Wheel Spacers Behind or in Front of Rotors?

davidmjulian

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May 21, 2021
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Lancaster, PA
If I were to remove the rotors on my 2002 TJ, install 2" lug centric spacers, and reinstall my rotor on to the spacer lugs, am I making a mistake? Is there anything I'm missing that would make this a BAAAD idea?

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If I were to remove the rotors on my 2002 TJ, install 2" lug centric spacers, and reinstall my rotor on to the spacer lugs, am I making a mistake? Is there anything I'm missing that would make this a BAAAD idea?

View attachment 417559

Give it a try and let us know how that works out for you.......😳
 
He said: "If I were to remove the rotors on my 2002 TJ, install 2" lug centric spacers, and reinstall my rotor on to the spacer lugs..."

Yep,as in put them on after the spacers. The key there is installing the rotors on the spacer lugs not the unit bearing lugs 😉
 
To make it very clear, NO, you cannot install the spacers first.

If you did, the caliper/pads would no longer be able to contact the rotor so no front brakes.

If you're using spacers, be sure to torque them to spec and use blue thread locker.

Drive it a couple hundred miles and then check the torque on the spacers again.
 
The rotors will no longer fit in the caliper if you put the space in before the rotor

I’m curious what is driving the desire to run the spacer inside the the rotor?

Just depends on how hard you pull on the caliper to get it over the rotor. Hard enough and you can get the guide sleeves out but it is certainly doable. Maybe I need to come up with a set of extended guide sleeves?

The best part of this question is looking at it for 3.8 seconds with the wheel off is less effort than all this typing everyone is doing.
 
To make it very clear, NO, you cannot install the spacers first.

If you did, the caliper/pads would no longer be able to contact the rotor so no front brakes.

If you're using spacers, be sure to torque them to spec and use blue thread locker.

Drive it a couple hundred miles and then check the torque on the spacers again.

You can make it all contact and fit over the rotor as long as you pull hard enough.
 
Aside from all of the snarky comments that will inevitably compromise the effectiveness of this forum, i appreciate the responses.

I'm just gonna pull it apart and verify. If what I believe is true, is in fact true, my spacers will leave enough space on the rotors for the calipers and pads to sit correctly on the rotors.

if it works, I plan to wish voodoo evil on all the unit-measuring members unwilling to help.


EDIT: If it doesn't work, I'll leave that info here for the next person who has the same curiosity.
 
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Aside from all of the snarky comments that will inevitably compromise the effectiveness of this forum, i appreciate the responses.

I'm just gonna pull it apart and verify. If what I believe is true, is in fact true, my spacers will leave enough space on the rotors for the calipers and pads to sit correctly on the rotors.

if it works, I plan to wish voodoo evil on all the unit-measuring members unwilling to help.


EDIT: If it doesn't work, I'll leave that info here for the next person who has the same curiosity.

I will offer all my encouragement for you to see what happens. Be sure to report back with your findings.

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This will not work (at least not without a brake delete) simply because the face of the rotor will not be in the right position to slide through the calipers.

The proper way to achieve what you are looking for is by using wider axles. However, they are very expensive. Hub-centric spacers can be used in their normal position, but can stress the axle in some unexpected ways if proper planning is not used. Namely, wheel backspacing (assuming an 8" wide wheel) minus spacer thickness should not go below 3.75".

Also note that certain types of wheel spacers are illegal in Pennsylvania, and will cause a failed safety inspection.
 
Without being snarky, the question suggests that you don't understand how wheel spacers work.

If you offset the rotor, you also need to offset the caliper the same amount.
While I'm sure that you could modify how the caliper attaches to the vehicle, adding a spacer there (to also offset the caliper), would significantly reduce the effectiveness of the brake system due to the flex that would occur every time you apply the brakes.

Aside from the factory studs projecting out through the spacer so far that you would not be able to seat the rotor flat, it is 100% not going to work and you'll see why when you pull of the wheel.
 
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