Rear wheel spacers?

[Fett]

Just curious as to how many people are running wheel spacers in the rear, and how must of a spacer is too much.

Today I did my 5-lug conversion. I went with sn95 spindles with 13" cobra rotors and calipers up front, and Ranger/Aerostar axles in the rear. I kind of fell into the rotors, calipers, and some 97GT rims and tires....so I just ran to the boneyard to collect the rest. If I had more money and time I would have gone with rear disk as well, but I opted for 9" Ranger drums in the back.

The rear rims had 275/40/17 drag radials, and I went with 245/45/17 up front. I flipped my quad shocks. The rear tires seem dangerously close to the inner fender. I am not worried about the exhaust hitting, because I am going with dumps this week anyway, and the tires were clear of the quad shocks. But I didn't like how close they were to the inner part of the wheel well. I tried to bang the edges in, but there is only so much you can do back there. So I was thinking of wheel spacers, but I have heard varying opinions on them.

I have plenty of room between the tire and the outer part of the well, so that won't be an issue. I just don't want to do anything "unsafe"...especially with drag radials. When these wear out I plan on going with some 245/45s.

 

[MikeC]

Lightning Force Performance makes a very nice 3/8" hubcentric spacer with extended reach lug nuts. Costs around $80 for two spacers and 10 ER lug nuts. I had a set and they were very high quality.

Lightning Force Performance

 

[Silvers]

I don't know how your clearing your quads with that tire! On my 91 the quads stick out further than the inner fender. Go to a wheel shop and get a pair of 1/8" spacers for 5 bucks apiece, you can use your lug nuts. If they are clearing now, another 1/8th shud give you enough room.
Retorque your lugs after driving 10 miles, then repeat this(adding more miles) till the torque stays where you have it set.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I generally recomment against spacers.

However, if you need them, would suggest only running a hubcentric spacer and upgrading to hardened studs at a minimum.

Hubcentric spacers are expensive however, but i would never consider running cheap $20 autozone spacers. Those are the ones that typically cause wheel studs to break.

 

[Fett]

Well I installed my dumps tonight, to solve a few problems...one being the wheels rubbing. I never had a problem with the ponys, but my slicks rubbed. Plus it never really fit right to begin with. The humps over the axle were too close to the frame and would knock it once and a while, and they were rather close to my fuel lines. No amount of adjusting would work, I would have needed a new exhaust....which I was not really into doing. So I replaced my Flowmasters with a set of Dynomax Super Turbos, dumped. Sounds like total sex....I LOVE IT!

Now I don't hear the tires rubbing on the pipes...obviously, but there is still some issues with the wheel being just a hair too close to the inner well. The problem is I am running Ranger axles and drums...so I am not benefiting from the extra inner clearance that would come if I was running rear disk.

I figure I will just take it easy for a few weeks until I get everything for my rear disk setup, that should solve my clearance issues. I am running drag radials, and even though I don't street race or drive too aggresivly on the streets...I am afraid that wheel spacers might cause me problems.