Age old question, Wheel spacers or offset rims?

[onlyinajeep726]

Ah... now I have some options lol. :brows:

[Incommando]

 

 

You can always go with racing studs, 2" or 2.5" or whatever is required. Straight through the spacer to the wheel. I considered this and may still if I ever have to pull the axles again.

 

 

 

I think the leverage on each stud would be less by using ten shorter studs then 5 long studs. In drag racing the long studs are required for visual inspection reasons. The studs sticking through an open nut shows instantly that the studs are present and are at least engaged the minimum amount. In that manner the leverage on the long stud is no greater than on a short stud as the nut still secures the wheel at the same distance from the base of the stud. That is the fulcrum of the leverage and again it is not changed when used in the prescribed manner. Mounting the lugs further out would increase the leverage. Especially as the hole in the spacer is wider than the stud and the stud would be unsupported for the width of the spacer where that does not occur in either the stock configuration or using ten studs as you do with spacers.  You would be more likely to shear studs by using the longer studs for that reason.

 

Look below: the space between the black mounting surface and blue lug nut is unsupported stud in each example. The first two examples keep the stock unsupported length of any given stud while the longer stud from example three creates a much, much longer unsupported area and an increase in leverage. The increase in leverage would make it more likely to break the stud. 

 

IIIIIIII   mounting surface wheel lug nut  (stock configuration) 

 

IIIIIIII   mounting surface  spacer lug nut

      IIIIIIII mounting surface  wheel lug nut  (stock with spacer)

 

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII mounting surface wheel spacer lug nut   (long lug nut)

 

I am not saying that breaking a stud in the last example is guaranteed, just that to some degree it is more likely than the other examples.

Common among racers......look it up.

 

 

Also, I'd bolt the spacer on the hub with long studs and then bolt the wheel onto the the long stud........stud will not stress.

I've been in drag racing for 30 years. I was just pointing out that as drag racers use longer studs the fact that they are longer is of no concern. In that app the mounting is exactly like with a short stud. The longer stud created no difference other than an inspector is able to be see it through an open lug nut. Before the additional info in the 2nd post about using 2 nuts it sounded to me that you would be changing the geometry. I am not sure what advantage going through the expense and labor to beat out 5 studs per spacer to install 5 longer studs per wheel with 2 nuts on each stud for 10 total nuts a corner would be over the way all of the spacer designers make them with a single nut per ten studs a wheel. That would do nothing to lessen the number of lug nuts to worry about and I can't see where it would be any stronger for that labor/expense. But there is always more than one way to skin a cat

[gogmorgo]

Five longer studs would mean that the lug nuts retaining the spacers aren't quite so critical to keep tight as the nuts retaining the wheels would clamp the whole shebang together. As long as you're running hub-centric spacers, the lugs and nuts would be loaded in tension with only minimal shear forces on the lugs, same as they came from the factory — just with longer studs. Having ten studs instead of five in this case isn't redundant, and you've got the same loads at two shear points either way you do it. In the case of lugs, where one breaks, the others are soon to follow. You're not really any better off with ten studs or with five.

 

That said, I have seen studs break with no spacers and factory wheels torqued to proper spec. Hit a bad pot hole, understeer into a curb, it happens. And if something does fail, and you've installed a relevant part in a way other than specified by the manufacturer... one guess as to who will be liable.