Pics: Wheel Spacers + No Lift

[NickyV]

Anyone running wheel spacers on 235 75R 15s with no lift?

 

If so, can you share pics?
 

I’m not sure I want to lift my MJ. But if I do, it won’t be for a while. Too many other projects to tackle first.

 

But I am considering wheel spacers. 

 

Not looking for anything crazy. I mainly want to fix that narrow butt look and gain a more aggressive stance that extends just a hair wider than fender flares.

 

At least I think that’s what I want. But I am having trouble visualizing this. So if any of you have an MJ that fits the bill and could share pics, I’d be much obliged.

[fiatslug87]

On my 90 2WD with 2” spacers, no lift and BFG ATs 235/75/15. Tire not even with top of flare.

 

[89 MJ]

I will say, spacers on the rear do look better, but before you make that decision, I think you should know why the rear axle is narrower than the front. 

When you go around a corner, a narrower rear axle does a better job following the front and allows for tighter turns. A wider rear axle means that the rear tires will be outside of the fronts, possibly getting closer to obstacles. The rear axle is narrower for handling reasons.

 

With the relatively small spacers you'd want, you're probably not talking much difference, but just making you aware. 

[ghetdjc320]

2 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

I will say, spacers on the rear do look better, but before you make that decision, I think you should know why the rear axle is narrower than the front. 

When you go around a corner, a narrower rear axle does a better job following the front and allows for tighter turns. A wider rear axle means that the rear tires will be outside of the fronts, possibly getting closer to obstacles. The rear axle is narrower for handling reasons.

 

With the relatively small spacers you'd want, you're probably not talking much difference, but just making you aware. 

I suspect AMC wanted to reuse the same pile of Dana 35’s they already had in stock for other vehicles vs spec’ing the correct size for our trucks.

[NickyV]

Thanks to all who have replied. For some reason I didn’t realize that the back wheel base was actually narrower. I guess I thought I was something of an optical illusion. D’oh!
 

At any rate, I was thinking I’d put spacers on front and back. Appreciate the pics so far!

 

Anyone else got what I’m looking for?

 

@fiatslug87, do you have any other angles, like from the front?

[NickyV]

And @89 MJ that’s good to know. If I put equal spacing on front and back does that solve for what you are describing?

[89 MJ]

4 minutes ago, NickyV said:

And @89 MJ that’s good to know. If I put equal spacing on front and back does that solve for what you are describing?

Yes, that would solve the problem. But wheel spacers on the front tends to lead to it being harder on wheel bearings and ball joints. Same applies for wheels with a lot of backspacing. 
 

9 minutes ago, NickyV said:

Thanks to all who have replied. For some reason I didn’t realize that the back wheel base was actually narrower. I guess I thought I was something of an optical illusion. D’oh!

It’s a combination of both, really. 

[llhat]

personally do not see the need for spacers,  and as mentioned the change can make for different forces on the wheel bearings and ball joints.

 

Mine's pretty much dead stock it has had 3 sets of wheels,  original stock steel,  aftermarket aluminum with holes,  Mopar counter 'star' wheels, and now 

i think called canyon spokes.

the aftermarket aluminum had less backspacing, were on the truck when i bought it with 235 BFG KO ( back in the 1990's and steel were sent with the truck,

the mopar counter wheels had deep backspacing and i had 30 x 9.5 GSA goodyears,  the canyon have equal deep backspacing and back again to 235 Falken Rubitrek.

only rubbing issue was to the rear E brake cables,  zip tied helped.

i posted somewhere about the mopar wheel experience and having to drill the screw for the decorative cover over the lugs.. 

no pics, sorry.  device not handy with images of those wheels,  don't take a lot of pics of truck with the crappy no clear coat grey paint.

[Pete M]

the factory difference in axle width front to back is negligible and the effect on handling if they don't match perfectly is also negligible.  this might apply to a high end performance car (except that there have been plenty of performance cars that don't have matching widths), but certainly not our our old trucks.   

 

do as you see fit.   personally I'd add spacers to the rear only and get them to better match the front from a visual perspective.

[88towmanche]

Got spacers on mine - think maybe 1-1/2...have to look it up.

 

Technically there is a puck n shackle 2" lift with but the old saggy leafs & springs it's probably just a bit above factory height.

