Wheel Spacers-thoughts, safety?
1 - 20 of 54 Posts
Joined
·
119 Posts
I have them. Love them. Over 10k miles on them and no issues. Had the stock tires for the first half of those miles. Looked really nice.
what spacers did you get? Ive heard some horror stories about them, especially if you go off road
Off roading isn't really the issue, unless they are poorly made with loose tolerances or with low quality (weak) materials. Otherwise, off-roading tend to be done at much lower speed (lower impact forces) than normal driving, really doesn't add more stress or wear on other components like wheel bearings. Over time extreme spacers will accelerate wheel bearing wear.
I've not seen any spacers for the Renegade that is less than 1", yet. Personally, I'd like to use something narrower plus wider tires. Or better yet, no spacers at all—aftermarket wheels with desired offset, plus wider tires.
Joined
·
221 Posts
I have lug nut guy brand. Check the wrangler forums for recommended btands and reviews. Anything that goes wrong with spacers are usually cause by the person who installed them.
Just make sure the they are hub centric to the car and if possible to the wheels as well. But the wheels arent as important as the car. If the wheels use acorn style nuts then they will center the wheel for you.
You can get spacers under 1" but i recommended getting extended lugs if you do. If you go 1" or more than the spacer will come with another set of lug bolts installed on them.
Check out my post about me attemping to put on some new wheels and tires. I covered alot of this on there. You can also see how the stock size tire fit and looks.
Just make sure the they are hub centric to the car and if possible to the wheels as well. But the wheels arent as important as the car. If the wheels use acorn style nuts then they will center the wheel for you.
You can get spacers under 1" but i recommended getting extended lugs if you do. If you go 1" or more than the spacer will come with another set of lug bolts installed on them.
Check out my post about me attemping to put on some new wheels and tires. I covered alot of this on there. You can also see how the stock size tire fit and looks.
Joined
·
60 Posts
I believe they allow you to put bigger tires on the Jeep. At least that's what I've gathered so far
Joined
·
119 Posts
They move the wheel away from the fender well. They go between the wheel and the hub.
Joined
·
221 Posts
Here is more info on spacers
http://www.jeeprenegadeforum.com/fo...railhawk-edition/12058-wheels-tire-specs.html
Most cars from factory, the wheels sit inside of the fender. People who use spacers like to have the wheels flush with the fender. For cosmetic reasons.
If you get the wrong offset on a new set of wheels. Spacers helps correct it. Every car has a different stock offset, so one wheel might not fit the same on two different cars. Always research what offset you would like before purchasing new wheels.
Any spacers under 1" or 25mm or 2.5cm is installed by sandwiching it between your hub/rotor and the wheel. It utilizes the original lug bolts and nuts. Extended lug bolts may be needed if you are using spacers under 1".
Spacers 1" and larger will utilize a new set of lug bolts. So you would mount the spacers onto the hub/rotor using the original lug bolts and nuts. You may need to cut the lug bolts shorter to insure that when the wheels in mounted to the spacer, it is mounted flush. Once the spacer is mounted to the hub/rotor, you mount the wheel to the spacers new set of lug bolts. Make sure you get the pattern you wish to use to match the wheels you wish to use on the spacers new set of lug bolts.
If you are using spacers 1" and larger you can also change the bolt pattern to utilize the wheel you wish to use. The Renegades bolt pattern is 5x110. There isn't many wheels out there for us to use because this is a uncommon size in the USA. So using a spacer that bolts onto the 5x110 and changes the new bolt pattern to 5x114 will open up the available wheels choices we can make. Especially the offroad style wheels that are available to the Jeep Wranglers.
Wheel spacers can let you use wider wheels with wider tires. Without a spacer you may experience the wheel or tire rubbing your strut tube or spring perch. In the case of the Renegade, the spacer moves the wheel out away from the spring perch allowing for a slightly larger tire diameter. Without the spacer the tire may rub the bottom of the spring perch.
For offroading people prefer the look of a wider stance. The wider stance also gives the car better balance by lowering the center of gravity. Helps when you are at all kinds of weird angles when you are offroading. So the wheels usually stick out half way out of the fenders. Look at any Jeep Wranglers for an example.
Most offroading enthusiasts also recommend that for every inch you lift your vehicle, you should widen it as well. This is to do with the center of gravity again. When you lift the vehicle up 1" then the center of gravity also moves up. You can compensate it by moving the wheels out 1".
http://www.jeeprenegadeforum.com/fo...railhawk-edition/12058-wheels-tire-specs.html
Most cars from factory, the wheels sit inside of the fender. People who use spacers like to have the wheels flush with the fender. For cosmetic reasons.
If you get the wrong offset on a new set of wheels. Spacers helps correct it. Every car has a different stock offset, so one wheel might not fit the same on two different cars. Always research what offset you would like before purchasing new wheels.
Any spacers under 1" or 25mm or 2.5cm is installed by sandwiching it between your hub/rotor and the wheel. It utilizes the original lug bolts and nuts. Extended lug bolts may be needed if you are using spacers under 1".
Spacers 1" and larger will utilize a new set of lug bolts. So you would mount the spacers onto the hub/rotor using the original lug bolts and nuts. You may need to cut the lug bolts shorter to insure that when the wheels in mounted to the spacer, it is mounted flush. Once the spacer is mounted to the hub/rotor, you mount the wheel to the spacers new set of lug bolts. Make sure you get the pattern you wish to use to match the wheels you wish to use on the spacers new set of lug bolts.
If you are using spacers 1" and larger you can also change the bolt pattern to utilize the wheel you wish to use. The Renegades bolt pattern is 5x110. There isn't many wheels out there for us to use because this is a uncommon size in the USA. So using a spacer that bolts onto the 5x110 and changes the new bolt pattern to 5x114 will open up the available wheels choices we can make. Especially the offroad style wheels that are available to the Jeep Wranglers.
Wheel spacers can let you use wider wheels with wider tires. Without a spacer you may experience the wheel or tire rubbing your strut tube or spring perch. In the case of the Renegade, the spacer moves the wheel out away from the spring perch allowing for a slightly larger tire diameter. Without the spacer the tire may rub the bottom of the spring perch.
For offroading people prefer the look of a wider stance. The wider stance also gives the car better balance by lowering the center of gravity. Helps when you are at all kinds of weird angles when you are offroading. So the wheels usually stick out half way out of the fenders. Look at any Jeep Wranglers for an example.
Most offroading enthusiasts also recommend that for every inch you lift your vehicle, you should widen it as well. This is to do with the center of gravity again. When you lift the vehicle up 1" then the center of gravity also moves up. You can compensate it by moving the wheels out 1".
Joined
·
234 Posts
I'm looking at doing a 2 inch thick 5x110 to 5x110 spacer for the stock tires (Source: http://www.performancewheeladapters.com/lugmanusa-life-time-adapter-build-your-own-5x110mm/).
Other than installing them correctly, should I be worried about anything else?
Other than installing them correctly, should I be worried about anything else?
Good information, thanks.
Will the offset created by the 1" spacers damage the axels, bearings, tranamission, etc.?
most probably it will.... :-ç
Joined
·
234 Posts
"When properly installed, high quality wheel spacers that bolt on to your axle and then your wheel bolts on to it will behave no differently than would a wheel with less back spacing. I have used wheel spacers on ALL my Jeeps at one point and time over the last 20 years and have NEVER had a problem with any of them. The key is "proper" installation and a routine check of them just like anything." (http://toasterjeep.com/index.php?threads/renegade-budget-boost.318/)
Take it from someone with experience...
Joined
·
3,718 Posts
They will increase the load on any wheel bearings, just as will drastically changing the offset by choosing a different wheel. How much that will impact the service life of your bearings is really dependent on how over built/over engineered the vehicle is in that regards, and how the vehicle is driven.
Replacement can be pretty cheap though, especially if you can DIY replace the items, so people do it anyway.
Keep in mind though, the wear issue is about changing the length of the lever applying force to the bearing. If I keep wheel/tire width the same, but I put on a wheel with negative offset relative to stock wheels, I lengthen that lever and increase load. If I put on wheels that are wider, have relative negative offset to stock, and a wider tire, but the relative negative offset is 50% of the additional tire width, the length of the lever is essentially the same.
I had an eclipse. I went form 215 tires to 235 tires and put on wheels with different offset than stock. The net result was that I changed the position of the centerline of the tire less than 5%. I put 168k miles on that car without going through any wheel bearings. The recommendation I got form someone who put a lot more after-market tires and wheels on a lot more cars than I did was that keeping tha change to 10% or less would likely not impact wear too badly.
Replacement can be pretty cheap though, especially if you can DIY replace the items, so people do it anyway.
Keep in mind though, the wear issue is about changing the length of the lever applying force to the bearing. If I keep wheel/tire width the same, but I put on a wheel with negative offset relative to stock wheels, I lengthen that lever and increase load. If I put on wheels that are wider, have relative negative offset to stock, and a wider tire, but the relative negative offset is 50% of the additional tire width, the length of the lever is essentially the same.
I had an eclipse. I went form 215 tires to 235 tires and put on wheels with different offset than stock. The net result was that I changed the position of the centerline of the tire less than 5%. I put 168k miles on that car without going through any wheel bearings. The recommendation I got form someone who put a lot more after-market tires and wheels on a lot more cars than I did was that keeping tha change to 10% or less would likely not impact wear too badly.
Joined
·
119 Posts
I agree with Raz-O. Wheel bearing life could be affected as they are subjected to a shear force and changing the point at which that is applied could have a negative impact. As to everything inside the hubs, I couldn't see that changing or picture it doing any damage to those components unless failing bearings were not caught/ignored.
Joined
·
221 Posts
2" is a lot. A thing to note when spacing the wheels further out, it changes the clearance you have when turning the wheel to full lock. The contact points change on the front and back of the tire.
I used BFG 215/75/R15 Mud tires which come out to the same size as the Trailhawk's wheel/tire combo. When I spaced these out by 1", I'm getting slight contact at the back of the wheel against the plastic fender well trim when I'm at fully turning the steering wheel. The front of the tire still have plenty of room.
When I used a wider and larger diameter tire, Kenda 235/75/R15, I get a lot of contact in the rear. Not only the plastic fender well trim, but also the end of the side skirt. I also have contact in the front of the tire against the plastic fender well trim.
So stock tires with a 1" spacer gave me slight contact already. 2" will give you similar if not more contact than my setup with the Kenda 235 with a 1" spacer. You might actually be hitting the outside edge of the fender on the back side of the tire at full wheel turning lock.
With the BFG 215 I was test fitting. Once I saw I could get more room under there, I skipped the 225 because it was already proven to fit and tried a size larger with the Kenda 235. A thing I notice with the 215 (or stock Trailhawk) tires is that they are very thin. In stock form they suit the Renegade well. Spaced out 1" the Renegade's stance looks like it's standing on toothpicks. The size of the car and the gap between the tire or the gap between the inside of the tire to the inside of the fender doesn't look right to me. So I filled in with a thicker tire. A skinny 215 tire at 2" out wouldn't look right to me. Use the outside edge of the fender as a reference point and figure the ratio of tire you want on both sides of that reference point. About 25% of the tire past the fender and 75% of the tire tucked inside of the fender is what does it for me.
Joined
·
234 Posts
You and I have the exact same model and color, nice.
I feel that the stock tires and placement makes the renegade look like it's wheels are hiding under the body. All I'm looking to do is to make it look a bit more muscle'y. It looks like if I went 2" it'd set the beginning of the first tread flush with the wheel well. Getting a new set of tires is way more expensive for me than to get a $200 set of spacers... How much were your 235 tires? What rims did you use? Do you have some pictures?
Joined
·
221 Posts
Only time will tell. The 9 speed is still too new to find its limitations. Check the cheerokee forums since they have been using this transmission longer.
1 - 20 of 54 Posts
