Wheel Spacers

[opsbear7]

Hey guys...i saw a guy driving down the road the other day and he clearly had his wheels further out from the wheel wells than normal...so i did some researching and found all this stuff about wheel spacers. Well I am interested in your guys opinions. Do they weaken any thing? Bad for the truck? Anything. Thanks!

[Ape0r]

Ugly. Makes baby jesus cry.

[opsbear7]

looks opinions are welcome...but i am very curious about structural integrity and preformance effects...thanks

[asilverblazer]

I have heard they are harder on ball joints, steering linkages, and bearings. This is because the tire/wheel has much greater leverage on those components when move farther away from the spindle.

[dvwright]

If all four wheels had spacers, then I agree, that is unsafe. However, it is a fact that GM on trucks and Surburbans 2500 series, has a wider "footprint" on their 4WD front axles. GM has tried to trick the eye into NOT seeing the wider front foorprint by putting on the fender flares above all four wheels. There is an aftermarket kit that will put spacers on the rear axle and allow the rear footprint to match the front. This was started in the 90's at least. I have a friend with an OBS 2500 4WD and the wider axle is easy to spot. My co-workers were given NBS service trucks back in 2003. They were HD's 4WD, and the wider axles are still being used. just my 2 cents.

[asilverblazer]

The front track on those trucks was not made wider by use of spacers. The spindle is likely where the additional width comes from.

[GMSea97]

I think as long as you don't go extreme with it, it shouldn't hurt to much or be unsafe. It will wear out the front end alittle faster, but just watch it and maintain it to be safe. As far as spacers on the rear, I think it causes a axle to snap a bit easier ( just my guess ) because of the added leverage to the wheel. It is funny to see the little blazers running around with the wheels sticking out past the fenders like 8 inches on wire wheels . lol Just not for me.