wheel spacer

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:14 pm

I think I have the mustang just about ready for this year. I just had it aligned at Marks and set the camber bolts at -2 degrees. I also have some new wheels and tires for the car. I did a test fit of the wheels and tires. From what I can see, I have a hair over 1/8" clearance between the strut and tire. That's a little to thin for my likes.

My question is can I get away w/ a 3/16" spacer and not have to replace the studs? The cheapest set I can find is from American Muscle at $20. I did find a set of 1/8", but those are $30 plus shipping.

I did read on one thread and I need a minimum of 6 full thread engagements for these to be safe. Any thoughts? Jeb, you out there for comments?

JamesShort · **Posted:** Sun Feb 09, 2014 5:05 pm

6-7 threads is the rule of thumb. 3/16 is like 5mm and for a 1.5mm thread pitch, that is about 3.5 revolutions less. My hunch is that you might be floating with the line unless the stock lug studs are pretty long.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sun Feb 09, 2014 5:14 pm

The "rule of thumb" in the San Francisco area many years ago was for the thread engagement to be at least the stud diameter. It might help to make sure the spacer is a fairly close fit to the studs and isn't easily broken pot metal. Check torque between runs.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Sun Feb 09, 2014 5:51 pm

After doing more research I think I would be well served if I bought a set of hub centric spacers that are set up specifically for this pattern. I don't need any float or sliding.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sun Feb 09, 2014 8:23 pm

RodneyWright wrote:

After doing more research I think I would be well served if I bought a set of hub centric spacers that are set up specifically for this pattern. I don't need any float or sliding.

Yes. Have you found any for S197s?

FYI if you need much more thickness spacers exist with integral studs. http://www.americanmuscle.com/h-r-spacers-25mm.html

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:02 pm

DickRasmussen wrote:

Yes. Have you found any for S197s?

FYI if you need much more thickness spacers exist with integral studs. http://www.americanmuscle.com/h-r-spacers-25mm.html

Actually, if I needed longer ones, I'd go w/ these guys...

http://www.mustangwheelspacers.com/

you replace the stock stud w/ a new longer stub to use new the spacer and not the setup of stock studs w/ new studs integrated in the spacer. I only need 3-4mm, so I'm still looking. Right now there's a guy on fleabay that has good feedback that makes hubcentric 1/8" spacers. He's about the only thing I seen so far that meets my needs. Only problem is he only sells in sets of 4.

Cash Davidson · **Posted:** Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:02 pm

Rodney,
I had a similar situation when fitting your old 18x10 mustang wheels to my Mazda - with a little extra twist. The Mazda center bore is 67.1mm, the mustang wheels are 70.3mm.

Here's the clearance I had with no spacer - about 3 sheets of paper.

So I replaced the studs with longer ones:

And has custom spacers made to take up the slop between the center bores and give me a bit more room:

I had them made at http://www.motorsport-tech.com. Not cheap, but seemed like the right solution.

Cash

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:06 pm

Wow Cash, that was insanely tight. Good fix. I think I'd be good w/ a 1/8" spacer and still use the stock stud. After looking at the ones on American Muscle, those aren't hub centric, so those are off of my list. Considering the great price I got on the wheels, 50-60 bucks on spacers wouldn't be too bad to deal with.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:18 pm

I would think with 1/8" inch spacer, you would still have some hub to center on. At least it's been like that on *every* car I have used 1/8" spacers on. 1/4" or more would need hub centric spacer. We ran 15mm spacers on the rear of the Crossfire IIRC, but the use of longer lug bolts versus having to change the studs made it easy. - AB

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:03 am

Motorsport-tech spaces are the ones I have on my GTO as well. Very nice units, the bore diameter was spot on. Had to hammer them onto the hubs.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:35 am

Aaron Buckley wrote:

I would think with 1/8" inch spacer, you would still have some hub to center on. At least it's been like that on *every* car I have used 1/8" spacers on. 1/4" or more would need hub centric spacer. We ran 15mm spacers on the rear of the Crossfire IIRC, but the use of longer lug bolts versus having to change the studs made it easy. - AB

This^, there better be more than 1/8" or 3/16" of hub 'nose' on that car

.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Tue Feb 11, 2014 10:28 am

JamesShort wrote:

This^, there better be more than 1/8" or 3/16" of hub 'nose' on that car

.

I measured the hub last night and there's about 1/2" of hub, so no issues there. Found a set of 3mm spacers on ebay for $23 that are drilled specific to the bolt pattern and are hub centric. Supposed to be made of aircraft quality aluminum. I'll mic these when I receive to make sure they are "flat". I think this will give me the clearance I need in order not to rub, I'll have close to a 1/4" clearance once these are installed. I would doubt I'd get that much flex. Might be time for a gopro mount on the front suspension to see what's what....

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Thu Feb 13, 2014 8:17 pm

I received the spacers and I'm pleasantly surprised. Nicely made, no scratches or burrs and a tapered centerbore that fits nicely onto the hub. I measured the thickness w/ my micrometer and it all looks good at 3mm. I think this will give me the clearance I need now when we hit the track for the first time in just over 2 weeks.

Rob Keehner · **Posted:** Wed Feb 19, 2014 10:37 pm

The rule is 1.5x diameter of the bolt in thread engagement. 6 or 7 threads can mean different things on different cars.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:38 pm

Rob Keehner wrote:

The rule is 1.5x diameter of the bolt in thread engagement. 6 or 7 threads can mean different things on different cars.

Maybe 1x diameter (which is still over kill on modern fasteners used for lug studs/bolts). If it were 1.5x, every OEM car on earth would be under threaded from the factory. Almost all hondas I have owned with stock wheels and studs have about 8-9 full rotations from not engaged to torqued to 80 ftlb. That is a M12x1.5 so 1.5x would be 18mm of engagement or 12 threads which is clearly not the case. My WRX had M12x1.25 studs and had about 7.5-8 full rotations to torque spec (before I put spacers and 5mm longer studs on it). Even the 1x rule falls flat since that would be 9.6 rotations for a 1.25mm thread pitch to get to 12mm of engagement.

I think Les and Bernie ran like 4 rotations on Bernie's Red vette with the spacers they needed for the 335s

.

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