[ghetdjc320]

Here is a 1.25” front andapter along with a KJ liberty rear axle which is 2.5” wider in the rear plus a 3/4 wheel adapter. So basically rear is 2” further out in each side and front is 1.25. I have zero issues with this setup and a great turning radius. 

[NickyV]

Hey @ghetdjc320! Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention, but is the KJ rear axle a common mod? I’m sure you chose the axle for more reason than just looks. Why’d you go with the KJ rear axle?

[NickyV]

After doing a bit more research, I'm thinking that what I might want is to get some ZJ springs for the front end, do a little bit of spacing on the front and the back and call it a day. I'm not trying to build a crawler. As I mentioned, this is largely an aesthetic thing if I'm being honest.

 

Snooping around the forum I saw someone mention that just doing a little lift in the front really balances out the look of the truck. I have the 2.5L. Do you all think that doing the ZJ V8 spring swap would get me what I'm looking for there?

[ghetdjc320]

5 hours ago, NickyV said:

Hey @ghetdjc320! Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention, but is the KJ rear axle a common mod? I’m sure you chose the axle for more reason than just looks. Why’d you go with the KJ rear axle?

Not sure how common they are but they are good swap candidates. 3” .25 wall axle tubes, factory disks, 29 spline shafts and side adjusters for the ring gear. The wheel bolt pattern and width are excellent for a Comanche. 

[NickyV]

I finally picked up some wheel spacers. I've done a lot of research, but now that I'm getting close to actually putting them on and driving around, I'm triple checking my work.

 

Here's my question. The lugs that came with the set of spacers picked up do not fully cover the factory studs. I'm attaching a picture I took yesterday and a screenshot from a CC thread from 2012 where @HOrnbrod seemed to suggest that this is OK (as long as most of the lug is over the stud).

 

Photo of My Spacer Installed:

 

Screen Shot From 2012 Thread, Titled Wheel Spacers:

 

Closeup of HOrnbrod's Reply:

 

What do folks think? As long as the majority of the lug is on the stud and I use Locktite, am I good? I don't do any wheeling... I just sometimes take the MJ camping down forest service roads.

 

They are hub centric and the bore is approx. 71 mm. They seem to fit perfectly over the lip of the rear hub.

 

So far, I've only put one on as a test to see how it looked. I took it back off because I wasn't sure about the question above.

 

I picked these up on Marketplace. They look used because they are!

[89 MJ]

No shame in used parts! Might as well save a buck where you can. 
 

The general rule of thumb is that your thread engagement must be equal to the diameter of the stud/bolt. If the diameter is 1/2” (which IIRC, the wheel studs are), then you need to make sure that the threads on the stud are engaged on at least 1/2” of the nut. 

[derf]

If you're overly concerned, you can swap out for longer studs.  I don't have the part number off hand but it's a straightforward process.

 

As long as they're torqued properly and you use blue (not red) locktite, you should be good to go.

[NickyV]

Thanks @89 MJ and @derf. I will put my calipers to work to see what kind of engagement I have.

 

I’m glad you brought up the blue vs red lock tite. Seems to be a lot of debate around this point all over the internet.

 

A lot of people say go with red. One post I saw put it this way: “The only permanent thread lock would be actually welding the nuts to the studs.” What they meant was that you will be able to get the nuts off. But I have only ever used the blue, so I don’t know how hard it will be.

 

I definitely want to make the right decision here… are there downsides to red other than it being PITA to get the nuts loose?

[derf]

3 hours ago, NickyV said:

I definitely want to make the right decision here… are there downsides to red other than it being PITA to get the nuts loose?

That, to me, is reason enough.  You will want to pull it apart for brake maintenance eventually.

 

Honestly, properly torqued nuts should be enough.  The locktite is really just belt and suspenders.  And if the studs are short, it's a good safety addition.

[NickyV]

OK. Really appreciate all the input as always!

[Pete M]

use whatever color your spacers require.  do not use red if they suggest blue. 

[derf]

1 hour ago, Pete M said:

use whatever color your spacers require.  do not use red if they suggest blue. 

Thing about red is that it holds better but the people who recommend it aren't the ones who have to maintain the brakes.

 

Anything I will want to take apart, I seriously question whether to use red or not.

[Pete M]

remember that the locktite is merely a safety margin.  no one uses locktite on their lugnuts and those do the exact same job.