Spacers and alloy wheels

I want to put alloy wheels on my 1989 90 sw, I know i need spacers but do i need them on the back and just get away with spacers on the front?

Are you sure you need spacers?

You only need spacers if you are changing to bigger tyres than standard or just for looks/added stability.

I have 265/75/16 with 30mm spacers and still had to adjust the stops to stop the tyres hitting the radius arms.

ive got 285/75/16's an no spacers.

Got the turning circle of an oil tanker :lol:

I think it depends on what type of Alloy's your putting on. I tried to put some Alloys on my 1990, 110 Def and they needed spacers but I gave up the idea as spacers put extra pressure on your wheel bearings. I can't for the life of me remember the different types of Alloys. There must be some threads on here. Alloy wheels fit later defenders without any problems. If your going to put spacers on the front then you should also put them on the back otherwise you will have a wider track at the front to the back

mikescuba said:

I think it depends on what type of Alloy's your putting on. I tried to put some Alloys on my 1990, 110 Def and they needed spacers but I gave up the idea as spacers put extra pressure on your wheel bearings. I can't for the life of me remember the different types of Alloys. There must be some threads on here. Alloy wheels fit later defenders without any problems. If your going to put spacers on the front then you should also put them on the back otherwise you will have a wider track at the front to the back

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my mates comp truck runs spacers and never had an a bearing issue abusing that for three years

stuvy said:

my mates comp truck runs spacers and never had an a bearing issue abusing that for three years

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Spacers will add extra leverage force to the wheel bearings as the bearing no longer sits in the centerline of the wheel, this will affect the wear rate of the bearings and will also put excess wear onto the tyres e.t.c. which again no longer run on the centerline but nearer the inside eadge instead.

In my opinion spacers are not a good idea, they cause more trouble then they prevent and I am not a fan, there are plenty of people who would say the opposite though...

Im fully aware they do add extra stress but at the same time you wont notice the difference to the wear and tare

stuvy said:

Im fully aware they do add extra stress but at the same time you wont notice the difference to the wear and tare

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Now I beg to differ, my experiences have shown otherwise. I have seen plenty of premature bearing failures and also unevenly worn tyres as well as suspension bush failure caused by incorrect offset and wheel spacers....

stuvy said:

Im fully aware they do add extra stress but at the same time you wont notice the difference to the wear and tare

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when the tyre is centered on the wheel tyres combination as original they wear even.

Wheel spacers act as a lever and move the weight off the center line of tyre, and moving the weight to the inside edge of the tyre thus increasing the wear on the inside edge by carrying more weight. Example would be carrying more weight on 1 side in the load area of your fender and seeing the body lean to the heavy side

thats very interesting as my 90 never had an issue with uneven tyre wear nor bearing failure and that was 80% road 20% heavy off road mostly at devils pit (heavy clay site)

If you are concerned though, when you have the wheel off to fit them, just nip the drive flange off and take the bearing out, check the condition, replace if necessary and give them all a thorough greasing and reassemble. I very much doubt you will experience any problems.

il ask my mate whats the wear rate like on his comp 90 too, only thing is the tyres end up shredding before he gets proper use out of them

well i have wolf rims on no spacers and run wide muds.the bearing wear is ok but i do swop over to a lighter setup in the summer to take the stress out,

i would run skinny road tyres if i could get away with it...depends how much work you want cos the parts are cheap enough...

The Ferkin BoB said:

well i have wolf rims on no spacers and run wide muds.the bearing wear is ok but i do swop over to a lighter setup in the summer to take the stress out,

i would run skinny road tyres if i could get away with it...depends how much work you want cos the parts are cheap enough...

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I run my 90 on 31x10.5's, seems to be the ideal compromise, no need for spacer, plenty of lock still and very good off road, doesn't give as much of the 'look' but really keeps everything low stress...

Do not get me wrong, I'm not saying spacers will kill your bearings every time but it will lead to a quicker failure rate, if its a toy then there's going to be negligible difference as the mud/water will kill them first, for road use though I would definitely go for correct fit wheels

Jamie90 said:

I want to put alloy wheels on my 1989 90 sw, I know i need spacers but do i need them on the back and just get away with spacers on the front?

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It's the back you need em on to clear the drums...But I would say you need to fit them all for safety..

I get uneven tyre wear, probably 3-4 mm heavier wear on the inside edge with spacers.

As for bearings I check mine every time I go off roading and replace If necessary. You don't want one to fail, especially at road speeds. So regular checks are a must.
Just depends whether you can be bothered with the extra checks and changes spaces cause.

Depends on what type of wheels you want to fit as most aftermarket alloys (ZU, Predator etc) fit both drum & disc-braked axles. The Firestyle (Freestyle copy but designed to fit drum axles) will fit but will not allow the centre-cap to be fitted which in my opinion makes it look pants, you can get an extended centre-cap but that looks even worse!
With regards to tyre size, LR fitted 265/75x16 as an OE size without the need for spacers, I have these on my own 90 and even without spacers the turning circle is excellent (certainly on par with my wife's old MGF and slightly better than her Freelander). The offset plays a big part here, my ZU's have an offset slightly greater than LR alloys (hence the excellent turning circle) but still keep the tyres well within the arches.