Spacers

Chris1983

Senior Member
VIP Member
T6 Legend
Hi.

Sure daft question.

Not interested in aesthetic of wheels etc (not knocking others) but I am interested in the rear wheel not looking teeny tiny in arch.

Can this be solved with some sort of spacers?

And last question,

Need to replace tyres this year, was going to get some cross climates from black circles. Is it as straight forward as going off current tyres? And then find somewhere to put them on?99C1682F-C5A0-4200-9740-F8CD6DE31803.jpeg
 
The answer is yes to both questions.
Spacers will push the wheel out further, you will need bolts to suit as well.

If you want tyres from Blackcircles, decide what size you want, ensuring the load rating is suitable for your van, and you get a choice of getting the tyres only, or having them delivered to a fitter and having them done there. If you have a decent independent tyre place that you use, they will usually fit for cash.
 
Current tyres 215/65/r16 so just find those yes? And if I use the find a fitter, presume they can do the spacing etc? What am I asking ‘can they bring wheels out from sunken position a bit?’ Is there more specific parlance I need to deploy?
 
Relying on the tyres that you currently have for both size and load rating is risky. There's absolutely no guarantee that they are what you need.
However, 215/65/16 is fine for standard 16 wheels, albeit a fraction wider and therefore slightly taller than stock which is 205/65/16. Are they all the same? (It wouldn't be the first time...) What are the sizes on the sticker behind your door?
What gross weight is you van? Ie. T28, T30 or T32? This is an important consideration for tyres as different (minimum) load raings are required. This, in itself, can affect tyre availability but, at that size it's probably not a massive issue.
For front and rear wheels and tyres of the same size and type, 10 - 15mm spacing seems to be the sweet spot to make them sit the arches equally. However, there is more to spacing than simply asking for a width. You will need longer bolts (as mentioned above) to account for the extra material but these will also need to be of the same design and obviously the same thread. There are a few common bolt seat types such as ball/radius, taper/cone and flat and using the wrong type can be catastrophic. Similarly, the spacers can also be of differing designs such as hubcentric, lugcentric and bolt on. You're unlikely to find bolt on spacers for 10-15mm so, in this case, hubcentric is your best bet and only sensible option. These are designed to mimic the centre bore of your wheels to centralise the spacer on the hub spigot. They will usually also replicate the spigot on their outer face to ensure your wheels are centred. Obviously, these need to be matched to the sizes of your wheels and hubs.
Finally, some insurance companies do ask if you have spacers fitted. It may not affect your premium and I would be interested to know if a claim has ever been denied because of spacers (at sensible widths). That part is up to you.

So, you could ask the tyre fitter to fit some spacers but, I would do a little more research first to make sure that you know what you want and need.
 
And daft question, do folk change their spare too? Is that not likely to be some space saving style given under slung nature?
 
You don't need to change the spare. It's only really there to get you home or get to a garage.
There are considerations though such as will it fit (more of a problem if you've put bigger wheels and big brakes on the van and haven't thought about the spare...). If you do change the wheels, people often forget to make sure that they have bolts that fit both types!
Also, is it the same outer diameter ie. the same or equivalent tyre size.
Mismatched sizes will mean that individual wheels rotate at different speeds. This can destroy a 4 motion transmission and isn't ideal on a 2wd van. You're unlikely to damage anything on a 2wd but the wheel speed sensors (ABS sensors) are used for lots of systems. If they detect a mismatch the van could display a tyre pressure warning (a low pressure tyre acts like a smaller tyre as it will rotate faster). Similarly it could reduce the effectiveness or even disable many of these linked systems such as ABS, TCS, adaptive cruise and more.
 
Filling those cavernous rear wheel arches is all about aesthetics :thumbsup:, if you're loathe to fit lower suspension and staggered wheels you could always go the swamper route and fit off road balloon tyres on your stock wheels?:sick:
 
Sorry to highjacking..

Is it really worth spending £200 on H&R spacers when you can find comparable options on eBay for just £40? As an engineer, I'm aware of the differences in materials and tolerance classes. Wouldn't measuring a budget set before installation ensure they perform just as well as a £200 kit?
 
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