Wheel Spacers

Canada Nissan Automotive
1

Hey guys,

I’m seriously ready to suck on a shotgun barrel. Because I was seduced by the siren song of the Brembos, I can now not find ANY wheels that fit it. The only ones that do are Nismo ones that are $450/wheel, don’t look that great, aren’t readily available, and still weigh 17 lbs.

So, I need to increase wheel offsets to have them fitting. I’m looking at 17" Rota Attacks, which have a +45mm offset instead of the 47-48 the Brembo specs require in order to clear the caliper. I’d be doing this for autocrossing, so the wheels wouldn’t be on 100% of the time, I can use the stockers for that.

So, do any of you have experience running wheel spacers? Any suggestions on where to get my hands on them, or should I have them custom made? I’m not looking for the offroad 2" ones either, just 3-5mm will do.

2

3-5 mm should be no problem. just make sure you still have many turn of the lug nut before it gets tight. if possible got ones that fit TIGHTLY around your hub. do NOT put washers over the studs like some ppl do. H&R’s are really nice

3

Get spacers custom made that have the centre bore the same size as the hub. The only available extended studs sold for nissans are the Nismo ones, or you could switch to ARP studs but you would have to get new lug nuts in the 12x1.5 thread because they dont carry the nissan thread 12x1.25.
Im going the ARP way because their studs are stonger and its still cheaper than the nismo studs.
Nismo studs are $6 US each
ARP are $12 cdn for a 5 pack and the lugs are $40 CDN for 20.

4

COLECRAFT- 4636 11 St. NE - 403-681-3683
http://members.shaw.ca/rangermates/

they are in calgary. $150/pair heres a sample of his spacers… http://members.shaw.ca/rangermates/Colecraft%20004.jpg

5

Boost Infested thanks for the link. PyreXXX, offset is not as much a problem as finding the proper rim design to clear the calipers.

6

Thanks for the info guys! But damn, $300/4 spacers? Ouch dude. That said, when it comes to putting the wheels on the car, I’m not going to buy $5 parts that break at the second corner, especially in autocross.

I understand for most cars that finding an offset isn’t as important as clearing the caliper, but unfortunately for the Spec Brembo cars 99% of the wheels out there just do NOT clear the calipers. Try this…go to www.wheelspecs.com and try searching for a 4x114.3 17" rim with a 47+ offset. It found one wheel for me, an ugly chrome piece that probably weighs more than the stockers. Remind me to take the wheel off the Sentra and show you guys the crazy offset this thing runs normally, a medium sized dog could curl up inside and you wouldn’t be able to see it over the inside of the rim. Seriously…I’m on drugs, I guess. :wink:

I think the main problem is that I don’t have a first-born to trade for wheels, because apparently Ray’s gram lights do fit, but it’d take years of whoring myself out on the street to afford them. :slight_smile:

Ok, does anyone have any suggestions where to go for wheels then? I need a place that a) knows what they are talking about, and b) will let me TRY lots of different wheels on the car to check the clearance. A place like that would get my business, even if they were slightly more expensive than another joint.

7

Wouldn’t you want a lower offset with a wider spoke design? Like a +32 or something along those lines? What is the stock offset?

8

That’s the problem. The stock wheels HAVE a 47 offset! :cry:

What I was hoping to do was buy +45 Rotas and then add a 3mm spacer to cover the difference. The Rota Attacks are a Gram Light knockoff and are a pound lighter to boot, so I was hoping to run a set of those.

You 240 guys are so lucky with wheels it isn’t even funny! :vom:

9

The 3mm spacers will make +42mm offset. And I found looking for wheels just as hard. I bolted on my 4 bolt calipers and left my licence and mastercard at different dealers and took the rims home and tried them. I would’nt call that lucky just quick thinking.

10

I realize that the spacers will technically reduce the offset, and I also realize that wheels offsets are confusing, even after finding a few articles about it.

Ok, so in terms even my simple Irish/Ukranian mind can understand:
The Spec V’s stock wheel offset is LISTED as +47mm. After reading about how wheel offsets work online, it turns out that this wheel is actually a negative offset wheel, that is, has the spokes/hub closer to the curb side than the hub side.
(http://wheeltool.com/info/offset.html)

My thought is that by using a spacer to push a lower negative offset wheel AWAY from the hub will allow said wheel to clear the calipers. Does this make sense/is it feasible?

