Spacers?

I've read several places that adding wheel spacers is bad for the suspension and wheel bearings on your car. My question is how is it any different than adding aftermarket wheels with a different offset? Just curious since I've thought of both options, but never understood how one is bad and the other seems to be acceptable. May be a dumb question, but it wouldn't be my first one.

spacers are an OEM porsche option BBS sells these: https://www.motortrend.com/news/bbs-...ersal-fitment/ Its not the big deal that everyone says it is Plus it looks cool as hell

I think what you might be thinking of are these. 🤣 As long as you don't do that, you should be ok.

Quotes source post: 18702431

Hah... that's what I originally thought, but if you Google this topic you will find that a large number of the results you get will say that spacers will prematurely wear out your suspension and bearings. Does anyone know if this is just a myth that has gain popularity or if there's actual data to back it up? I just keep wondering how adding spacers is any different than changing the offset of the wheels?

Quotes source post: 18702509

I'm pretty sure that they are effectively the same thing. Either will place more/different torque on your bearings than factory. Is it "too much", or will it shorten any lifespan? Hard to say quantitatively. Anecdotally, enough people around here seem to run spacers that it must not be too bad. I thought that this was a good summary of the potential issue. https://www.theautopian.com/our-susp...wheel-spacers/

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🔥🔥🔥

All said already is correct. Spacers are fine so long as torque is correct and the mounting surfaces are clean. Other than that, the studs and bolts need to be of quality and you are fine. I have a set for sale if you want them. 15mm and have 4. I ran them for a while until i got my GT3 offset wheels.

Quality of the spacer matter, no-name cheeps are asking for trouble, My favorite value is H&R spacers, tough alloy and you can get small ones that use extended lugs if you only need 5 or 10MM or for more offset the extension spacers that bolt on with their own studs.. The H&R spacers that use lugs are hub centric and stackable, and each spacer has a hub so the lock together very very stable. As mentioned , CLEAN all contact surfaces, as in clean metal no rust or other stuff, Make sure they are hub centric. (stronger attachment), I don't use ones with the weight slots, broke a couple and it put me off them. Wheels with the full needed Offset are my first choice once I have the car tuned. (But thats for the track usually)

how did you manage to break a spacer related to its relief cuts?

They cracked because My best guess is they don't support the span between the lugs well enough, they don't have enough meat for the wheel to clamp them to the hub. Its mainly a experience thing, handled several cars and the only ones that I had trouble with were the 5 to10 MM spacers with the slots cut between the lugs that are rings and not hub centric. Note they were all on rally or road race cars. I've never even cracked a H&R so that was my evidence.. I never tried it, but I suspect tif you filled the slots on the thick ones with epoxy and glass beads, they would still be light and would clamp better. But is an oz or two really worth it? I can usually shed more un-sprung with in other ways..

On some other thread about spacers, there was a spacer vendor who confirmed that spacers will offset the load on the bearing, possibly inducing accelerated bearing wear. Of course the same is true for wheels with a non-spec offset. He said they don't typically see problems with narrow spacers such on our 996s. They see problems with early bearing wear on pickups where the wheels are spaced way out to the side. Also keep in mind that on front wheels, it will change the suspension scrub radius, which may not be noticeable, but I think might cause just a bit of bump steer in certain circumstances.

A 15mm spacer as an example is .591 thick so a little over half an inch . Do you really think a half inch is going to stress the bearings or suspension ? Maybe spacers on monster truck wheels/tires will because of the mass . But not on our sports cars .

IIRC , Its been a while since I had to deal with it, in tech at a road race event the limit was like 20 or 25 MMM, if you went over that you had to have FIA or some technical sanction on them specific to the car.. so generic or homemade ones wouldn't pass they needed a stamp. It also varied on class so YMMV!