wheel spacers

been thinking about putting wheel spacers on my 300 they say it improves handling and stability and turning circle is this true ?

Not heard the mod recommended specifically for a 300 Tdi, but I'm not a fan generally, but,
handling - unlikely to make any difference
stability - won't affect body roll, but will increase traverse angle before you roll over marginally
turning circle - will only improve if you have enough adjustment on lock stops and clearance under body to more than make up for the difference in increased track width.

the only thing spacers will inmprove without doing anything else is the appearance, it will make it look fatter as it will have a wider track.

l3on said:

turning circle - will only improve if you have enough adjustment on lock stops and clearance under body to more than make up for the difference in increased track width.

Click to expand...

This is the only drawback for me..the turning circle. I have to do a three point turn in a road that was designed to turn a 50-head bullock team.. and I CANT get round!!!

I did a 73 point turn on a bush track the other day...great having power steering is all I will say.

Let me know if they work ok?..

"they say it improves handling and stability "
They say a lot they do. Don't believe it all...

it might aid stability for a while. but it wont do much for the handling when a wheel hub collapses.

much the same could be said of wide wheels ormus, they used to always say about spacers colapsing hubs back in the early eighties but i had them on mini's and escorts and never had any problems, i'm not saying i'm right and youre wrong but merely adding my views on a forum

yer whelk spacer move the center line of the weight away from where it should be therefor its put more lateral force on yer bearings, making them wear out quicker. on a mini with small whelks this wont be so pronouced as on a vehickle with big whelks. the bigger the whelk and spacer the more leverage you have acting on the bearing.
whelk spacers you have been warned

I got wheel spacers on mine. I reckon they're a better idea than using wheels with an increased offset. Yes, you're gonna knock out the bearings quicker with bothe, but with increased offset on the wheel your more likely to fracture a rim because the stresses are in the wrong place.

With regard to turning circle, they do make the steering quicker thus decreasing the turning circle. If I could be bothered, I could do you a nice essay on pitch circle diameters but I won't, just take it as read - they work.

with wheel bearings costing upto 95 quid each, i dont think i can afford to fit spacers.

bloody peasant!

Ormus where are yo buying your barings from, genuin Landrover ones are £27 each so £54 per wheel.

I have some rusting white steel wheels on my '97' Discovery at the moment and I'm hoping to buy some cheapish alloys from ebay...Can anyone advise me if it's likely that fitting 16" alloys will be any different from 16" steel wheels? ie. do some alloys require spacers?

As an aside - is there an AT tyre that has less road noise than most?

you will probably need different wheel nuts, alloys will fit without any alterations but wheelnuts for steel's are different from alloys

Thanks Yella.

you WILL need fresh wheel nuts.



ps.
yes i know the price of my bearings. i was quoting the top prices ive seen.

Ormus - try going to a bearing supplier rather than a motor-factor. They're a lot cheaper.

Frogfart - I'm running Cooper ST Discoverers on mine, 265/75/16 and they are very good on and off road. Not noisy at all.

I'm with Ormus on this. Bad idea to load up the stresses with wheel spacers. I once saw an MG Midget with a broken stub axle that appeared to be down to the additional stress caused by spacers. Have also seen minis with premature bearing problems.
I would definitely avoid doing it if it was on my own car. Think of the consequences at speed. Is it really worth it?

again, i know the places to get my bearings. (bearing shop).
i was just quoting the top price ive seen on the net.

i wouldn't buy any from 'nick leeson spares' as his barings don't last long but if you happen to be german you can buy them for a quid