I really wish I had a digi-cam so I could show this off. I r teh sux. :oops: But on the plus side, I have huge-ass brakes to haul the 25 lb wagon wheels Nissan equipped to a stop. :smiley:

Don’t mind me if I repeat the same stuff today…I think I’m stuck in stupid mode! :doh:

11

You’re confused. You have a high positive offset wheel. There is more wheel on the inside of the hub than the outside. Your spacer idea will allow more brake clearance but less positive offset.Rim design is your friend. I would use sizes that have worked for somebody else, or phone people @TireRack.

12

You’re right, I am quite likely confused. That weblink made it look like I had a negative offset wheel, even though I’ve only heard of it referred to in positive offset terms.

You’re also correct that the spoke design will be critical on these rims. Several Rota and Ray’s designs look appropriate…but without a test fit your guess is as good as mine. Most of the wheels people have been using with the brembos are only available in the US, so that might pose a bit of a problem.

Blargh…I hope no one else has to go through this when they look for their wheels.

Thanks for all the help, guys! If you know a wheel dealer that’ll let someone show up and test-fit a few rims, lemme know. :slight_smile:

13

+47…go buy a honda…keep a 38+/42+max in front for good brake clearence…
and go low in the rear 32+/19+…or lower for more dish depending on rim desing…

14

Mark, I don’t think you read the other posts. PyreXXX has a 04 specV with Brembos. Your suggestions haven’t helped him at all.

15

Well…he’s probably right.

If I went and bought a Honda, I could slap on all kinds of “turbo vents” and roof scoops, double decker aluminum spoilers, lighted washer nozzles, and mebbe some spinners.

Then I could be cool like all the kids on NOPI Tunervision.

Oh wait… :lol:

16

a couple guys touched on it here already.

OFFSET MEANS NOTHING FOR BRAKE CLEARANCE

it has to do completely with spoke deisgn.

offset is basically the distance from the centre-line of the rim to the mounting pad (where the wheels actually mounts to the hub.

even if you have a negative offset, if your wheel spokes are straight and the mounting pad is relatively flush with them you are going to need spacers.

case in point, these are my wheels:

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/11/web/359000-359999/359615_77_full.jpg

16 x 8 +32

i need an 18mm spacer to clear Z-brakes because of the spoke design. it has nothing to do with offset.

the reason rims like the gram lights or similar will work is because the spokes are convex so tehy allow for a caliper to fit in behind them.

dont shop for rims to fit your brakes.

buy the rims you want and then make them fit with spacers.

$150 for a pair of spacers is dirt-ass cheap if it is CDN dollars and includes good studs.

i bought the Touge Factory adjustable spacers and they damn near killed me.

if the spacers are not hub centric, huck them in the woods

if they dont have amazing studs, huck them in the woods

H&R’s are the best, bar none, but getting them from a shop in canada is futile… dont even try, H&R jobber pricing for them is twice the american retail… not joke.

buy them from the US or get copies.

there is only one alternative to the nismo studs to keep your 12 x 1.25 pitch, they are peak performance studs and are the same price anyways.

the ARP part number for 2.5 inch studs that will fit S13 front and rear and S14 rear (not front) is 100-7708

$40 for 20 is about right, if you cant find them for that i can get them for you for that.

i am interested to know more about those spacers you pic’d jack.

i have my H&R 15mm at my local CNC shop (same that did the spin knobs) and they are ready to go but i cant meet the minimum order quantity.

mated with the ARP studs i can do slightly better than $140 CDN for a pair

17

Actually, to me brake clearance is related to offset. See, the thing is, if I am going to have to run a spacer, I want to run the smallest one possible - no more than 5 mm at the maximum. Regardless of anyone else’s experience with spacers, I don’t feel they are a particularily good idea for hard driving, which is what these rims would be for.

The spoke designs I have been looking at are all somewhat curved, which is good. The main problem has been finding someone in town that carries the appropriate wheels so I can bring the car in and test fit the rims. Without test fitting, I’m in the dark as far as clearances and required spacers are concerned.

The stock Nissan wheels look relatively flat from the outside, but the inside of the wheel shows significant curvature and cutouts to fit the calipers.

Anyway, thanks for the advice. I think I’m pretty much going to have to bite the bullet and just buy something and make it fit. If there is a bright side to all this, it’s that I’m only going to need the spacers for the front wheels, as the rear caliper isn’t nearly as monstrous as the fronts.