Wheel Spacers, 17inch stock sport wheels

[jflogerzi]

Really like the stock sport wheels. The offset leaves things to be desired. Will run the junky OEM Hankook's for now but will replace them with a nice meaty 32 or 33's. Suspension will be either Fox 2.0's front/rear or Bilstein 5100s all around. Looking for an OEM Tremor look with a bit more height. Nothing crazy and I plan to Tow so I don't want to level the truck.

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[Frenchy]

If you are planning to tow then don't bother with a leveling kit to begin with. As for wheel spacers you are best not to bother with them either for safety reasons. Why safety reasons? Simple, who is to say your spacers wet torqued correctly? Unless someone is holding the brakes then you can guarantee the torque. The wheels might not be an issue but the spacers will.

Now if you are looking for increased height without going to crazy and want 32 or 33 inch tires you have options. Just as an example I have the Old Man EMU lift(2.4 front and 1.6 rear) with Firestone Destination XT's in 285/70-17. That combination lifted the truck 4 in the front and 3 in the rear. The truck still has rake to it, has a nice ballanced ride for on and OffRoad and without wheel spacers the tires work well. If anything the tires will rub the frame at full lock but it does not bother me. And I should mention that I still have the factory crash bars.

Do the tires stick out? Of course not. They are ment to stay in the wheel wells so that is where they stay. No need to have that silly toe stomped look for a few reasons. To start you may(or may not depending how far you go) have to modify the crash bars. Second it will accelerate wear on the wheel bearings/hubs(nothing reported yet but it doesn't mean much). Last but not least it looks stupid when the tires sticknpast the vehicle with no extra cover from the fender.

Thats my input there, if anything you can look at my truck for reference just as a thought.

 

[slowmachine]

Just say NO to spacers. I strongly prefer the factory suspension geometry, but if you must change the offset, do it with replacement wheels. In the face of many volumes of anecdotal evidence that they don’t cause problems, NO.

 

[Dr3wDrop]

Do any 285/70/17 load range C tires fit w/o wheel spacers? I see those Firestone tires are E rated

 

[Frenchy]

Do any 285/70/17 load range C tires fit w/o wheel spacers? I see those Firestone tires are E rated

I can only speak for the Firestone tires but do understand that even though tye tires are load E they ride just fine since you have a good bit of side wall

 

[apotocki]

Oh no. The wheel spacer discussion.
Well, there are always those that think they are ‘bad’ and ‘dangerous’. Not going to say that they are totally ‘wrong’ but the instances of wheel spacers causing wheels to come off are very rare and typically due to an incorrect install or really cheap spacers.
As to suspension issues, well….yea just like a level or other suspension mod’s, wheel spacers do alter the factory suspension geometry. This can (and probably) will cause premature wear and issues in time. The question though is in how much time…..probably quite a bit of time. One has to believe that these parts were engineered to withstand more than just your normal driving scenarios and if I run a level and spacers my ball joints, bearings, etc might wear at 75k vs 100k…I’m ok with that.
Everyone has an opinion - mine is that I’m perfectly comfortable with my spacers (FactionFab 1 inch). They have been on for over 1.5 years with over 10k miles with no issues (and I have checked the torque no fewer than 4 times now and never have any of the lugs been different than day 1).
Just make sure you get a quality hub centric spacer and follow the install instructions….BORA (interesting that this stands for Bulletproof Off Road Adapter) or FactionFab are great spacers.

Here is information that is on the BORA site:
Since 1996, Motorsport Tech spacers and adapters have been designed, built, tested, and proven in the toughest conditions on Earth - We've outfitted vehicles in the US Military for combat duty, desert-racing pre-runners, Arctic rescue vehicles, major auto companies including Ford, Chrysler, and Goodyear, and have built parts for thousands of hardcore off-road enthusiasts around the world - including our own vehicles we drive daily.

 

[Toytec]

I must admit, I really like this mod but it does have it's drawbacks. I'll explain in a bit. The factory sport wheels are great looking in my opinion but lack something. Ah yes, the offset.
Just pushing them out 25mm does the trick. However, will cause a rub like it does in my case.
31.6" 265/70 tires and weathertech mudflaps don't mix well I found out.

