Spacers. Good or Bad?
#1
Spacers. Good or Bad?
I was just wanting to get an opinion from those that already have or had spacers to change the bolt pattern for certain wheels. I've heard that spacers only cause trouble from some people but heard nothing bad about them from others. Just bought a set of 2012 Camaro SS wheels for my 98 Blazer so wanted to check before I bought them and if there is any brand that yall would recommend
#2
I don't have a brand recommendation, but as far as spacers go, there's a couple things to be careful with. The first is make sure that the spacers are hub centric on both the inner and outer face; meaning it has the dip on the inner face for the factory hub lip, and a lip on the outer face to mate with the wheel. This lip supports the vehicle and centers the wheel, taking the stress off the wheel lugs.
The second thing to be careful with wheel spacers is to make sure you torque them to factory specifications, and then after you've installed them and driven on them for 100 miles or so you need to pull the wheels off and retorque all the spacer lug nuts. This is where many people end up having problems with wheel spacers. They forget to retorque the spacer lugs, and the lugs can work loose while driving and potentially even have the wheel come off at speed. Not good. Some people use locktite on the spacer lug nuts just for added security.
Personally I've been running spacers to even the front and rear axle width for 6 years now with nothing but great results, but I check the spacer lug torque every single time I rotate my tires. The very first time I checked them after installing them most of the lugs had loosened slightly and needed to be retorqued. After that they have been perfect.
The second thing to be careful with wheel spacers is to make sure you torque them to factory specifications, and then after you've installed them and driven on them for 100 miles or so you need to pull the wheels off and retorque all the spacer lug nuts. This is where many people end up having problems with wheel spacers. They forget to retorque the spacer lugs, and the lugs can work loose while driving and potentially even have the wheel come off at speed. Not good. Some people use locktite on the spacer lug nuts just for added security.
Personally I've been running spacers to even the front and rear axle width for 6 years now with nothing but great results, but I check the spacer lug torque every single time I rotate my tires. The very first time I checked them after installing them most of the lugs had loosened slightly and needed to be retorqued. After that they have been perfect.
#4
The rear axle on Blazer's is a little narrower than the front. I don't have a lot of experiece with the 2wd models, but on the 4wd Blazers 1.25" or 1.5" spacers on the rear gets the axles the same width front and rear. You could go with 3" on the rear and 2.5" for the front. That will get you a bit closer to the same width, but be aware that if you lower your truck you have to watch you don't rub the fenders on bumps.
You should also be aware that most tire and allignment shops won't touch your vehicle if you have spacers on. You might have to take them off and put on a different set of wheels to get the allignment done, and then reinstall your spacers and Camaro wheels.
You should also be aware that most tire and allignment shops won't touch your vehicle if you have spacers on. You might have to take them off and put on a different set of wheels to get the allignment done, and then reinstall your spacers and Camaro wheels.