Freelander 1 Wheel Spacers... Yes or No?

Good Friday Morning fine Land Rover folks,

I have been looking into simple mods for the Freelander which I am currently using as a shooting wagon and wheel spacers has been sat in my list... I'm 100% sure this has been covered but as I am sat at work (trying to look busy) I thought I'd ask the question.

What are the pro's and con's of wheel spacers? Also... If I decided to buy some, what width would people recommend baring in mind at some point I will be putting some larger tyres on for the more ploughed fields of the shoot (tyres also to be decided on).

Cheers guys and gals

If it's just for off road use, and the vehicle isn't insured, then you won't have that hurdle to deal with.

Spacers don't do anything to help off road use. They simply make the clearance between the tyre wall and struts larger. However in the process, they reduce the clearance between the tyre and arches. They also put more stress on the wheel bearings, as the axial load will increase.

Imo spacers are pointless, damaging and potentially dangerous too.

You're better off spending money on a decent set of larger tyres, which still fit on the standard wheel spacing.

Nodge68 said:

If it's just for off road use, and the vehicle isn't insured, then you won't have that hurdle to deal with.

Spacers don't do anything to help off road use. They simply make the clearance between the tyre wall and struts larger. However in the process, they reduce the clearance between the tyre and arches. They also put more stress on the wheel bearings, as the axial load will increase.

Imo spacers are pointless, damaging and potentially dangerous too.

You're better off spending money on a decent set of larger tyres, which still fit on the standard wheel spacing.

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Thanks for your reply... It is insured as I occasionally give it a run to work to blow the cobwebs off her haha... I have been looking into tyres and what sort of various sizes there are. Any size you would recommend? I currently have 16inch wheels and I think the figures are 265/??/16

If it's insured for road use, then ask your insurers about fitting spacers, as many now refuse insurance on vehicles fitted with them. There have been too many instances of spacers failing, causing damage to property, injuries and recently a fatality, where a spaced wheel came off and killed a teenager.

As for tyre sizes. The standard 16" wheel is fitted with a 215/65/16 tyre. It is possible to fit a tyre up to 29" in diameter, if width is restricted to the standard 215 section. This would mean a 215/75/16 will fit, which will raise the ride height by just under an inch.

Use an AT tyre for maximum off road grip in mud. However if the surface is dry, then the Freelander does pretty well on normal road tyres.
If all round ability is needed, the you'll find it hard to beat the Yokohama Geolander 015.

Nodge68 said:

If it's insured for road use, then ask your insurers about fitting spacers, as many now refuse insurance on vehicles fitted with them. There have been too many instances of spacers failing, causing damage to property, injuries and recently a fatality, where a spaced wheel came off and killed a teenager.

As for tyre sizes. The standard 16" wheel is fitted with a 215/65/16 tyre. It is possible to fit a tyre up to 29" in diameter, if width is restricted to the standard 215 section. This would mean a 215/75/16 will fit, which will raise the ride height by just under an inch.

Use an AT tyre for maximum off road grip in mud. However if the surface is dry, then the Freelander does pretty well on normal road tyres.
If all round ability is needed, the you'll find it hard to beat the Yokohama Geolander 015.

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Sorry I meant 215/65/16 is what on at the moment not 265 haha.

Right... I am totally steering clear of spacers. last thing I want on my conscience is even an injury due to my vehicle. An inch lift is more than happy for what I'll be using it for but like the option to be able to should the occasion arise. Or more immaturely (which I am) for if I just fancy driving over my neighbours field (obviously with permission). Are there any other mods you would recommend? I have done the crankcase filter change to the cyclone and given the EGR valve the cleaning of its life... Just like playing really

Nodge68 said:

Spacers don't do anything to help off road use.

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Indirectly they can, better turning circle and when combined with a lift, allowing larger tyres than you would otherwise be able to fit.

Nodge68 said:

However in the process, they reduce the clearance between the tyre and arches.

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You sure on this? Surely you'd gain clearance rather than reduce.

Nodge68 said:

They also put more stress on the wheel bearings, as the axial load will increase.

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But no more so than running rims with a different offset on.

Nodge68 said:

Imo spacers are pointless, damaging and potentially dangerous too.

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I think both of those statements are somewhat over reaction.

Adwilko88 said:

Right... I am totally steering clear of spacers. last thing I want on my conscience is even an injury due to my vehicle.

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Well done, I second everything Nodge68 has said.

I think if you use a good quality wheel spacers there no be a problem ,
H&R Wheel Spacers
but no more than 30 mm and need to be hub centric.
this is with 30mm spacer.

