For a rear AMC 20 will a 1” wheel spacer be too harsh on the wheel bearings. Is there a happy medium in size for wheel spacers? Is it worth it?

BTW it’s for 35” if that makes a difrance

thanks

I ran them on an 8.8 with 36" SX, for over 3 years with no problems. Mine were Billet aluminum, and also used to to convert the 5 on 4 1/2" bolt pattern to 5 on 5 1/2". They were about an 1 1/4". I had, no bearing problems.

any others

I just got some 1 1/4" spacers for mine. I'll test them out and get back to ya:flipoff2:

I'm waiting for mine to show up. I know a few folks running them and so far they haven't had a problem. This is on a GM Corp 12 rears. GM trucks track 3 inches less in the rear. gotten me in trouble a few times. I also scrub the inner fender tub where I can't hack it away or my kids will be getting face full of mud.

Originally posted by RCKRATZ
I just got some 1 1/4" spacers for mine. I'll test them out and get back to ya:flipoff2:

for real :confused:

Where are you guys getting your wheel spacers and how much$$$$. Lookin for about an inch and a half on each side.

My ever so humble opinion:

Wheel spacers = Band aid fix for a probblem that should be addressed somewhere else (by changing/altering the rim, wheel well, or axle width instead)

They shorten bearing life and can break when used with oversize tires. If you do get them, get expensive ones...

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but you asked, so... :flipoff2:

Jake

Where are you guys getting your spacers and how much $$$ lookin for 1 1/2" on each side, 6 on 5 1/2 bolt pattern

Here is a place that makes good high quality ones...I don't see any problem in running them and especially if you do regular checkup on everything like your supposed to

i'm just going to run them until I figure out what I want to do long term.


www.performancewheel.com

I do not see the difference between a wheel that has very little back spacing and a wheel spacer. They both move the center of the tire out furter to place more stress on the bearing and ball joints. Age old argument but I don't see the diff. Yes it is a band-aid until I can afford to have axles cut down and and build a suspension to accept the new axles. I have been trying to decide what to do cause they don't make the wheel I have any more so I can't get it in a different size. Not that aluminum wheels offer a better offset than what I have. I was looking at www.samsoffroad.com for the style spacer I want, don't know if they are the same as performance wheel or not. PW is cheaper if they are.

Argue this up I don't think it is any weaker than running a wheel with an offset of 2" or 2.5". My aluminum wheels have an offset of of 4 to 3.5" (I think) Weld has the least off set available in an aluminum wheel with 3 5/8". So a 4" offset with a 1.25" spacer still is only a back spacing of 3.75" That's close to standard for a steel wheel which has more rotating mass. I say offset wheel or spacer what's the diff??????????????????????

http://www.samsoffroad.com/Product%20Photos/2.jpg
The ones at sam's

I agree with my fellow newbie on this one, I don't see how the bearing can tell the diffrence between 1.5 inch spacer and 1.5 inches less backspacing. They are both equally hard on bearings.

I have 3" on each wheel. I love the wider stance. I just broke down my front end for maint. and the bearings are fine. I have had them on for over a year now.

I think what most guy's are picturing is the old type wheel spacers that used to use longer studs, and not the ones actually built into them. the older ones that you had you would buy like 3" long wheel stud's and then just bolt your wheel to that,,this cause many stud's to break off from the design of the spacer.if a stud came loose,,it put that much more pressure on the other 4. i think with the new wheel spacers being bolted on and then your wheel's being bolted to them,,the problem of breaking them is a thing of the past.

I'll be runnign the largest sapcers I could get from performance wheel (2.5") on my rear end to get closer to my full width front. I'll probably swap in a full width 9" this summer though. The spacers came out to $205 and some change.

This place is local for me.... www.aimind.com I purchased a pair of 1.5" spacer adapters for 125 with local taxes. These are hi-quality.

I measured my wheels the other night. I have a 3.5" backspacing. So if I go with a 1.5" spacer that takes me to 2". Do you think that is to much with Dana 44 and 9" with 36" SX's. My opinion on the original poster of this is that unless you brace the AMC 20 you're going to have problems. Is it a wide trac rear already?

Originally posted by Jakesteramalamajama
Wheel spacers = Band aid fix for a probblem that should be addressed somewhere else (by changing/altering the rim, wheel well, or axle width instead)

They shorten bearing life and can break when used with oversize tires.


Jake

Kinda a non issue with me. Running a full float axle, I've got the tire, wheel, and hub on one set and the axle on another. Having it hanging out there an extra 1.5" is not gonna be that big a deal.

Like it was said before, there is no difference between that and a funky offset wheel. Granted, the more weght that you apply to the bearing with it(the weight) being farther from the bearing the worse off you are. Ideal would be to have the center of the tire/wheel/hub directly over the bearing, but we all know that is kinda tough to get, especially for us that already have full width axless and paying to get a 14 bolt widened by 3" just really isn't worth the money. IMO

If I was running a narrower rig, then I could look into getting the axles cut down to the PERFECT width, but I'm not so :flipoff2:

Wouldn't steel be better than aluminum?

http://www.aor4x4.com/wheelspacers.htm

buy new rims with more BS,that is cheaper & you can sell the current rims to recoop some $, even if it's only the rear 2 rims. wilson paid $205 I bought all for of my 2" BS rims for less then that...........shipped!

