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Wheel spacers, bad or good?

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Old Mar 19, 2011 | 10:40 AM
  #1  
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Default Wheel spacers, bad or good?

I want to buy wheel spacers 1.5" for my OEM wheels.

I heard things about wheel spacers, for example, it could dammage the wheel bearing. True or false ?
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Old Mar 19, 2011 | 10:43 AM
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False. They cause no more damage then a wheel with less backspacing then stock.
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Old Mar 19, 2011 | 11:22 AM
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Neither true or false.. It does give the wheel an inch and half more leverage over the wheel bearing than the factory wheel had. no different than an equally offset aftermarket wheel. The more offset added, the more wear on the wheel bearing. To what real extent of life it shortens it? who knows!
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Old Mar 19, 2011 | 11:28 AM
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Originally Posted by TROUPP
Neither true or false.. It does give the wheel an inch and half more leverage over the wheel bearing than the factory wheel had. no different than an equally offset aftermarket wheel. The more offset added, the more wear on the wheel bearing. To what real extent of life it shortens it? who knows!
Thanks mon ami

The stock OEM is 6.25". So 6.25" minus 1.5" = 4.75" of back spacing

And, I think that 4.75" can't be that bad for the bearings, right?
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Old Mar 19, 2011 | 11:46 AM
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Just to put it in perspective, my after market rims have 4.25" of backspacing. So, in a small way, your factory rims with a 1.5" spacer would be easier on your Jeep than my rims are on mine
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Old Mar 19, 2011 | 11:53 AM
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If you install correctly, check and maintain them, they'll be fine. If you are lazy and never look at them after the install, they are just an accident waiting to happen.
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Old Mar 19, 2011 | 11:57 AM
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Originally Posted by nthinuf
...If you are lazy...
I knew there was a reason I got rid of mine
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Old Mar 19, 2011 | 08:40 PM
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i put spidertrax on mine 34"toyo mt so far about 11k no problems
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Old Mar 19, 2011 | 11:57 PM
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What are any issues with strength? Is having spacers weaker than not having em? Is alloy usa a good brand? Im putting a 4" lift on my 4 door tomorrow night and have alloy usa 1.5" spacers I to put on cause im using stock wheels. Should I think of an alternative?
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Old Mar 20, 2011 | 07:47 AM
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Originally Posted by karls10jk

There are no issues with strength. People see spacers as bad because they buy cheap ones with grade 5 studs or they fail to check torque on them each time they rotate their wheels.

Buy nice spacers and make sure everything is snug and you'll have no problems.

What are the recommended/best brands? Also, is there a max spacing value (e.g. 1.5in)?
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