Spacers can help to reduce the chance of rolling it oft road. But the small size of spacer yer wish to fit won't have a noticeable difference. It can also help yer match the rut width/track/size of other vehicles.

Personally i would never fit spacers to my car, regardless of insurance. They won't have type approval and as said above put additional stress on stress carrying parts.

Hippo said:

Personally i would never fit spacers to my car, regardless of insurance. They won't have type approval and as said above put additional stress on stress carrying parts.

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Absolutely.

Lots of people think that wheel bearings will be ok with spacers.
However the FL1, in common with other modern cars use Angular Contact Bearings. These bearings are specifically designed to run to a tight pre-load, for use with very tight radial and axial loads. Fitting spacers moves the axial loads out much further from the centre, giving a higher load, on a smaller area of the bearing surface. This results reduced bearing life, on top of the safety aspect of such devices.

Wheel spacers are banned in motorsport, and for good reason too.

Nodge68 said:

Absolutely.

Lots of people think that wheel bearings will be ok with spacers.
However the FL1, in common with other modern cars use Angular Contact Bearings. These bearings are specifically designed to run to a tight pre-load, for use with very tight radial and axial loads. Fitting spacers moves the axial loads out much further from the centre, giving a higher load, on a smaller area of the bearing surface. This results reduced bearing life, on top of the safety aspect of such devices.

Wheel spacers are banned in motorsport, and for good reason too.

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I can assure you wheel spacers are not banned in motorsport. Only in some types of events.

If you are fitting wider deeper dished wheels, spacers are used to return the rotational centre of the wheel to standard geometry. They are NOT for widening the track using standard wheels.

wammers said:

If you are fitting wider deeper dished wheels, spacers are used to return the rotational centre of the wheel to standard geometry. They are NOT for widening the track using standard wheels.

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Yes they are. You may not like it, or even approve of it. But they 100% are designed, intended and sold as such.

Does anyone even make wider rims for a Land Rover with even greater offset than stock, thus requiring spacers to your definition? Would need to be something in excess of +33ET.

300bhp/ton said:

Yes they are. You may not like it, or even approve of it. But they 100% are designed, intended and sold as such.

Does anyone even make wider rims for a Land Rover with even greater offset than stock, thus requiring spacers to your definition? Would need to be something in excess of +33ET.

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That is what wheel spacers are for like it or not. They are NOT for increasing track on standard wheels. If you use them for increasing track with standard wheels the steering geometry is compromised. What they are actually for and what some sell and use them for are totally different things.

wammers said:

That is what wheel spacers are for like it or not. They are NOT for increasing track on standard wheels. If you use them for increasing track with standard wheels the steering geometry is compromised. What they are actually for and what some sell and use them for are totally different things.

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But it isn’t some. It is all. Unless you can provide an example to show otherwise.

300bhp/ton said:

But it isn’t some. It is all. Unless you can provide an example to show otherwise.

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Ok carry on you think you know best. Wheel spacers that move the centre of rotation outside standard geometry should be illegal.

Nodge68 said:

If it's insured for road use, then ask your insurers about fitting spacers, as many now refuse insurance on vehicles fitted with them. There have been too many instances of spacers failing, causing damage to property, injuries and recently a fatality, where a spaced wheel came off and killed a teenager.

As for tyre sizes. The standard 16" wheel is fitted with a 215/65/16 tyre. It is possible to fit a tyre up to 29" in diameter, if width is restricted to the standard 215 section. This would mean a 215/75/16 will fit, which will raise the ride height by just under an inch.

Use an AT tyre for maximum off road grip in mud. However if the surface is dry, then the Freelander does pretty well on normal road tyres.
If all round ability is needed, the you'll find it hard to beat the Yokohama Geolander 015.

Click to expand...

I hate to contradict nodge, but you can fit 225/75/16 or 235/70/16, without spacers on standard 16" wheels - I know as I've ran both on my freelander.

Jayridium said:

I hate to contradict nodge, but you can fit 225/75/16 or 235/70/16, without spacers on standard 16" wheels - I know as I've ran both on my freelander.

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A 225/75/16 is 29.3", so it's good to know that diameter will physically fit. However the speedometer will under read, which makes the vehicle illegal for use on the road. The Freelander speedometer is calibrated to 700 revolutions per mile, which is a tyre of 28.6" IIRC.

So going larger can cause problems with keeping to speed limits as well as the legal aspect of it.

In the real world its speedo is only a gnats pubic hair off GPS accurate.