Northern Auto Tech - ECU and Blue & Me Repairs

Technical Spacers

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Technical Spacers

Robot

Robot

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Has anybody spaced out their Bs? I'll be needing a new set of tyres in the spring and I was thinking of 215s - but I reckon they'll be rubbing the lining, so some thicker spacers (I've got 5mm with my 205s) will be needed. 60mms seem to be OTT :eek:, so I was thinking about 16mms. Has anybody done this, and are there any cons to doing this?

(Alan and Lee, no jokes about my banana shaped B...:rolleyes:)
 
When you start using larger spacers you need to use longer wheel bolts, only problem with those is the connection to the hub is weaker, not by much but enough if it really matters.

I don't like them mate and would advise against BUT it's your motor and your choice.

(BTW I never made any jokes about the bananna shaped B I was genuinely trying to help)
 
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also if you go much more than 15mm you start causing stress on the wheel bearings and start wearing them more quickly. also all you suspension geometery starts changing, like your kingpin inclination angle etc and will be more prone to tramlining. 15mm should be ok though. you have to workout the overall offset of the wheels with the spacers. eg 32mm offset wheels with 15mm spacers will equal a new offset of 17mm.
 
Hello all.

Recently i fitted 16 inch wheel to my b with 205/45/16 tire. it seems like the offset of the wheels is wrong and the back wheels are scratching on the body of the car.

i fitter wheel spacers about 10-15mm and now it's fine. i'm worried though for the safety of this action.

can i feel safe? :(
 
hi, Guys,

If you have used hubcentric spacers like the kind from H&R or Eibach there should be no problems just that you would need to use longer bolts to accomodate the extra spacing. I have 20mm H&R hubcentric spacers on the rear of my B, but my offet of my rims is 38 over the standard 32,

Ive had no problems and can safely say these spacers or any other hubcentric spacers should be fine, so long as you use the correct bolt size.

Wideneng the track of the vehicle onlys adds to its road holding capabilities.
 
KC3 you used spacers only on the rear wheels? no problems until now?

my car had already fitted spacers back with the OE wheels. I think 10mm approximatelly. there was no way for the new wheel to fit without them. The front ones fitted Ok without any addons.
 
KC3 said:
Wideneng the track of the vehicle onlys adds to its road holding capabilities.
Click to expand...

Hmm..., I'm not sure about that. Usually it messes up with steering alignment, it also adds a great deal more strain to major components. Every little bit you space out your wheels, strain increases exponentially.

Spacers are usually a solution for someone who's bought the wrong wheels for their car. And getting the exactly correct size for the bolts will be a painstaking nightmare.

Do not, under any circumstances use the incorrect length of bolts, and ensure you buy bolt of the highest possible quality (not from some guy on eBay).

Adding spacers isn't something I'd do to my car... I'd rather save my money and buy the correctly sized wheels

[edit]forgot to say, always space out wheels equally or you will really **** up the handling. Not day-to-day driving, but in an emergency your car will slide, skid or under steer in a totally unexpected manner.
 
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Funkstar De Luxe said:
Hmm..., I'm not sure about that. Usually it messes up with steering alignment, it also adds a great deal more strain to major components. Every little bit you space out your wheels, strain increases exponentially.

Spacers are usually a solution for someone who's bought the wrong wheels for their car. And getting the exactly correct size for the bolts will be a painstaking nightmare.

Do not, under any circumstances use the incorrect length of bolts, and ensure you buy bolt of the highest possible quality (not from some guy on eBay).

Adding spacers isn't something I'd do to my car... I'd rather save my money and buy the correctly sized wheels

[edit]forgot to say, always space out wheels equally or you will really **** up the handling. Not day-to-day driving, but in an emergency your car will slide, skid or under steer in a totally unexpected manner.
Click to expand...



We,l i have modified my B to an extent and believe all the mods i have, considerably improove the B's set up over standard.

