Going to buy 1/4 inch wheel spacers good? bad? what brand?

[BigBlackTruck]

hey im going to buy 1/4 inch wheels spacers for the front of my truck because the rims im throwing on rub hard on the calipers. I was wondering if its a safe thing to do because i think 1/4 inch spaces dont have there own bolts they just go over the original. Also where should i buy them from or what brand?

[1988 GMC 355]

you need to grind the calipers down to fit those wheels...spacers wont help that issue

[BigBlackTruck]

yea i had to grind the calipers down on the last truck i had them on how would spacers not help that? 1/4 inch spacer away from the calliper

[kirk]

Slip on spacers are a bad idea. I wouldnt use them.

What size wheels do you have, how much backspacing do they have, and what kind of truck are you trying to put them on?

[BigBlackTruck]

same wheels and tires in my sig link picture 285's on 16x10's i think 4.25 back space going on a 02 silverado 1500 which im gonna buy a 3 inch body lift for. i just want to avoid grinding the callipers again by buying a quarter inch wheel spacer.i didnt have to grind much off my old trucks calipers but i could spend 15 bucks and not have to touch them. Also 1/4 inch wheel spacers dont have there own lugs they just slip on. I was just wondering if that 1/4 inch taken away from my lugs would be a big deal or not

[kirk]

16x10's shouldnt rub on a NBS.
Id grind the calipers before I ran slip on spacers.

[BigBlackTruck]

yea i know they shouldnt but they do. Alright but whats so bad about slip on spacers? do they move around or something

[kirk]

They put extra stress on the lugs, which can and usually will cause them to break.

[BigBlackTruck]

alright man thanks for the info

[BigBoyZ71]

The 1/4" spacers will give you enough back spacing, but like it was said earlier, they put a lot of stress on the lugs. If you are only using it on highway driving, you should be ok for a while with that. I would NOT grind the calipers. You are wearing them thinner and weakening them. Sounds like you have already done some grinding too.

[BigBlackTruck]

yea i wont be doing that much off roading mostly drifting around and driving through fields and to and from jobsites
thats why i didnt want to grind the callipers i havnt touched them on the new truck yet

[Macedawg]

i guess if u could find some extended studs it might make up for the 1/4" spacer..seems like when i replaced 2 broke studs on my '01 they gave me some that were from a Tahoe IIRC and they are a bit longer than the factory ones on my Z-71..i know they stick out a bit further than my factory ones did..my 16x10's didnt rub on mine tho

[DMANbluesfreak]

The 1/4" spacers will give you enough back spacing, but like it was said earlier, they put a lot of stress on the lugs. If you are only using it on highway driving, you should be ok for a while with that. I would NOT grind the calipers. You are wearing them thinner and weakening them. Sounds like you have already done some grinding too.

Grinding the calipers really will not weaken them as much as using 1/4" spacers will weaken the lug nuts.

i guess if u could find some extended studs it might make up for the 1/4" spacer..seems like when i replaced 2 broke studs on my '01 they gave me some that were from a Tahoe IIRC and they are a bit longer than the factory ones on my Z-71..i know they stick out a bit further than my factory ones did..my 16x10's didnt rub on mine tho

The problem is not the length of the studs, but that the extra thread between the wheel and brake rotor really increases the stress and the amount that the bolt "stretches" when torqued down and can significantly decrease the life of the studs to a point where daily driving on a slightly unbalanced wheel will cause the studs to fail - with obvious catastrophic results (crashing, potentially rolling).

IF a brake caliper fails, you still have 3 other wheels to brake with and you can potentially avoid an accident. Even if you do get in an accident it likely wont result in a rollover, so you'll be better off.


My vote is for grinding the calipers - just do a little at a time and then see if it works so you don't take too much off.

The 1/4" spacers will give you enough back spacing, but like it was said earlier, they put a lot of stress on the lugs. If you are only using it on highway driving, you should be ok for a while with that. I would NOT grind the calipers. You are wearing them thinner and weakening them. Sounds like you have already done some grinding too.

See above. Your statement, while true, does not take into account that the 1/4" spacers will be weakening the bolts much more than the calipers will be with grinding alone.

[BigBoyZ71]

I dont know... an accident is an accident either way. If you break a lug, you have others and if you are experience unbalance, that would be noticeable too. Right? Grinding away the caliper, that is definitely a risk too.

I guess the long and short is this, if the wheels dont fit, then they dont fit. As I said in an earlier post, I wouldn't use the spacers and I wouldn't grind the calipers. Have other people done it? Yes. Keep this thought in mind. Can you legally buy spacers? Yes. Are calipers ground if they are uneven? Yes. Safety is up to you at this point and the risk can affect more than just you on the road remember.

Good luck with either or both choices. You may want to consider selling and purchasing new wheels.

[DMANbluesfreak]

Of course. That is why I am saying he SHOULDN'T do spacers. If one stud breaks and the rest are about to, they're all gonna break and the truck is going to be wheel-less. That is a MUCHHHH worse situation than if you lose brakes to just one wheel.

[BigBoyZ71]

He will be grinding two calipers though, both front and both do most of the vehicle breaking. I think we are wrong recommending either choice to him when we both know both are poor choices in the long run.

[DMANbluesfreak]

He will be grinding two calipers though, both front and both do most of the vehicle breaking. I think we are wrong recommending either choice to him when we both know both are poor choices in the long run.

On NBS trucks with rear discs, the rear calipers are usually the culprits for rubbing. He never mentioned which set of calipers he'd be grinding.

[BigBoyZ71]

Good point.

[kirk]

He will be grinding two calipers though, both front and both do most of the vehicle breaking. I think we are wrong recommending either choice to him when we both know both are poor choices in the long run.

Ive ground calipers on both my 01 and my Camaro to fit wheels. Its not dangerous at all, as long as the only part you grind are the cooling fins. Start grinding into the meat of the caliper, and thats bad, but just grinding the fins isnt going to weaken them. Thats a hell of a lot better option than spacers.

[BigBlackTruck]

forgot to mention only the front callipers need grinding