Hubcentric spacer advice

[VR46-G@Z]

Hi guys ive done a search but can't find what I'm looking for.... Basically I have a 182 lowered on cooksport springs and I want the standard cup wheels to sit further out, how wide can hubcentric spacers be where the stance is widened for better looks without stressing the wheel bearings and not upset the drive or ride of the car?! I know little about spacers but want a bolt on easy fit without hassle or issues, and also manufacturers and suppliers you'd reccommend, any advice appreciated, cheers. Gaz.

 

[Cropper]

Hubcentric are believed too be the cheap ones on the market.. May be different I'm not sure as I fitted eibach 20mm on my 200, regarding handling upsetting just make sure the spacers are torqued up too the right torque on the box and get the car laser aligned if possible once there fitted.

Mine feels a hell of a lot more responsive, only down side is your turning circle!

 

[adamlstr]

I ran 25mm all round on my Cup, for a little while.

One of them failed, so I binned them off. They weren't cheap ones either, they were Eibach.

Some seem to run them on track cars with no issues, but I won't use spacers again. :up:

 

[barnesautos]

I run 20m spacers on track , I won't use the bolt to hub type as these can work loose out on track through certain conditions . I prefer the spacers that go over the studs . Only 4 nuts to keep an eye on . [emoji106]
Not had any issues with the spacers and had them a few years now.

 

[Tim.]

H&R or Eibach are reputable. Check out Venom Motorsport's website.

Hubcentric is not a brand I've heard of, I thought it was a word that means the spacer has a little lip on it? The opposite to that being a flat spacer.

Any spacer, even a 5mm flat spacer will increase stresses, won't they? But will they cause failures each and every 1,000 miles? No.

Bolt to hub 16mm / 20mm / 25mm are run by plenty I would have thought.

 

[VR46-G@Z]

Ah thanks guys for the useful advice, I may just leave my car as it is. All 4 of my tyres wear absolutely evenly as the car is now and the wheel bearings are under factory designed stresses so maybe I'm best not messing with it.... Sometimes you do things and wish you never had, this might be that sort of thing!

 

[VR46-G@Z]

I thought Hubcentric spacers were the type of spacer that has a lip and the hub takes the weight of load not the bolts? I wasn't referring to a manufacturer...:up:

 

[Timmsy]

Ive had 2 pairs of 'high quality' (Eibach & FK) bolt to hub style fail on me now! the last set that failed the wheel actually came off and ripped my wing to shreds!

fortunately i wasnt going too quickly and there was no traffic about otherwise could have been a whole lot worse!

I dont trust spacers at all now but if i really had to for caliper clearance i'd get the ones like @barnesautos mentions.

 

[VR46-G@Z]

Thanks for your input Timmsy, that's definitely made my mind up!:up:

 

[benhiggs]

Personally I'd recommend bolt to hub spacers, take a look on amazon for 20mm, I got a really good deal on there and have had no problems

Got 20 and 25mm spacers here I'm not using atm

 

[Timmsy]

Just to add to what i put above the FK ones cross threaded as the alloy was too soft (tbf could have been my own fault) the Eibach ones shredded 2 wheel bolts and the other 2 came lose hence the wheel coming off.

Both were 25mm and not cheap by any means. Certainly not cheap taking into the account cost of them and then the repairs

I have heard of people not having any issues at all but for me personally i wouldnt risk it.

 

[barnesautos]

Bolt to hub are not for me - I'm out [emoji33]

 

[Ph1Rich]

I've got a pair of brand new H&R Trak 20mm hubcentric spacers for sale. These require longer studs, which make it so much easier to change wheels.

Drop me a message if you're interested. Cheers.

 

[smac4494]

I thought Hubcentric spacers were the type of spacer that has a lip and the hub takes the weight of load not the bolts

Yes they are.

Bolt to hub is best for 20mm or more increase. Stud conversion is complicated with spacers. Too long and you can't put smaller spacers on without changing to bolts. Too short and you're limited on size.

 

[VR46-G@Z]

I think I'm going to pass on the idea, hearing of bolts shearing and the like puts me off a bit!!

 

[Jekyll]

I'll add that I had h&r 20mm spacers. These where hubcentric ones that bolted to the hub with supplied bolts then use your existing wheen bolts to go into the spacers (with inserts already fitted) as you would normally do a wheel up. I ran these for nearly 2 years and never once had a problem. In fact I tourqed them up on the hub and never needed to tighten them up afterwards. I sold them on to @KitsonRis who now has them on he's ph1 and he can vouch for the quality even after my use of them.

Its personal preference but I prefer the type I had rather than using a spacer with longer bolts/studs.

IMO 20mm is perfect as the wheels still have a small amount of tuck under the arches but don't look massive through the wheels, giving a oem+ look.

 

[VR46-G@Z]

I'll add that I had h&r 20mm spacers. These where hubcentric ones that bolted to the hub with supplied bolts then use your existing wheen bolts to go into the spacers (with inserts already fitted) as you would normally do a wheel up. I ran these for nearly 2 years and never once had a problem. In fact I tourqed them up on the hub and never needed to tighten up. I sold them on to @KitsonRis who now has them on he's and he can vouch for the quality even after my use of them.

Its personal preference but I prefer the type I had rather than using a spacer with longer bolts/studs

IMO 20mm is perfect as the wheels still have a small amount of tuck under the arches but don't look massive through the wheels, giving a own+ look.

That's interesting, I'll look into that, thanks!

