Vibrations with spacers?

I haven't hear of any vibration from the spacers, unless you buy the cheap universal one. Toncruse(toni) got 22" and had universal spacer while waiting for his custom ones and that was the only time he told me he had vibrations, we changed them and he hasn't had any vibration at all. So it all depends on the spacers you get.
 
Honestly when it come to wheels and spacer I'm still on stock mode LOL but I'm certain the guys here will chime in... Welcome to IS!

Also you should check our crew! DMV.. Local guys from Va,Md,DC .
 
Thanks for the input Rubare. I will check out the local scene. I am not changing wheels from my stock 20's (I love the way this wheel looks with the car).
 
cheechitup88 said:
You thinking of putting 22's on the FX? Which ones were you looking at since I was gonna do the same
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Toni can chime in on that. I will must likely get the stock 20"s for my baby. Toni have 22's but must of the older guys here have them too so they can lead you in the right direction.
 
there are 3 possible spacer designs, 1st are universal type, should never use them, we need hub centric spacers, universal spacers are sure to result in off centered wheels & vibrations & worse, possible but not really an option

the 2 options that are good are both going to be hub centric design, either straight bolt ons or ones that require longer replacement wheel studs. H&R's or ichibas are def the way to go for either of these types, stay away from imitation unknown quality crap out there

straight bolt ons of 20mm or more will fit & work with the stock wheels & are a decent option if your planning on changing wheels periodically, like winter stockers with spacers, but then custom summer 22's without spacers for summer use. the drawbacks to the straight bolt ons are that technically they are not as strong. you bolt the spacer on the orig studs w supplied short lug nuts & then the spacer itself has 5 new studs that project off of it & that's how the wheel mounts... the wheel is bolted on completely by the spacer which is aluminum, where in a conventional setup the wheel is bolted directly through the steel hub

the best way is the type of spacer that requires replacing the studs. they are more work to install & the drawback to them is you can have a problem trying to run a wheel without the spacers afterwards because the wheel studs will be longer, too long in many cases. not an issue though if your only running one set of wheels, or more of course even, as long as they can all acomidate the spacer too. the benifit of this design is it uses just 5 replacement studs for each wheel & they are installed directly through the steel hub, meaning a stronger wheel mount than the bolt on design.

bolt on's should be strong enough for casual use really, but I'd trust the replacement stud design personally much more & is def the prefered way to go, especially if you push your fx hard.

balancing & vibration issues come down to one thing only really with spacers, I mean all spacers are going to start out with a pefectly square block, so theres no way that the wheel will wobble or ocillate in/out or anything out of perfect alignment with the hub, so that's not an issue, the wheel will remain square & true to the hub even with spacers.

the only issue spacers have that cause all the vibration & wobbling is determined by how acuratley the spacer fits to the hub & then how acuratley the wheel fits to the spacer. we can assume that the spacers are lathe turned so they will be machined perfectly centered, BUT the problem comes when they are anything less than a tight press fit. many spacers slide on the hub but with a very slight amount of play. then, to compound this, the hub may fit to the wheel bore slightly loose too. in the end when you mount the wheel, if the hub-spacer has 8 thousanths excess clearance, & then the spacer-wheel fit has another 4 thousanths clearance, in the end the wheel will hang down 12 thousanths off perfectly centered when installed, then it is tightened in this slightly off centered location, bam, vibrations, percieved wobbling, all kinds of issues depending on how off these tolerances are. numbers used are for illustration perpose only & it may not be quite that much, never masured this actual tolerance differences

I have done one fx that had vibrations afterwards for this very reason. I solved the problem completely by removing the spacer & wrapping one thin layer of vinyl electrical tape at the hub surface, making the spacer a tight fit to the hub, centering problem solved there, the, same single vinyl tape layer to the spacer-wheel mating too, now, wheel goes on tight & centered, just like stock... ever notice you usually have to wiggle & pry the wheel off the hub when stock? it needs this tight fit to center perfectly, sloppy spacer fit is the culprit in most spacer troubles
 
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Great info, thanks. I have used H&R spacers in the past with no issues. Are the Ichiba's considered to be of better quality or on par with the H&R?

