Hey scotty, love your channel buddy.
I bought a set of wheel spacers for my 2017 volkswagen golf GTD (I'm in the UK, these cars are built and shipped from Germany to here). The spacers will flush the wheels to the edge of wheel arch to give it a bit of an aggressive look. What do you think of wheel spacers? And also what do you think of coilovers or lowering springs?
Thanks,
Prem
I'm not a big fan of wheel spacers. In fact, they are really dangerous if you ask me (from experience).
I had a friend who had wheel spacers professionally installed at a performance shop. We would always go canyon cruising at night, but this one night he noticed that his back tire was making a weird thumping sound. It turns out the back left tire only had three lug bolts on it (two were tight, one was coming loose)! If he were to keep driving like a maniac in the canyons, he would've lost the tire.
The wheel spacers caused that to happen. Why? Because wheel spacers reduce the amount of thread going into the wheel hub if the stock lug bolts are used. I just find it dangerous with or without the proper bolts. If you really want spaced out wheels, I suggest buying rims with the desired offset as a way to space out the wheel.
As for coilovers and lowering springs, they're great for improving handling. Just don't go too low with the springs as wheel rubbing will start to occur in the wheel well. And don't cheap-out on coilovers.
- if your friend is driving like a maniac, then he should be worried about a lot more than using wheel spacers
- " I just find it dangerous with or without the proper bolts" that doesn't sound like an educated opinion, if you are using proper bolts then what should you worry about?
@test_tube_baby
Opinions don't have to be educated, and it was based off my experience with them. There are many more stories like this one on other forums talking about wheel spacers. Sure if you use the proper bolt length, it will thread properly into the hub. But the amount of thread is not the problem...it's the "load" you're putting on the bolts. Rather than the wheel hub holding the rim in place with the bolts "securing" the rim from falling off...the hub is holding the spacer which in turn is holding the rim. Because of this, the bolts are now used to "sandwich" the spacer in place. The load on the bolts is what caused them to come loose on my friend's car, and they are not really ideal for tracking/corning purposes like what me and my friend were doing in the canyons (that's what I meant by driving like maniacs). In fact, some tracks do not allow the use of wheel spacers because of this. These spacers are a cheap way for fixing the offset of the rim instead of buying new rims. They are definitely used for aesthetics, not performance. You asked for an opinion, and I gave you one. I'm sure others will give a similar one.
don't forget that exposing the tire more will also make it more vulnerable, and it could also sling more mud and rocks at the body of the car.
Opinions are worth what you pay for them, high quality wheel spacers are perfectly safe.
I've been tracking my car for 5+ years, I have multiple friends who are racecar drivers and a very good friend who used to be a regional director for NASA (National Auto Sports Association). Based on both lab and real world testing done by people of this caliber it has been demonstrated that high quality (that is the real key) wheel spacers are every bit as safe as using a wheel with an adjusted offset (which is all you are doing with a spacer; using your existing wheels rather than buying new ones with a different offset).
Now if you want to go buy a set of wheel spacers off of ebay, you are most definitely driving at your own risk!
Also, depending on how large of a spacer you use you may need longer studs of lug bolts (depending on which your vehicle uses). These are also something that you want to make sure are high quality parts.