Wheel Spacer (again)

[DranC]

I just dropped my truck off to get a resonator installed to tone my exhaust down some and I asked them to also install my FactionLab 1.5" wheel spacers. The two guys behind the desk both exclaimed "NO, don't do this, 1.5" is HUGE!. They said it would throw off my ride and wear down my wheel bearing faster. I've seen quite a bit of talk here and there that contradicts this viewpoint. What's your take on this? Thanks.

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[deleriumtremor]

I doubt you will get many definitive answers (and lots of anecdotes) on the question. The only definitive thing I can think of is when you add spacers you will increase the scrub radius in the front steering.

As far as ride, my guess is any change in feel on the ride front likely would be placebo effect.

On the wheel bearing front, I would be very surprised if it didn't add some strain on the bearings and also would be surprised if it changed the MTBF much at all.

 

[puckdodger]

1.25" would be a bit much maybe. I think Ford could have pushed the wheels out to the corners a little further and eliminated the silly "my wheels are too close together" stance this truck has. Hopefully the shop does a good job on the install, and you keep checking the torque of the wheel and spacer fasteners as required. You don't want to lose a tire and kill anyone, do you? Of course you don't!

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Throwing off your ride and wearing down wheel bearings are only two things you need to worry about. If you’re completely stock, you may get away with not rubbing…….maybe.

That big spacer size is like moving to a +17mm wheel offset from the OEM wheel offset of +55mm. It puts you into a bit of a danger zone as far as rubbing on crash bars is concerned. If your truck isn’t levelled or lifted, even more chance of rubbing. Wider or taller tires than OEM, even more of a chance. Aftermarket wheels with a lower offset than OEM, more trouble yet.

Knowing a bit about your current wheel/tire combo and suspension would help folks give you their best take on the situation. What’s your setup?

 

[Trigganometry]

Best way I can explain this in laymen terms is think of a gyroscope. When it spins it has a central axis that is usually in the center of the spinning mass.
Transpose that visual and offset the center of the mass X amount. Things start to get unstable and stresses increase exponentially for the degree of offset.

So your wheels are no different. The center of the mass is in line with your wheel bearings and everything is happy and predictable. The more you offset the more you upset this balance!

 

[DranC]

Throwing off your ride and wearing down wheel bearings are only two things you need to worry about. If you’re completely stock, you may get away with not rubbing…….maybe.

That big spacer size is like moving to a +17mm wheel offset from the OEM wheel offset of +55mm. It puts you into a bit of a danger zone as far as rubbing on crash bars is concerned. If your truck isn’t levelled or lifted, even more chance of rubbing. Wider or taller tires than OEM, even more of a chance. Aftermarket wheels with a lower offset than OEM, more trouble yet.

Knowing a bit about your current wheel/tire combo and suspension would help folks give you their best take on the situation. What’s your setup?

I have new Bilstein 5100 shocks and struts, OEM tires and aftermarket rims (same size as OEM). The struts are adjustable but i had them installed as they were out of the box (no lift).

 

[landiscarrier]

I've had 1" FF wheel spacers on my FX4 for probably 40k and zero issues to this date.

 

[Wes Siler]

Yeah, suspension geometry is complicated, and 1.5 inches is way too big. The correct wheel spacer size is 1 inch if you're running 33-34" tires. That will correct your scrub radius for the additional tire height, and make your sidewalls flush with the arches.

Adding an additional half inch may not sound like much, but it will make your steering vague, add instability while braking, put much additional stress on wheel bearings (and having those fail on a trip is no fun), and destroy both your paint and other people' s windshields.

 

[DranC]

From Stage3 (of course, they sold the spacers to me...)

 

[Big Blue]

From Stage3 (of course, they sold the spacers to me...)

Of course they are going to say that. They made a sale.

 

[OFC Ranger]

I ran 2" spacers for a while. (+4 equivalent offset) I didn't die.

I then got around to buying some 0+ offset wheels (RTR). I'm still not dead.

The humanity of it all. I have a death wish according to some.

Install the spacers yourself to proper spec, or find a different shop.

Fact: You won't find horror stories about spacers outside of anecdotal one-off tales of mayhem. Don't believe me? Go ahead, go spend a few hours searching the web. Report back to us about the mass catastrophic failures and/or deaths related to spacers.

 

[Fordup]

It's a liability issue that many shops will not take a chance on. If you really want them shouldn't take long to install and don't forget to re torque everything several times.

 

[Frenchy]

To put simple the guys behind the counter are not wrong. Anytime you change your tire position with wheels or wheel spacers giving you a different offset will cause bearings to wear out quicker and cost tires to wear out quicker. I can also change the dynamics of a vehicle drastically depending on how much of change it is. Real spacers alone are also dangerous and considered illegal in certain places because if not done right your wheel will fall off.

 

[Msfitoy]

I have 17 x 9 wheels with +20 offset mounted with 285/70-17 tires...after installing fender flares, I added 1.25" spacers at all four corners...just passed 110,000 miles on original alignment and am on my 3rd set of tires...zero ride/steer/bump issues...

 

[Mustang2Ranger]

I have the Faction Fab 1.5" since 2019 with 40k miles

No issues

Just get an alignment and rotate your tires like anyone else would/should regularly

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