 

[KitsonRis]

I do have them, they are currently on my car. However I haven't "used" them yet as the car has hardly moved 2 feet since September but it will be back on the road this month.
They do look the part. My brother was impressed with them and he has had spacers and built his own track car before so knows what he is on about. His only comment was to not get the monkeys in tyre shops to use the wizzy gun to do wheel bolts into them as he had problems before with them being stuck in
But see my progress thread for pictures and also Dr Jekylls too

 

[VR46-G@Z]

I will do, cheers @KitsonRis :up:

 

[Knuckles]

Just to add to what i put above the FK ones cross threaded as the alloy was too soft (tbf could have been my own fault) the Eibach ones shredded 2 wheel bolts and the other 2 came lose hence the wheel coming off.

Both were 25mm and not cheap by any means. Certainly not cheap taking into the account cost of them and then the repairs

I have heard of people not having any issues at all but for me personally i wouldnt risk it.

I would never trust anything structural which you bolt straight to the aluminium.

Constant bolting and un bolting royally f***s the thread up... As you found.

That's why threaded steel inserts are used, they resist wear for longer and can be done and undone without issue.

See the inserts on the spacer

 

[Timmsy]

I would never trust anything structural which you bolt straight to the aluminium.

Constant bolting and un bolting royally f***s the thread up... As you found.

That's why threaded steel inserts are used, they resist wear for longer and can be done and undone without issue.

See the inserts on the spacer

You raise a good point but strange enough the eibach ones with steel inserts ended up being the ones to strip threads on the bolts and ended up like this

 

[Knuckles]

You raise a good point but strange enough the eibach ones with steel inserts ended up being the ones to strip threads on the bolts and ended up like this

How the f**k did you manage that?!

Genuinely what happened lol? Did not expect to see that!

And if they stripped the threads on the steel inserts, how were you tightening them and what steel is it do you know?

 

[Timmsy]

No idea buddy! Torqued them up to the correct setting and the same with the wheel bolts, not over tightened or anything.
One day on way home from work I heard a knocking, thought my drive shaft had started knocking as couldn't see any issues in the dark.
Next morning I tried to drive it to my mechanics to swap over to a spare driveshaft I had waiting to go on then bang wheel came off and left me stranded in the middle of the a259

This was the result...

 

[VR46-G@Z]

Wow! I think I'm going keep mine standard, even one instance of a failure is enough to put me off to be honest!! Thanks for sharing that info @Timmsy

 

[Knuckles]

I think you've just changed my mind on bolt to hub vs elongated bolt spacers!

 

[Timmsy]

Don't get me wrong I loved the look of having the spacers and I'm sure other brands will be better but I can't recommend eibach or fk hubcentric ones.

Like I said the only way i'd have them again is to go for a better built brand and only if I really needed them.

 

[Timmsy]

I think you've just changed my mind on bolt to hub vs elongated bolt spacers!

I know, even the wheel/tyre place I went to get the replacement bolts from were shocked

 

[Knuckles]

Don't get me wrong I loved the look of having the spacers and I'm sure other brands will be better but I can't recommend eibach or fk hubcentric ones.

Like I said the only way i'd have them again is to go for a better built brand and only if I really needed them.

Was it the bolts holding the spacer to the hub that failed or the bolts holding the wheel to the spacer?

It looks like the latter going by the pic

 

[VR46-G@Z]

My purpose would be purely visual as mine is just a daily driver/occasional thrasher, but I've been put off now.. The 182 has a pretty good stance anyway on lowering springs, but spacers do look really good, however all 4 wheels staying on my car is also good!! :smile::up:

 

[Timmsy]

Was it the bolts holding the spacer to the hub that failed or the bolts holding the wheel to the spacer?

It looks like the latter going by the pic

Bolts holding to the spacer. Original Renault bolts too. What I don't get is that they were fine for about 3000 miles of being on with the usual 1000 mile after fitting check too

I'm still baffled as to how it happened tbh

 

[Knuckles]

Bolts holding to the spacer. Original Renault bolts too. What I don't get is that they were fine for about 3000 miles of being on with the usual 1000 mile after fitting check too

I'm still baffled as to how it happened tbh

Hopefully you were just unlucky enough to get a s**t spacer. Did you buy them new?

 

[RichieJA]

Looks like the spacer wasn't made correctly I would have a serious work with whoever you got them off they owe you at least a new wing

 

[Timmsy]

Hopefully you were just unlucky enough to get a s**t spacer. Did you buy them new?

Yeah hopefully just unlucky. No both secondhand, tbf they could of been screwed before I even got them

Looks like the spacer wasn't made correctly I would have a serious work with whoever you got them off they owe you at least a new wing

Secondhand unfortunately, oh well what's done is done

 

[RichieJA]

That sucks m8 how much damage was caused ?

 

[Paul.M]

I've also had a spacer fail on me and take the wing with it, not a pleasurable experience!

For the rears the ones that sit behind the hub look pretty fool proof, I've been looking into these myself as I've been put off bolt to hub ones now.

 

[Timmsy]

That sucks m8 how much damage was caused ?

As pictures above buddy. Dent in the passenger door, replacement wing and inner arch liner, new wheel bolts and the cost to have it recovered.

 

[cod3oz]

was playing with the idea of buying some spacers...think ill pass now got enough problems going on with the car without extra hassles ...thanks for all the info in this thread its probably saved me :smile:

 

[Crazylegs]

I would never trust anything structural which you bolt straight to the aluminium.

Constant bolting and un bolting royally f***s the thread up... As you found.

That's why threaded steel inserts are used, they resist wear for longer and can be done and undone without issue.

See the inserts on the spacer

Hi guys,

Can anyone tell me me where I can get 15 and 10mm versions of these please? Specifically H&R ones for a Clio 182?

Thanks

 

[Jekyll]

Try Larkspeed.

 

[imprezaworks]

And ecp