The part where they bulge out b/c of the crash bars require some trimming, if you're at factory height like I am. No biggie tho. It now looks more like the Tremor which I think the 4x4 should.

 

[jflogerzi]

Oh no. The wheel spacer discussion.
Well, there are always those that think they are ‘bad’ and ‘dangerous’. Not going to say that they are totally ‘wrong’ but the instances of wheel spacers causing wheels to come off are very rare and typically due to an incorrect install or really cheap spacers.
As to suspension issues, well….yea just like a level or other suspension mod’s, wheel spacers do alter the factory suspension geometry. This can (and probably) will cause premature wear and issues in time. The question though is in how much time…..probably quite a bit of time. One has to believe that these parts were engineered to withstand more than just your normal driving scenarios and if I run a level and spacers my ball joints, bearings, etc might wear at 75k vs 100k…I’m ok with that.
Everyone has an opinion - mine is that I’m perfectly comfortable with my spacers (FactionFab 1 inch). They have been on for over 1.5 years with over 10k miles with no issues (and I have checked the torque no fewer than 4 times now and never have any of the lugs been different than day 1).
Just make sure you get a quality hub centric spacer and follow the install instructions….BORA (interesting that this stands for Bulletproof Off Road Adapter) or FactionFab are great spacers.

Here is information that is on the BORA site:
Since 1996, Motorsport Tech spacers and adapters have been designed, built, tested, and proven in the toughest conditions on Earth - We've outfitted vehicles in the US Military for combat duty, desert-racing pre-runners, Arctic rescue vehicles, major auto companies including Ford, Chrysler, and Goodyear, and have built parts for thousands of hardcore off-road enthusiasts around the world - including our own vehicles we drive daily.

This looks so clean. Exactly what I am looking for. I will be adding 1 inch in the rear and 2 up front. Do not plan to modify any crash bars as this is my DD. My family will be riding in the truck. And I plan to tow 8-12 times a year.

 

[Frenchy]

This looks so clean. Exactly what I am looking for. I will be adding 1 inch in the rear and 2 up front. Do not plan to modify any crash bars as this is my DD. My family will be riding in the truck. And I plan to tow 8-12 times a year.

A lift like such should be fine especially with towing. As for spacers, if you decide to run them you better make sure and triple check them to make sure they are good. Just because it may be considered rare for issues to happen does not mean you won't have an issue. Simple as that

 

[Frenchy]

I will also add that 32 inch tires will fit with no lift and no spacers

 

[jflogerzi]

I will also add that 32 inch tires will fit with no lift and no spacers

I am going to run the stock Tires for now. But that's the largest tire I would want to fit. Don't want to kill gas to much.

 

[TheBadger]

@jflogerzi

I ran factory 17s (+55) with 2" spacers (=+5) for the last 10 months until I found new wheels I wanted and could afford (debatable).
Had 255/80s (32.9") on there and 2" leveling.
Loved the stance. Minor rubbing at lock.
Noticeable vibration around 80mph but that's speeding and I certainly don't do that.
I braced the brake pedal with an axe handle and torqued the spacers on there so, it's do-able.
Hopefully that info is useful. Here, have a pic!

 

[jflogerzi]

Gonna stick with a 1 inch spacer. Keep it modest but with the Minor lift should give me a good clean useable look

 

[Frenchy]

@jflogerzi

I ran factory 17s (+55) with 2" spacers (=+5) for the last 10 months until I found new wheels I wanted and could afford (debatable).
Had 255/80s (32.9") on there and 2" leveling.
Loved the stance. Minor rubbing at lock.
Noticeable vibration around 80mph but that's speeding and I certainly don't do that.
I braced the brake pedal with an axe handle and torqued the spacers on there so, it's do-able.
Hopefully that info is useful. Here, have a pic!

Vibration at that speed tells me one of two things, either your tires were not ballanced correctly or the spacers were causing issue.

 

[TheBadger]

@Frenchy Yes, I'm inclined to believe it was the latter.

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