[Tayo]

Need a bit of advice on wheel spacers. I have a 159 with the 19" Ti wheels and at the moment I have 7mm spacers on the front and back. However, they are cheap universal ones off eBay and don't sit flush (is this what is meant by not hubcentric?), meaning they are an absolute bugger to line up and get the bolts through. Also I'm sure they're affecting the ride. Is this a possibility? Anyway, I'm looking for advice on much better spacers, perhaps ones designed specifically for the 159 and the Ti wheel. So what would these be, where can I get them from and what would be the best size to go for? I'm not looking for a really squat look, just wanna push the wheels out slightly. I was thinking about 10mm, which is slightly more that what I have now.

 

[Aqualea]

Can you post a picture of the car with the spacers?

 

[Tayo]

I will do when I get the new spacers. The ones I currently have are so minimal you wouldn't be able to tell in a photo really

 

[Aqualea]

Ah ok. A mate of mine got custom adaptors made to fit land rover alloys on a Jetta. Ill ask him where he got that done and let you know.

 

[swq4]

Why do you need wheel spacers for wheels designed to fit the car????

 

[Tayo]

Why do you need wheel spacers for wheels designed to fit the car????

Just to push the wheels out a bit so they fill the arches more. It's purely for looks for me

 

[lovelyred159]

Having kerbed my wheels so many times. I've had to fit alloygators, the last thing I'd do is make the wheelbase wider!

 

[RobMsport]

Also you'll change scrub radius and geometry , along with making a softer ride so springs will move into the arch higher on compression. If it's aligned afterwards then some of this will be sorted but not all.
You can widen the track , plenty do but normally they'd also change spring rates , castor , camber and toe to suit.

 

[phil-gtv6]

with 7mm spacers, all of the cars weight is then being taken by the wheel bolts??

 

[Tayo]

with 7mm spacers, all of the cars weight is then being taken by the wheel bolts??

That's what I thought, hence going for some hub centric ones this time around.

 

[phil-gtv6]

That's what I thought, hence going for some hub centric ones this time around.

The 'hub mounting flanges' on these cars are quite long (15mm I think) so minimum proper spacer would be 15mm thick, could be pushing it on the arch clearance side of things

On the visual front, I think the same - another 5-10mm would look better without screwing up the handling too much but not sure it can be done easily and effectively

 

[Old Engineer]

I despair. Thousands and thousands of testing miles then you push the wheels out to the limits. All that extra stress on bearings. The twisting action on shafts. The force on the rubbers. The stress on the steering arms etc etc.

I'd keep your speed down to 20MPH.

 

[jasons]

Also you'll change scrub radius and geometry , along with making a softer ride so springs will move into the arch higher on compression. If it's aligned afterwards then some of this will be sorted but not all.
You can widen the track , plenty do but normally they'd also change spring rates , castor , camber and toe to suit.

+1
Rare to hear 'scrub radius', but its crucial in suspension geometry, if you don't understand it, think twice about doing it.

I despair. Thousands and thousands of testing miles then you push the wheels out to the limits. All that extra stress on bearings. The twisting action on shafts. The force on the rubbers. The stress on the steering arms etc etc.

I'd keep your speed down to 20MPH.

Its easy to make a good car bad.

It may look better filling the arches, but you may have made it handle worse, if you are purely after looks then fair enough, but hubcentric spacers and longer bolts, or better a stud conversion may be the way to go?