mudmuncher Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Hi all I am thinking of buying a set of 30mm whhel spacers for my series 3 Any pro or con on running these ??? many thanks chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuko Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 If you went with a too wide or tall of a tire, I could see that you would get fender interferences. Other than that, I can't see you having any other problems. Stability would be better and possibly tracking on the highways. Cheers, Todd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmuncher Posted December 9, 2008 Author Share Posted December 9, 2008 The tyres i am running are 235/85 16 I have standard wings but i am running high lift shackles and parobolics Many thanks chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 I had a set of steel 30mm spacer when I finished my rebuild, in addition to the 7" 8-spokes and 235s/85. It was fine at speed, but below 10mph it was near impossible to turn, and below walking pace it was impossible to turn the steering wheel. I ditched the spacers and just kept the wheels. WIth standard rims, though, they'd be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hundertneuner Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 I am running 33mm wheelspacers in combination with (standard) 5,5x16 wheels and 7,5 inch tyres. I´ve done 10.000 km since fitting them and had no problems- the turning cycle is now really nice and driving through curves even better. See pics below. The spacers were for free, so hadn´t to go for other wheels and tyres; the combination of wolf wheels and 235/85x16 would be my prefered option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparg Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 I go round the houses with this one - some imply that adding spaceers potentially adds a weak point at a really crucial place... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 I go round the houses with this one - some imply that adding spaceers potentially adds a weak point at a really crucial place... Specifically it can add to the loadings on wheel bearings. I've no personal experience with them, but I figure that if your bearings are sound, and you have no clearance issues, and you can handle the extra effort to turn then go for it. Oh yes, and tell your insurance weasels too. Check those bearings regular, mindyou! G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPR Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 You may not have any problems, but I have seen three sets of aluminium wheel spacers, of two different manufactures, fail on people this year. In all three cases they were Discos rather than Series trucks, but in all three cases the stud holes had ovalled out and failed, one with reasonably serious results. My advice would be a greater offset wheel. I had a set of Mangels steel wheels that were quite offset. I can't remember by how much but when I bought the truck it was on 325/65/r15s and it was still able to turn, so the offest must have been significant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 You may not have any problems, but I have seen three sets of aluminium wheel spacers, of two different manufactures, fail on people this year. In all three cases they were Discos rather than Series trucks, but in all three cases the stud holes had ovalled out and failed, one with reasonably serious results. My advice would be a greater offset wheel. I had a set of Mangels steel wheels that were quite offset. I can't remember by how much but when I bought the truck it was on 325/65/r15s and it was still able to turn, so the offest must have been significant! My 7x16 8spokes have an offset 2" greater than a LR alloy or Discovery steel wheel and about 2.5" more than Wolf rims. You can see why adding spacers was far too much. I did get a small amount of scrubbing on the top surface of the stub axle where the inner race sits, which could well have been down to the loads from having the tyre centre off set from the bearings' central axis, but it only occurred on one out of the eight bearings (pre spacer fitting), so could just be that the bearing was a bit stiff and spun up once. I used steel spacers because I don't trust aluminium with these forces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 Ditch them and get wheels with the required offset. Spacers are dangerous IMHO. Dont forget you can reverse the rims and get silly offset if you so desire! I'm running reversed 7x16 8 spokes and the tyres sit flush with the outside of defender spats on my series. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmuncher Posted December 10, 2008 Author Share Posted December 10, 2008 Good point Jon !!! i didnt think of that, do you have any pictures of your motor that you could upload ?? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Old photo but I'm still running the same rims! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 There are another couple of points against spacers, other than a general perception (rightly or wrongly) of them being dangerous: 1) they have a habit of the nuts securing them coming loose, so you have to frequently remove the wheel to re-tighten them. Though the inside of the wheel will prevent the nuts undoing far enough that the spacer and wheel could come off, they will allow the spacer and wheel to move and knock on the studs and hub, which could eventually result in the studs shearing, and; 2) it's a pain to service the brakes because you have to remove the spacers from the hubs too, which means twice as many nuts, and undoing the spacer nuts is a bugger because the hub just spins because there is no tyre contacting the ground to keep it still - you need to lock the brake on using the shoe adjusters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmuncher Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 Many thanks for all the advise guys i have decided not to use wheel spacers ! Just a quick question on the rim reserval that john has done to his motor in the picture above - How is this done ?? Can you buy rims already like this ?? Many thanks all chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 The search button is your friend. Reversing rims has been covered on here several times. You cannot buy them like that. You have to modify them. You may get lucky and find a set at an autojumble etc. You may be able to buy customer made rims in whatever offset you want but they'll be expensive! How much offset do you want and what look are you trying to achieve? Standard off the shelf 8 spokes will take the tyres approximately flush with the outside edge of standard series wings for example. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmuncher Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 Guilty i didnt search I am trying to achieve the same look as you tbh, at the moment i have 235/85/16 8 spoke steel wheels with insa tyres they sit flush with the wings and look perfect. But ... i really want to fit wheel arch spats so i am looking at ways of filling them out so the tyre is inline with them Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoggyN Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Guilty i didnt search I am trying to achieve the same look as you tbh, at the moment i have 235/85/16 8 spoke steel wheels with insa tyres they sit flush with the wings and look perfect. But ... i really want to fit wheel arch spats so i am looking at ways of filling them out so the tyre is inline with them Chris The only proper way to do it is to fit a wider axle. Wheels with a large offset overload the wheel bearings just as much as spacers do and can cause premature failure. They also screw up the steering like spacers do - although if you also fit larger diameter tyres the ground offset will move back closer to stock so it should still be possible to steer at low speeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Well I can only comment on the above related to my own personal experiences. I've had no issues with wheel bearings whatsoever. I've been running these rims for 5 years now and havnt changed a bear in that time. However my truck probably only does about 1000 miles a year. At the end of the day series wheel bearings are cheap and easy to change, and taper rollers aswell so I dont find it makes much difference. Steering wise nothing got "screwed up" as such, however I did eventually admit defeat and fitted power steering from a defender. The extra offset and wide tyres makes the steering very heavy when manouvering. It was fine on road, but became a pain off road whilst trying to manouver for punches at challenges etc. Franjly I should have fitted PAS years ago as it totally transforms the truck and the steering is much more precise. As to wheels, if you change to 15" ones, then off the shelf 10x15's have the offset you are looking for. You'll have to change tyres obviously. Tonk ran these on his truck and they took the outside edges of the tyres flush with the edge of the defender arches. If you want to stick to 16" tyres you'll need to modify wheels. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 As to wheels, if you change to 15" ones, then off the shelf 10x15's have the offset you are looking for. You'll have to change tyres obviously. Tonk ran these on his truck and they took the outside edges of the tyres flush with the edge of the defender arches. If you want to stick to 16" tyres you'll need to modify wheels.Jon If you want to go as wide as 10" then you can get 10x16 wheels off the shelf too, my team mate recently bought a set with something like a 2" back space ! That'd certainly bring the wheels outside the body on a Series - they bring his Simex about 3 inches outside the standard Defender arches... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoggyN Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Well I can only comment on the above related to my own personal experiences. I actually think the looks are worth the compromise (if any). At a 1000 miles a year and lightly loaded I expect it will go on for a few more years too. Lucky for me, standard Disco rims are more than enough to fill the arches on an S1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparg Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 wider back axle for Td5 defender? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landy03 Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 On 12/10/2008 at 12:46 AM, mudmuncher said: The tyres i am running are 235/85 16 I have standard wings but i am running high lift shackles and parobolics Many thanks chris Where do you get the high lift shackles from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 A mentioned, wheel spacers are bringing all sort of problems; If you want to go wider like a defender, fit coil sprung axles, while continuing to use leaf springs. This also gives you disc brakes and higher gearing. A few people on here did it by fitting spring perches to the axles to match the leaf springs. Daan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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