Wheel spacers

nytewlf

nytewlf

New member
I'm planning on running some 1.5 spidertrax spacers on my 12 JKUR and would like to know what is the most often parts broke while out on a trail. I have a 2 in lift and 35x12.5 on stock rubi wheels. The axel is completely stock. This is a short term deal, saving for some slabs, but I'm tired of not having full turn without tearing up my tires. I've heard about u-joints breaking but I'm not sure what axel they were running at the time or if that even makes a difference.
With knowledge comes preparedness.
I know this is a widely discussed matter and I'm hopeing to get a real answer before this tread turns to hell like all the rest.



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wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Your wheel spacers won't break anything. Like any wheel with less back spacing, your ball joints and unit bearings will wear out a bit faster but really, it's nothing to even concern yourself with. With 35's, your Jeep will be fine running factory shafts and everything else.
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
nytewlf said:
That's what I was thinking too, but I've heard a lot of horror stories. Thanks for the honest no bs answer


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Not sure what horror stories you're referring to, but it may be related to the brand of the spacers. Here's an excellent thread showing some differences between Spidertrax and other brands. Personally, if you're going to do spacers, Spidertrax is proven to be reliable:

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?34941-Spidertrax-vs-eBay-hub-centric-wheel-spacers
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
agiron said:
With spacers essentially widening the axle, do they increase the likelihood of the axle bending?


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I've never heard of that but maybe from an engineering point of view, I guess one could argue that it could technically be possible. So many Jeeps run spacers though, and I've never heard of that happening.
 
Zstairlessone

Zstairlessone

New member
The spring is the pivot point so I think not. Even with a longer moment arm the increased force should be felt between the spring and the wheel mounting face and it isn't long enough for the short spacers to give enough torque multiplication to bend. Of course this is just my thoughts on it.
 
gheller

gheller

New member
Before I started building up my Jeep I heard much of the negative hype concerning wheel spacers, but common sense always led me to believe that a quality spacer should not be an issue.
Thanks to the write up in JK FAQ I felt confident that I would keep my stock Willys wheels and use Spidertrax spacers with my larger tires.
Been happily running them for almost 5k miles now.
As Eddie stated, the effects of using wheel spacers would be no different than that of using wheels with less backspace.


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