Thoughts on wheel spacers

Mark Scannura · September 19, 2023

I need to either get all new wheels or use a 1 inch spacer. I'm adding a level kit that requires this because of the new UCAs. Its a 2022 GMC 1500 4x4 crew cab with the GM 2inch factory lift that has the 20x9 275/60/20 OE set up. I want to stick to the 20x9 and same rubber size. For the level kit I need to get to 5.75 back spacing. Any thoughts on spacers? I've never used them.

jaxcam02 · September 19, 2023

Gonna have to be a call you need to make. Are they going to fit fine, probably? Are they potentially causing excessive wear to your bearings, also probably. I suggest you do your own research on the topic. Plenty of articles and resources regarding spacers and large offset wheels and their negative impacts on bearings. Personally I would rather run some wheel offset to push them out over spacers.

Mark Scannura · September 20, 2023

I did research this and that's why I was asking for opinions here. Since then, I've decided no spacers for the reasons you mention and others. I've got new wheels on the way.

pigpen23 · September 20, 2023

I'm running 1.25" BORA spacers with factory wheels and 285/65R20 tires on my 2022.5 without any issues.

Running conservative width spacers doesn't cause any more wear than running more offset wheels, within reason. I've ran spacers and/or offset wheels for several hundreds of thousands of miles on several different trucks used for towing and hauling and have yet to have an issue with wheel bearings. If you go with some unreasonable spacer width and/or crazy offset, you're likely to have bad results.

jaxcam02 · September 20, 2023

37 minutes ago, pigpen23 said:

I'm running 1.25" BORA spacers with factory wheels and 285/65R20 tires on my 2022.5 without any issues.

Running conservative width spacers doesn't cause any more wear than running more offset wheels, within reason. I've ran spacers and/or offset wheels for several hundreds of thousands of miles on several different trucks used for towing and hauling and have yet to have an issue with wheel bearings. If you go with some unreasonable spacer width and/or crazy offset, you're likely to have bad results.

Agree but I would say still need to keep in mind the warranty aspect IF you do have bearing failures. Dealer most likely won't approve work on bearings if they determine spacers or any wheel offset from stock is used. Would be a good idea to keep your stock wheels and tires around just in case a bearing starts going and throw them on before you go to dealer. Of course this depends on the dealer you go to. If you have no warranty then its a moot point.