tc

I'm sure all the ones you mention are fine, but there are some cheapie ebay ones that don't use good material for the spacer and poor quality bolts and they constantly come loose, which is a very dangerous situation.

Also, because Spidertrax is about 15 mins from his house.

Taro

Ok makes sense. I bet it is also wise to buy from a reputable vendor because ebay sellers can tell you its "quality" and it is junk.

Something like that is not worth saving $10-20 on.

BoulderFrost

Bought a set from SpiderTrax. Ended up figuring out they are located 18 miles from my house! What a coincidence! Anyhow, they offer a decent warranty so I went with. So far they seem to be working great! Thanks for your input guys!

taikowaza

nice thread! question about these spidertrax spacers- can these be used even with manual locking hubs? website says there are 2 types, lug centric and hub centric, can a 2nd gen with manual locking hubs and original offset 8 wheels run these? Thanks! I had not heard of these before, they look great

- Lug Centric (Early Model) Fits Toyota Lug Centric Axles, 6 on 5-1/2"• 1-1/2" Thick• Part #: WHS-005Price: $99.95
..........................
Hub Centric (Late Model)

Spidertrax Wheel Spacer Kit
• Fits the following vehicles:
- 1980-Up 4 Runner (w/o Locking Hubs)
- 1995-Up Tacoma 4WD (w/o Locking Hubs)
- 2000-2006 Tundra
- 1993-1998 T100 (w/o Locking Hubs)
- 2007-Up FJ Cruiser
• 6 on 5-1/2"
• 1-1/4" Thick
• Part #: WHS-007
Price: $99.95

ulfr

Too light? Mine is c.a. 2,3-2,5 tons ready for 3-5 days trip in the mountains. That's without passengers.



Anywho, back to topic, why not just wider wheels rather than spacers?

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Not a 4Runner but here are before and after pictures of 1.5" spacers:
Before spacers:

After 1.5" spacers:

Now the tires are fairly even with the sliders but stick out a ways:

BoulderFrost

As far as I know, spacers are used many times to fix rubbing issues with a wide tire/wheel sitting too close to components in the wheel well. I was told that a wheel with wider backspacing can be purchased to do this same thing, essentially pushing the wheel away from the hub like a wheel spacer would.

ulfr

Ya, that's quite true. But as far as I'm concerned, I'd go for the sawzall, or the grinder.
Second option would be another type of wheels (with another backspace).
Because, another link in the chain, well, it's just another link that can fail.
And I'd rather not have more than I need.

FYI, I *do* run 1,5" spacers on the front wheels to get the same widht as my rear axle, but I have plans to remove the spacers and use the hubs from the IFS instead. (gives the same widening, with abit of tweaking).

michalik_piotr

A lot of good infor here. I did not think about the possibility of wheel bearings being worn out sooner or the fact it might make a car more stable in turns.

I am currently running 1.5" spacers all the way around simply for the reason that I wanted 16" rims off the 3rd gen, the 5 star design (so i'd have more tire options, ie: nitto terra gropler). See, what I didn't realize is that the rims would rub on the steering rod/idle rod or whatever that is called in the front. I guess I didn't know the back spacing was different from OEM rims (which I did not have) or the rims I had, old 80's 15" steel ones with a bunch of round holes. So my option was to take a grinder and shave some off the front rims or get spacers. In the rear I had barely 1/4 clerance b/t the tires and the leafs (and since i want to run a wider tire then the 265/70 good year street tire the rims came with) so I decided to get the spacers. I think even if i stick with the same tire size but go with an AT i'd have clerance issues.

So, does it make it more stable? Yes, but nothing you'll notice in turns under 50mph or even faster.... so think twisty mountain passes or on ramps. What you will notice around town is slower steering though. If you're running a 10.5 tire it will feel like you're on a 12.5 (i know this b/c my truck originally came with 12.5). Also, and I have yet to prove this at full flex i might not be able to stuff the tires into the fender wells w/o trimming, in fact i'm pretty sure i won't be able to, even with these street 265/70 good years.

Um, so lets see: possibility of quicker wearing wheel bearings, slower turning at slow speeds (most of your turning), not being able to stuff tires and the "one more link in the chain" theory which I support for the one positive thing....more stability at high speeds. oh ya, and a $200 price tag. Not worth it in my opinion but unfortunately since i really wanted those 3rd gen limited 16's (b/c i wanted the nittos that only came in 16's) i was forced to buy them since i had clerance issues. Does it look better? Eh, thats subjective....right now my 4runner with the spacers looks about the same as it did before w/o on the different rims since they had a different offset. with a wider tire (which now i'm affraid of getting b/c i don't want to slow the steering down anymore) it might look a bit odd.... even with a 265 but an AT it might make the tires stick out.... so i guess I'll buy a set of $350 bushwacker flares and then it will be a waste of $550 for basically unneccessary cosmetic mods. I thought i'd save a buck and heres where i ended up. Should have just bought a wheel/tire package in a 16 for $1,000. and called it quits since as it stands i still have to shell out $600 for tires, so ad my $350 for rims and $200 for spacers..... but hey, i got 3rd gen 5 star limited rims on a 1st gen! oh ya, i also had to hog out a pair of the rims to fit over the manual hubs (ya, will have to do the other pair too if i want to rotate). duh!