OIC, said the blind man. I was thinking of what would happen to the wheel as a whole (add a spacer and it moves further away from the center of a car, similar to a wheel with a higher positive offset) as opposed to just the mounting surface....nevermind...ignore my posts [i just realized/remembered that a wheel with a lower offset puts a wheel ffurther away from the center of the car]

 

No prob. I usually have to stop and think about it myself. Just when you think you have your head wrapped around the idea, you realize you're looking at it wrong.

 

asianboy,

Just FYI and maybe to clear things up: a 25mm spacer would mean that you're trying to get a wheel with about a 75mm offset to fit your WRX. I've never seen a wheel with a 75mm offset. If this helps then good. If it still isn't clear just summarize your question(s) and I'll try to finalize your transformation into "offset expert" on Monday.

 

I was under the impression he wanted a way to push the stock wheels further out and/or stagger the offset between front and back. I might have misunderstood.

 

Either I was right originally, or Dexter is wrong/misreading, or I can't read. If asianboy bought wheels for his Suby then the wheels would more or less hav an offset of, lets say, 50mm. And if he then decides that Pontiac was right & Wider is Better and gets some 25mm spacers from H&R & installs them. Wouldn't his wheels have an effective offset of 25mm and NOT 75mm, Like Dexter said? (Because, once again, the lower the offset the further out a wheel is from the center of the car...right?)

At any rate, I still think it would be better to get wider wheels, b/c IMHO I'd think that installing 25mm spacers on a street car would definatley cause premature bearing failure, & additional steering system stress, because the goemetry is off.

Kean, help me out! Am I losing it?

 

Reread my post. It gives the same answer you're figuring but in a different way. You are correct - a 25mm spacer applied to a 50mm offset wheel will result in an overall offset of 25mm. However, optimal offset on our Subarus is 50mm. So if you have a wheel with a 75mm offset, a 25mm spacer will allow it to fit our cars correctly - ie resulting in a 50mm offset.

On your stock wheels, a 25mm spacer is crazy - as you would guess. 55mm offset would be brought to 30mm - not good. I've heard of a 5-10mm spacer on stockers, but I don't even recommend that.

 

......I don't think you're losing it, you just misread the post like Dexter said. Like I said before, it's sometimes hard to get your head wrapped around an issue like this. That's why I usually draw it out. I got into a 1/2hr debate about offsets with a co-worker once. I didn't find out I was wrong until I tried to show him on paper. (ooops)

- Kean

 

I have the offset thing under control & I think i have a good grasp of the space/offset thing (the lower the offset the further away the wheel is from the center of the car & spacers attempt to move the wheel further away from the center of the car). I guess that whole 'et 75 wheel' thing threw me off.

Anyways, to summarize: 25mm spacers, BAD (on street cars); 5-10mm spacers, Okay w/ adult supervision.

 

Is that the general consensus then? I can throw a 10mm spacer on my 17"x7.5" 48mm offset wheels on my WRX without having to worry too much?

Bringing my WRX to 38mm offset is a significant way off from the suggested 50mm.

 

I wouldn't. You have the proper offset......why do you want to extend it out by 10mm? You will adversly affect your handling and possibly put your wheel bearings under uneccessary strain. I think the potential problems/issues you would face far out-weigh any asthetic gains.

- Kean

 

i think in general spacers should not be used unless absolutely necessary.. esp. aluminum spacers next to say brembo brakes that will heat up. aluminum under heat has the tendency to expand and may back out the lug nuts.. (as this has happened to my car) they are alternative to the simple h&r spacers, but off the top fo my head, i forget so i would stay away from spacers if possible...

 

I have a question about the H&R spacers.. I was pondering utilizing spacers on my stock wrx wheels.. I am in the process of getting the subaru 4-pot and some suspension parts prior to the race season.. I will not have money left over for new wheels, but yes to some tires.. I was hoping to be able to run some 225's on the stock wrx 16 inch rims and clear the front brake calipers..

Anyone have any insight.. has it been done before, saftety issues.. (Which were mentioned above) as well as what size spacer will be required to clear this set up and will I have to get longer threads..

Thanks
ALex
PS what is the price on them.. spacer things.

 

My personal opinion, I am not a big fan of spacers cause you lose thread engagement and it might lead to a vibration. Of course it depends on the quality of the spacer. Some are better made than others.

But if you must use a spacer, please don't go over 10mm

 

I'd be lying if I said aesthetics wasn't the main reason I wanted to throw 10mm spacers on my WRX. But I was under the impression that a wider stance would also improve handling, lower center of gravity, etc.

I now know better. Thanks!

 

spacers can improve handling because of the wider stance.. but it's not worth that little bit of improvement (that's my opinion tho).
as for putting spacers on to clear stuph, i don't know wut size would work, but you'd have to change your studs too and then be very careful of brakes heating the spacers.
5mm spacers from h&r (aluminum) cost quite a bit. like around $60? i forget...