The wheels, tyres, suspension, Anti roll bar and braking system have all been upgraded, as well as the fuel system and induction kit. She has been remmapped to produce 152bhp and feel she is much more fun to drive.

I have had my B round a couple of race tracks at high speed , and can safely say that she handles extremely well and supprises most.

Any modifications i have carried out , have been sourced from reputable companys and been fitted by professionals in their field.


If anyone has had any different experiences please let us know.

KC,
 
i found out that the wheels offset is 38 instead of 30 or 32 that the OE wheels are.

how good or bad is that?

keep in mind that the rear wheels only are spaced.

i should take a photo of the spacers and post it here in order to find out how many mm are. :confused:
 
I think my OZes are ET37 and I used them without spacers. I'm just ordering some cheap gold alloys now which are ET40. Hope they fit as I have no idea how this ET thing works. Apart from the phoning home bit.
 
I believe the ET number is the measurement / offset between the inner rim where its sits on yr vehicle to the outer edge of the wheel.

A rim with an ET of 40 will mean that the inner side of the wheel rim will be
closer to the suspension components over a rim, say with an ET of 30/32.

Hence the use of a spacer to correct this.

The B's standard wheels have an offset or ET32 to their rim, and have used a spacer of 5mm as standard on the rear to align the wheels within the arch.

I now have a new set of wheels on mine with an ET38 and have used a 20mm spacer , in effect 15mm over the standard spec to re align the wheels and keep them from fouling.

hope this helps, but sure someone will give a better and more professional explanation. :) and with pics..
 
Although it's ben a long while, here's my recollection of 'offset'. If you imagine the exact centre line of the wheel aligns perfectly with the out face of the wheel mounting flange, there is no offset at all. If the centre line is further out, this is positive offset and measured in millimetres. If the centre line is further in, this is negative offset and also measured in millimetres but prefixed with a minus sign. Thus if a wheel has an offset of 38mm and you use a 6mm spacer, the new offset will be 44mm. By increasing the offset of a standard wheel, you also alter the steering geometry and increase the turning circle... this may seem minor but you also increse the gyroscopic effect on the front wheels when they are turning at speed... this is one of the reasons why more powerful cars run more negative offset and F1 cars used to have smaller wheels at the front... interesting forum this.

Steve
 
Yes and no. If you're running positive offset (which most do) then adding a spacer reduces the overall offset - so a 6mm spacer on ET38 would give you an effective offset of ET32.

Interested about info on the gyroscopic effect, not heard this before and quite puzzled as to how this would work unless the spacers were very heavy.

bumble said:
Although it's ben a long while, here's my recollection of 'offset'. If you imagine the exact centre line of the wheel aligns perfectly with the out face of the wheel mounting flange, there is no offset at all. If the centre line is further out, this is positive offset and measured in millimetres. If the centre line is further in, this is negative offset and also measured in millimetres but prefixed with a minus sign. Thus if a wheel has an offset of 38mm and you use a 6mm spacer, the new offset will be 44mm. By increasing the offset of a standard wheel, you also alter the steering geometry and increase the turning circle... this may seem minor but you also increse the gyroscopic effect on the front wheels when they are turning at speed... this is one of the reasons why more powerful cars run more negative offset and F1 cars used to have smaller wheels at the front... interesting forum this.

Steve
Click to expand...
 
HP. said:
Yes and no. If you're running positive offset (which most do) then adding a spacer reduces the overall offset - so a 6mm spacer on ET38 would give you an effective offset of ET32.

Interested about info on the gyroscopic effect, not heard this before and quite puzzled as to how this would work unless the spacers were very heavy.
Click to expand...

You could write a university thesis on this HP... I think the gyro effect isnt just altered by the mass of the rotating wheel but also by increasing the turning radius of the rotating wheel (the distance from the centre of the ball joint to the outside of the wheel mounting flange where the offset is measured) Its all getting a bit technical... enough to drive a man to drink... cheers.

Steve
 
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