, it looks like you take off the brake caliper, carrier and shield, then the stub axle that the wheel fits on. Then you'll have the rear beam just looking at you, then fit the spacer to the beam once you have made the appropriate size and shape. Build back on everything you took off in the reverse order! Repeat for the other rear corner.

 

thanks :grin: . let see if i take off one of mine so check it and try to undrestand how it fits, as i never take off mine.

 

 

kipVr and a group buy? :clap: :clap: :clap: