Opinions on wheel spacers

Travis

Travis

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
Messages
932
Location
Clinton, Iowa
Ok, as I have previously stated, I am no car guy. I do however want to start to learn about my rig and do some modifications myself. One of the first things I want to do is make the widen the stance of the Jeep. Is this achieved by adding wheel spacers? I have done some reading and many people have said that they're not safe to run. What do you guys think? Are there altrenatives to wheel spacers that are cost effective? I am a firm believer in the phrase "Do it once, Do it right." I read here religiously, every day. I am learning a ton for you fellas. I may not post a whole lot, but i sure do Jeep creep you guys. Hope everyone is having a fine morning, its 62° in Clinton, Iowa. Wooohooo!
 
You don't want wheel spacers. That wide wheel stance you see is due to wheels with more aggressive backspacing (meaning the wheels will stick out further than stock) and wider tires.

So, if you want to do it right then you should get some new wheels with different backspacing and some wider tires.
 
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^^ This. Buy new wheels with ~ 3.75" backspacing to get the wider stance. A lot of people use wheel spacers, but I've never been comfortable with the concept, personally. I've heard too many horror stories of spacers not being torqued right, or not tightened down following routine brake work, etc. Last week on a local Facebook Jeep group, a guy couldn't figure out why his tires were suddenly rubbing and it dawned on him that the dealer forgot to reinstall his spacers altogether after having his rotors replaced, :eek:.

Just my personal opinion, but I think properly-backspaced wheels are the way to go, and the course I took.
 
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Travis said:
Ok, as I have previously stated, I am no car guy. I do however want to start to learn about my rig and do some modifications myself. One of the first things I want to do is make the widen the stance of the Jeep. Is this achieved by adding wheel spacers? I have done some reading and many people have said that they're not safe to run. What do you guys think? Are there altrenatives to wheel spacers that are cost effective? I am a firm believer in the phrase "Do it once, Do it right." I read here religiously, every day. I am learning a ton for you fellas. I may not post a whole lot, but i sure do Jeep creep you guys. Hope everyone is having a fine morning, its 62° in Clinton, Iowa. Wooohooo!
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I used the spider trac wheel spacers for many years on our YJ with never a problem. Put them on with red loctite and torque them correctly. On Stinger I have MT Classic Lock wheels with 3:75 back spacing. Same results with one less step when brake/bearing etc work is to be done. Spacers cost less than a new set of wheels. If you go to spacers make sure they fit on the hub correctly - many call that centric spacers.

Regardless of what you decide understand if you change from factory it will change the manner in which the weight load is placed on your bearings and ball joints. Which may cause them to wear out faster than stock stuff.:eek:
Good luck. Please post up what you decide and then follow up with how well it worked for ya.
 
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I used Spidertrax hub centric spacers on my WJ, and never had a problem. As mentioned, use red Loctite and torque to spec, and you won't have a problem. Also I'd stay away from cheap eBay knock off spacers.
 
Stinger said:
I used the spider trac wheel spacers for many years on our YJ with never a problem. Put them on with red loctite and torque them correctly. On Stinger I have MT Classic Lock wheels with 3:75 back spacing. Same results with one less step when brake/bearing etc work is to be done. Spacers cost less than a new set of wheels If you go to spacers make sure they fit on the hub correctly - many call that centric spacers.
Regardless of what you decide understand if you change from factory it will change the manner in which the weight load is p,aced on your bearings and ball joints. Which may cause them to wear out faster than stock stuff.:eek:
Good luck. Please post up what you decide and then follow up with how well it worked for ya.
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Oh I forgot. Most shops, mechanics, tire stores and the like will not work on the vehicle with spacers. Or, if they do, like mentioned above they will not put them back on. It's a liability thing.
 
I agree that wheels spacers can indeed work. The trick is using that red loctite and making sure they are all properly torqued to spec with high quality bolts.

Still, I would go the backspacing route first and see if that nets you the stance you want.
 
It's the only way I can use my gambler wheels with 31s and not rub. I torqued my spacers and wheels to 110 ft lbs, no Loctite, and have gone 700 miles with no problems.
 
Thanks for the replies fellas, I will take all of your advice into consideration. I like the look of the stock wheels on my TJ, but I also want to keep it as safe as possible. Money is tight these days, so I will probably just leave them as is for now. I will continue to look for the correct wheels, maybe I can come across a deal at some point. Once again, thanks guys. You all are a tremendous help!
 
If you really like the stock wheels, I would just add some spacers. I used spacers for a few months, and my brother has for a few years with no issue. As mentioned above, use Loctite and torque them properly.
 
I had wheel spacers of my old tj with over 100,000 miles and never had a problem. I also have them on current tj again without a problem. You should be fine.
 
Travis said:
If I do go the route of spacers, is Spidertrax the best of the rest?
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I'm not 100% sure. I suspect (could be wrong), they're made in China like all the others, at which point I'd say any wheel spacer will be fine as long as you do your research and it's been positively reviewed.
 
Chris said:
I'm not 100% sure. I suspect (could be wrong), they're made in China like all the others, at which point I'd say any wheel spacer will be fine as long as you do your research and it's been positively reviewed.
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Nope, they're made in the USA. I did a shit ton of research when I was looking into spacers, and Spidertrax always seemed to come out on top.
 
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derekmac said:
Nope, they're made in the USA. I did a shit ton of research when I was looking into spacers, and Spidertrax always seemed to come out on top.
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They are made on the backside of the Wasatch Range (Midway I think )in Utah.
 
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derekmac said:
Nope, they're made in the USA. I did a shit ton of research when I was looking into spacers, and Spidertrax always seemed to come out on top.
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Well then, I would spend the money and get them for sure.

I'd much rather spend my money on something made in the USA when that is an option.
 
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Chris said:
You don't want wheel spacers. That wide wheel stance you see is due to wheels with more aggressive backspacing (meaning the wheels will stick out further than stock) and wider tires.

So, if you want to do it right then you should get some new wheels with different backspacing and some wider tires.
Click to expand...

Hi all, any recommendations for black, 15" wheels with more of this aggressive backspacing (for stock suspension)? Thanks!
 
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