The economics are not quite as you suggest for someone with (5) matching $250 a piece aluminum beadlocks that are covered with rock rash, but still perfectly functional. BTW, I think you meant to say less backspacing, rather than more.

less backspacing, yup, & yes if you got high dollar locks............spacers are the way for you my friend:D Sorry I hadn't thought past my steel rims:emb2:

Ive been running wheelspacers for awhile now.

I have Sams front 3'' spacers, 1.5'' per side, i think they came to 100 shipped. These were for a Dana 44.

The rear had to be spacer/adapted from 5 on 4.5 to 6 on 5.5 using the MORE adapters. These were 220 shipped. These were for a Ford 8.8.

I really doubted the spacer/adapters strength but ive been running 38's on my jeep now for about a year with 10 trail rides on them. So far so good, just one little thing that annoyed me. The lugs nuts tightening the adapter to the WMS would get loose. The use of lots of locktite solved the problem.

All of these years I have been hearing about "bad quality" spacers but have never actually heard of a specific brand or vendor who sells some that are "bad." Can someone post up on who to "avoid?"

PS I have 2" (wrong ones showed up I only wanted 1.5" or better yet 1") but they are great. Mine came from MArlin IIRC.

I dont know of any bad ones in particualr but I do know of one good one.

Marlin Crawler spacers. I just got my 2" spacers 2 days ago and got em installed already. I was a little scared that I would have too much spacing but I am running 2" spacers with 2.5" backspaced wheels. I am glad I went with the 2"ers.

http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/7/web/511000-511999/511986_156_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/7/web/511000-511999/511986_157_full.jpg

Glad to see someone with the marlin spacers posting. I'm about to get a set for the front and rear of my cruiser. Looking at going 2-3'' for the front and 3'' for the rear.

I ran a pair of 5/16" aluminium Mr. Gasket spacers from Summit. From my experience, avoid these things like the plauge. They didn't really damage my studs but they would bend and warp and the wheels would wobble as a result, as if the shafts were bent. I am trying to track down someone who sells 1/4" steel spacers. That is all I need to pull out my rear tires, on my 8.8, so they don't rub the inner fenders. Anyone?

Been running 3" per side on 44 with 38 for a year now, no issues, (Knocking on wood now)

Just be sure to use a torque wrench, and loctite, and recheck torque after the first 50-75 miles.

Cool. Sorry to hijack and I hope noone minds but I have these 2" Marlin Spacers that I would gladly trade to someone for some 1.5" or even 1" spacers if you have them. They are not totally brand new but are in perfect shape. The person I bought them front (basically brand new) sent me the wrong pair by accident...

EDIT: traded - awesome!

Just a not-so-quick warning.

If you get the performancewheel.com spacers or any other spacers with aluminum studs, do not get cheap lug nuts. Get nuts that are solid(not the cheapy crome crap) and that have a long thread contact area. I've stripped the threads on 4 studs so far(causing the nut to strip or bind on the threads of the stud). I've been told to run antiseaze between the stud and the lug nut but that's still up in the air. I'm guessing the problem is multiple: 1. the contact between the aluminum stud and crome/or whatever is on the lug nut is causing oxydization(sp), 2. the cheap lug nuts slowly stretch causing a loose fitting to the aluminum threads, 3. aluminum expands and contracts more quickly and dramatically than steel for heat/cold situations(sorry, this is a guess but some kind of expansion/contract problem seems to be occurring), 4. using an air wrench causes more heat more quickly.

I popped out one of the studs, went down to a local autoparts store and matched up about 10 steel studs to the busted aluminum crap. As I bind up aluminum studs, I torque/break the lug nut off, pop out the stud, bore out the whole a little to fit the new studs, and drive/torque the new one's in there. BUT, I would have preferred buying spacers with steel studs from the get-go.

Another FYI: I have not had any problems with the wheel flange to spacer contact loosening up. They're as tight as the day I put them on about a year ago.

Yet another FYI: I haven't had the opportunity to pull the front hubs off and look at the bearings(1" spacers in the front) but I've been running 1.5" wheel spacers with 3.75" BS rims in the rear for about a year with no noticeable issues on the wheel bearings(tapered roller bearings on a D44). And other than the aluminum studs, have had no strength/warping issues on the spacers.

I ran 2" rear spacers and 37's for a year and a half, then 39's on a toyot rear, no issues and 3.75" BSed wheels

1.5" spacers on my front D44 and steering sucked pretty much. Assist was manditaory.

i run them on both of my rigs...one is a DD and I have not had any issues :D

We make em, Ran these on dana 30's 35's amc 20's 14 bolt's and dana 44's up to 2"s :eek: without a problem. I cant tell you a hint, if you buy a spacer that is made in more than 2 set ups it can run out quite a bit. Spacers arent the funnest thing to make as you have to indicate them when you flip em. We use 6061 aluminum (which is more corrosion resistant to the other types of cheaper aluminum used for these) I have even seen wheel spacers cast (and break) You pretty much get what you pay for. I started out with 2" steel spacers that were zinc coated on a amc 20.....did notice any wear or problems with braking-accel..ect. lasted 3 years in a cj7 with 35's