While I have your attention turbocad6, any updates on the rear brake upgrade or the ultra cool second generation shift paddles. I have a big tax return coming! :tup:
 
rear brake, I have the balljoint adapters on order & should be here shortly, I'll confirm fitment & then that's good to go.

paddles, I am refining my design yet again for ease of producing multiples, stuck still on learning my CAD program for design though... hope to have ready for purchase by the spring at least... if I don't get to where I need to be in CAD soon then I'll go with the design I have now, but it's more labor intense which is what I am hoping to reduce with revision of the design...
 
I have a small vibration issue now I think, its hardly noticeable, but I think I will go with your suggestion of wrapping the hub with tape. I had a customed spacer, that was too small, so I ordered the set I have on now from Ichiba. Thanks for the info Turbo.
 
Cool, my money is ready and waiting for the shift paddles. (yes I realize I jacked my own thread)

I suppose I will stick with the H&R spacers. Even a little vibration would be enough to sell my wife off of modding her car.
 
if you do the tape wrap, cut the edge of the tape square with a razor, non stretched tape application & don't overlap the ends, just cut the other end square with a razor too & butt the joint, if you overlap or do a sloppy job then you'll defeat the purpose really...
 
turbocad6 said:
if you do the tape wrap, cut the edge of the tape square with a razor, non stretched tape application & don't overlap the ends, just cut the other end square with a razor too & butt the joint, if you overlap or do a sloppy job then you'll defeat the purpose really...
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I like those spec type directions...lol. Thanks Turbo
 
Another option is to get offset on wheel itself and skip the spacers altogether this will allow for more lip also. I'm running 22x9 with 15+ offset and no spacers. I have a slight vibration between 50mph and 60mph I think maybe an alignment is in order.
 
redduc said:
I am not changing wheels from my stock 20's (I love the way this wheel looks with the car).
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MTN FX said:
Another option is to get offset on wheel itself and skip the spacers altogether this will allow for more lip also. I'm running 22x9 with 15+ offset and no spacers.
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:wub:

I agree with you redduc, I love the look of the stock 20's. I have H&R spacers myself, and they're sized almost perfectly for both my 18's and 20's. I went with the ones requiring longer studs because, like John, I trust them more. The studs weren't hard to put in either. I had never done it before so I paid a muffler + brake shop to do it. I watched while they pounded the old studs out and put the new ones in, total labor cost: $20.

One thing you should make sure of though, is that your new studs are long enough for the spacer size you select. For some reason, when I went with 20mm all around and the longer Nismo studs, I ended up having some wobbling issues in the front, and the lug nuts would start to back out. I took them off immediately and eventually got 15mm up front since the rear never had this issue. Now I'm at 15mm up front and 20mm in the back with no issues, and it's near perfect offset (IMHO :tongue:)
 
Frankiago said:
:wub:

I agree with you redduc, I love the look of the stock 20's. I have H&R spacers myself, and they're sized almost perfectly for both my 18's and 20's. I went with the ones requiring longer studs because, like John, I trust them more. The studs weren't hard to put in either. I had never done it before so I paid a muffler + brake shop to do it. I watched while they pounded the old studs out and put the new ones in, total labor cost: $20.

One thing you should make sure of though, is that your new studs are long enough for the spacer size you select. For some reason, when I went with 20mm all around and the longer Nismo studs, I ended up having some wobbling issues in the front, and the lug nuts would start to back out. I took them off immediately and eventually got 15mm up front since the rear never had this issue. Now I'm at 15mm up front and 20mm in the back with no issues, and it's near perfect offset (IMHO :tongue:)
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The cost for labor is going to be about $80 here in MD. I just had this done, but for some reason the place where I purchased/ordered the extended studs only sent 19, so I could only do the front, cost was $40 for the front, would have been $80 for everything.
 
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