# Wheel spacers



## RichardD (Sep 14, 2009)

The front stance of an A-Class has always annoyed me so was wondering if anyone had fitted some wheel spacers to get the wheels further out into the wheel arch.

The current Fiat wheels have an ET of 68 so there is plenty of scope to bring them back to say ET28 by using a 40mm spacer and still have the wheel centre close to the centre of the wheel bearing and not giving it any undue loading.

Richard


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## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

What would be the advantage?


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## RichardD (Sep 14, 2009)

It would just look better to my eye and better balanced.

I guess with a slightly wider front track then the stability would be slightly better.

Carthago do a Compactline range which is much narrower and the wheels sit almost flush to the outside of the wheel arch and it looks sooooo much better.

Richard


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I had wheel spacers on a mini eons ago, too much stress on the wheel bearings so they failed, I'd not use them on such a heavy vehicle, maybe changing the wheels would be better.


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## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

I wouldn't fit them until the warranty expires. It's also a modification from an insurance companies point of view.

Malcolm


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## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

Possible effects of wheel spacers:

Increased load on the wheel bearings
Increased load on the wheel retaining bolts
Increased load on the steering gear
Increased load on suspension components
Changed airflow over the brakes
Invalidated warranty
Invalidated insurance

Possibly worth taking the chance on a 20 year old boy racer car but.....!


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Fitting of wheel spacers WILL **** up the overall steering geometry that someone has spent a lot of time and effort setting up.

Leave well alone or you could run into warranty issues.

Andy


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Just get some Carlos Fandango wheels.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Goodness me, Carlos Fandango takes me back rather more years than I care to admit.

Andy


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Always wanted an angle box to do that too, finally got one (Burgundy) and the A pillars were well and truly stuffed, I was heart broken, wish I still had it though, worth a bloody fortune since the Weasley boy flew one.


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## camoyboy (May 9, 2005)

Hi Richard, 

As already said, don't do it. After spending a good number of years working in a ride and handling department for a sports car company, I can assure you that any alteration to the wheel spacing will have a detrimental effect on the drivability of the vehicle. The FIAT engineers will have optimised the suspension geometry to give the best compromise for ride quality and handling, and to alter this in any way could make the vehicle unsafe to drive.

Colin


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## RichardD (Sep 14, 2009)

I started this thread after seeing spacers advertised on the Goldschmitt website. They design and manufacture suspension upgrades for all types of motorhomes. Surely they wouldn't sell anything which was dangerous.

http://www.goldschmitt-schweiz.ch/produkte/fiat-ducato.html

As I said at the start of this thread the Fiat wheel has an ET of 68 which means that the wheel centre sits well inside the face of the bearing hub and even if this was reduced to say ET30 the centre of the wheel would still be inside the centre of the bearing.

Where it does start loading the bearing is when ET goes negative and the centre of the wheel is then outside of the bearing centre and this would certainly start to add some additional load.

I have an air cooled 1980's Porsche which is a wide bodied Carrera which has the same steering and suspension to the original 1980's Porsche 930 turbo. They have used spacers both on the front and rear hubs to get the original narrow bodied Carrera suspension set up out to fill the wide bodied arches. The rear spacers must be about 30mm thick. Porsche then add large 4 pot calipers for good measure which have much greater stopping capabilities than the standard Carrera caliper.

I'm also looking for load rated alloy wheels for the van which have a reduced ET value as this will do the same job.

Richard


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Richard

You have asked for people's opinions yet you seem to have already decided what you are going to do.

It's your money to spend as you see fit BUT you do need to consider all of the factors involved. I would suggest you contact Fiat to see if the fitting of the spacers you have in mind will have an impact on your new vehicle warranty FIRST.

Andy


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Many things are offered for sale which are not legal to use, als I consider country of use, the quality of the spacer, and of the modified bolts.

Your van. Your money. Your warranty. Your life except maybe others would be involved if it all goes pear shaped on the road.


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## RichardD (Sep 14, 2009)

Hi Andy, I haven't decided that I'm going to do it, but that I had seen the Goldschmitt spacers (TUV approved) and was asking whether anyone had fitted them.

I've also come across an alloy wheel seller who's motorhome oriented.

http://www.tyresave.co.uk/15-16-inch-alloys/

The first wheel shown on the web page comes with an ET of 40 so as I am going to change the standard steel wheels to alloys when I take delivery, these will probably be ideal. Need to check whether they are TUV approved first.

Richard


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Many of the 'C' Class RVs in the states were built on 'cutaway' van chassis and grossly overbodied. Driving them in my opinion was a nightmare swaying about. But we never came across any wheel extensions to try and make the ride more stable. Not saying there were no spacers but obviously not a popular add-on.

Ray.


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