Date:         Tue, 7 Mar 2000 10:22:23 -0500
Reply-To:     ed <edevinney@BIGFOOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         ed <edevinney@BIGFOOT.COM>
Organization: Pismo Beach Institute for Advanced Leisure Studies
Subject:      Re: Spacers
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854";
              x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"

I've heard this before and I still don't get it.  If (and this may be the big
if) the spacers are of close enough tolerance they should act fundamentally
as if the wheel were made with a different offset - ie, if the load is
carried through the studs and mounting flange in the same way as without the
spacer, no problem.

Some cars do have a problem with excessive offset leading to premature
bearing wear.  And changing the offset & track will change handling somewhat,
but it's not as if the vehicle is automatically made into Ralph Nader's worst
nightmare...

And as for safety Porsche folks use these all the time, in the US and
Germany.  Sometimes steel, sometimes aluminum.  If a well-made spacer is safe
on a 3000lb car at 150+ on the Autobahn, a similarly well made and selected
one will be safe on a 5000lb van at 65-.  Choose your equipment carefully and
learn about what you're doing.  YMMV.

Andrew Grebneff wrote:

> The main safety issue with spacers is that they put a big extra loading on
> the studs. The thicker the spacer, the more leverage the wheel exerts on
> the studs. snapping 4 or 5 studs on a big pothole will be a major
> inconvenience indeed. Doing it at speed with an oncoming semi...