Wheel spacers

[Reddiver]

I have 1/2 inch spacers in now. That only gives me a little better than 3/4 clearance with no fenders yet between the tire and the side of La Tortuga. A friend offered to cut and weld an extension in the axle or I could buy another spacer. Do spacers put extra stress on wheel bearings?

[MidTNJasonF]

Yes they do but the stress is highest in a steering axle like the front of you car. One thing to consider is you probably will have to get longer studs. Most studs are good for a 5mm or so spacer.

I can not say for sure but even on a light weight tear I would personally go no larger than 1/2" for a spacer if I absolutely had to have one.

[Gerdo]

3/4" of space isn't bad You shouldn't have any issues with the tire rubbing. I'm guessing that I only have ~1/2" and have not had any rubbing. I have been down some rough trails w/o andy problems.

Do spacers add stress to the bearings? Yes. Is it anything to worry about? In my opinion, no!

I have a friend that has raced his Toyota FJ Cruiser in multipule races (as seen on TV, Two Roads to Taupo and Two Roads to Baja) He has to use stock wheels and to get wider they can use spacers. He runs a 1.25" spacer that bolts on with the stock studs and has studs in it. The only problem that they have had was that 2 people thought that the other person tightened the spacer but neither did and they came loose.

Yours just sandwich between the wheel and hub so you will not have that problem.

*** Note: All trailer bearings should be checked and lubed regularly!***

[Alphacarina]

I have 1/2 inch spacers in now. That only gives me a little better than 3/4 clearance with no fenders yet between the tire and the side of La Tortuga. A friend offered to cut and weld an extension in the axle or I could buy another spacer. Do spacers put extra stress on wheel bearings?

If you need spacers an inch or thicker, you can buy a set like these, which come with their own studs to mount the wheel



I've used a set of 1.5 inch thick spacers like these on my 1500 pound motorcycle trailer which I built from an HF 1740 kit for many miles with no ill effects on the bearings. Bought them on eBay

Another advantage to these type spacers is that you can buy them to fit your trailer hub and also to fit a different wheel which otherwise wouldn't fit on your trailer hub, so you can use them to 'adapt' to many different wheels

Don

[Reddiver]

Thanks for all the information . I really didnt want to pull that axle out.