Originally Posted by 05XF-LVR
I apologize for being so uninformed, but I am not sure I followed exactly what you posted. So if I do a 10mm, it should work with some modification? I guess I am slow or something, but I am not exactly sure what it is you have to modify, the spacer or the grease cup and how?
I am going to a custom wheel and suspension shop tomorrow to try out some 'universal' spacers so we can figure out what the correct width is (and hopefully this guy can porovide me some more education on the subject). It would be great if I could let this guy know exactly what the pitfalls will be before we begin. Thanks again.
I thought I was up early!
Don't feel bad, I learned as I went along too. So far as I can tell, there are 3 types of spacers:
Flat plate. Just an aluminum ring with holes for the bolts and one in the center for the hub. Available in 2, 3, and 5 mm. Maybe thicker, I don't know.
Hub centric. A flat plate with 5 holes, one in the center and a raised, thin lip that the wheel centers on. (The one I used).
Offset Adapter. This is a ring of aluminum with 5 threaded studs that the wheel attaches to with lug nuts. 5 holes that are used to attach the adapter to the car with using bolts and a center hole with a raised lip. These, I think are thicker than the others. But I don't know.
The problem with our front hub and using spacers is how short the mounting surface on the hub is. About 5 mm. If you place a 5 mm thick spacer on it, what sticks out is smaller than the 66.56 mm diameter we need to support the wheel. This is where that raised lip comes in. It mimics this mounting surface. The minimum thickness I know about is 10 mm. BUT, when I tried to use mine, out of the box, it wouldn't fit over the grease cap and required a little lathe work to make it "just so". Literally 10 minutes machine time. Luckily I have a machine shop I manage (along with a bunch of other labs), and was able to do it myself. I just had to go to work on a morning off. I was alerted to this problem by another member in an older thread and at least had foreknowledge that it would be needed.
My
suggestion to you is: Buy 10 mm hub centric spacers. (See my earlier post in this thread, Eibach makes great stuff, but I can't see paying $75 for the same $45 parts). And then go to the custom shop and show them this write-up. I'm positive it will make sense to the guy working on the car. When he sees what has to be done, he can specify the lug bults you'll need. They are reasonably common, he should be able to get them in 2 days.
Hope this helps and keep me informed. I might cut-n-paste this into my "Spacers" sticky.