Should You Use Wheel Spacers on Your Jeep?

By Christian Moe - August 13, 2015

jeepspacers

In that long list of questions that every first-time Jeep owner goes through, “Are wheel spacers safe?” is a big one. That same question was asked a few years ago in the tech side of the JK Forum. 08UnlimitedSahara810 was concerned because of conflicting information he had heard. His local shop was against them, and one of the tire stores told him they would refuse to touch his Jeep if he came in with spacers. Sounds like a lot of bad trouble, but what is the real deal with spacers?

Well if you read through the pages of the thread, you will see that the spacers are perfectly safe, so long as you buy proper spacers and use them correctly. The real key is that “proper spacers” part. You see there are lots of cheap spacers on the market that are little more than a slab of metal that fits between your wheels and your axle hub. These types of spacers are super bad, and will cause much more harm than good. If you use them, it is highly likely the ghost of General MacArthur himself will possess your Jeep and give it a death wobble at any speed over 3 mph.

Nobody wants that. Instead, buy spacers that are solid, and feature double mounts. Basically, these spaces fit over your wheel studs, and they come with low profile lugs that will bolt the space to your axle. There is a second set of studs built into the spacer that your wheels will bolt to. By having the spacer bolt directly to the axle, you are creating a strong and sturdy connection. All you need to do from this point is check periodically to ensure that the lugs are tight. Most users never see any loosening, but it’s better to play it safe than sorry. Check and tighten about 35 miles or so after installation, then check again every 10k miles or so. That is about every tire rotation, which makes it the perfect chance to check them.

So, let’s recap. Spacers are not evil, so long as you get the right ones, and use them the right way. Now get out there and get dirty.