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Post by minimatt on Apr 30, 2020 20:07:36 GMT 1
Ok just out of interest how safe do you consider this type of spacers and are they even legal for the mot? For those not sure what I mean these are the type that bolt to the hub and alter the pcd allowing different wheels to fit.
The reason for ask is not because I am considering them for my own car but because I work in recovery and recently had to attend a breakdown with quite an expensive car that had lost a wheel because it had these spacers on and the studs had sheared off allowing the wheel to break free.a lot of damage had been done to the car but more importantly nobody was killed or injured especially as it happened at low speed on a roundabout and they had travelled a long way already on motorways etc before it happened, the owner was also very keen for the police who were on scene to not know why this accident had happened.
Interested in peoples opinions on this, I know I don't agree with them and neither did the mechanic at the marque specialist I took the car to either, pretty sure the insurance wouldn't be interested either.
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Post by trickydicky on Apr 30, 2020 21:42:43 GMT 1
Have you seen the RAC multifit wheel with adjustable P.C.D washers?
It works well for roadside work
Temporary though 50mph only
The bolts/studs need to be long enough to
Secure it to the hub
Plastic spigot rings
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Post by minimatt on May 1, 2020 0:25:34 GMT 1
Yes I have seen those,they seem like a good solution for a problem that shouldn't occur, puncture/no spare just come back from one of those jobs. These spacers bolt onto the hub in place of the wheel using one set of bolts then a second set of bolts hold the wheel to the spacers, very popular in the vw/ for scene for fitting alternative wheels.
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Post by trickydicky on May 1, 2020 0:56:13 GMT 1
Yes I have seen those,they seem like a good solution for a problem that shouldn't occur, puncture/no spare just come back from one of those jobs. These spacers bolt onto the hub in place of the wheel using one set of bolts then a second set of bolts hold the wheel to the spacers, very popular in the vw/ for scene for fitting alternative wheels. I have seen them, I'm dubious of any modifications to be honest What non VW wheels look good on a VW?? Japanese?? |
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Post by rhyds on May 1, 2020 9:00:51 GMT 1
Yes I have seen those,they seem like a good solution for a problem that shouldn't occur, puncture/no spare just come back from one of those jobs. These spacers bolt onto the hub in place of the wheel using one set of bolts then a second set of bolts hold the wheel to the spacers, very popular in the vw/ for scene for fitting alternative wheels. Unfortunately most news cars have never had a spare, and most drivers won't consider the issue until they end up on a cold dark night with an immobile car. |
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oli
Apprentice
Posts: 1,065
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Post by oli on May 1, 2020 9:51:56 GMT 1
I think it depends on several factors. I briefly had a set of spacers on a discovery with a suspension lift and much taller tyres (same wheels and PCD) I did it to maintain the turning circle and to widen the wheel track, hoping it would improve stability. The old style Land Rovers (pre P38/disco2) had much bigger PCD and massive nuts (biggest nuts in its class I seem to remember an advert joked!). Whilst a spacer creates more stress inevitably due to the added leverage, I regarded the added risk as minimal and thus acceptable. I also told my insurance company. BUT that depends on a lot of factors - original PCD, stud thickness, hub design, spacer thickness and quality - I’ve seen some truly awful spacers, some poor DIY and even just shimming out longer studs with washers  . Would I do it again? No. The handling was awful and the way it pulled the steering if you hit standing water was really unpleasant. Oli |
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Post by minimatt on May 28, 2020 6:50:54 GMT 1
Continuing on this subject I've just pulled into our yard this morning and sitting there is a extremely shiny golf r32 with only 3 wheels on,I heard about this causing traffic issues on the local news last night and upon closer inspection yet again wheel spacers with pcd adapters to enable different wheels to be fitted. Seriously have to question these things.
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Post by sorted on May 28, 2020 16:05:43 GMT 1
On a similar theme I owned an RMB Gentry (Herald based kit car looking like an MG TF) in my early 20’s and added Compomotive alloys to that. The studs were way too short and the nuts only went on about 3 turns, which Was fine for moving it around etc. I ordered longer ones and they arrived a few days later. It wasn’t until I was preparing it for its MOT some 6000 miles later and took the wheels off I remembered I never fitted them.....  |
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Post by valhalla on May 28, 2020 23:15:23 GMT 1
I guess that is always the danger of half-fitting anything at-all, let alone wheels.
I'm paranoid on other people's cars on the ramps, as I have very nearly let a car go out with the wheel-nuts not correctly torqued. I remembered late at night, as I was going to bed, that I had needed to remove the front wheels again for one of those jobs where the service is split from the subsequent repairs - fairly common for me, as the parts generally arrive 3days after the initial inspection. What I had done, was leave all four wheels with the fixings not torqued, then gone back and done the front axle work, torqued those wheels, but not remembered to check and properly torque the rear axle. I remembered just in time, and I had to get dressed again, go down to the workshop, get the torque-wrench and socket, get a torch, go outside the premises in the pitch dark, and do the job properly.
From that day onwards, I follow the simple mantra; always torque the wheels as I go, whether they have to come off again or not. Also, until the wheels are torqued, the hubcaps or finishers over the fixings are kept in the driver's footwell, so the first thing you trip over when you get in to drive the car off the ramps is the trims...... 
Hence I never do a temporary fit of any wheels unless I have a clear indication that something is amiss from the driving seat - a cardboard sign with exactly what is wrong written on it, firmly attached across the steering wheel.
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Post by sorted on May 29, 2020 8:10:14 GMT 1
I increasingly adopt that approach as I get older and have to accept my memory is not what it was- in all areas of my life. For example we decided at the start of lockdown that there was little point in running 2 cars, so SORNed mine and are sharing Mrs Sorted’s for the few trips we make. That turns out to be the right decision as my employer has now confirmed I wil be working from home until at least the end of September.
So my car now has an A4 note on the dash saying “SORNed- do not drive” as otherwise I know when my mind is elsewhere I might just jump in and go to the shops in it! Thanks
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Post by Joepublic on May 29, 2020 12:02:34 GMT 1
They've been using adaptors on vag stuff for 30+ years, the problem is lack of common sense and end users mechanical ability in the Facebook era. Chinese copying quality proven European products doesn’t help either.
I see the bosses cracked and sheared completely off spacers less than 20mm when used on taper bearing early cars using spacers designed for later cassette type bearings that have a shorter boss.
Wheel choice leads to other problems, ET being 50+ on Porsche rims and a 20mm adapter brings ET to 30+ and roughly OE vag, but the new style is camber, poke (wheels outside of the arch) with a stretched tyre to attempt at a just legal fit...
Facebook crowds chanting do it bro it’ll be sick lead to disasters of varying kinds then the blame game starts on the adapters, wheel sellers or mot testers etc
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Post by studabear on May 29, 2020 18:44:46 GMT 1
God damn I hate the camber look with stretched tyres. Especially when done to the extreme.
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Post by minimatt on May 30, 2020 8:27:57 GMT 1
So after reading all the comments on this subject i guess the conclusion is that they are legal as far as the mot is concerned and safe if they are good quality and fitted correctly.
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Post by Joepublic on May 30, 2020 11:22:24 GMT 1
There’s many variables, from safe to dangerous and everything in between
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Post by valhalla on May 30, 2020 14:37:05 GMT 1
You have to ask yourself the question;
"Does the OEM manufacturer do it that way, or offer this as an option?"
If it isn't type-approved and homologated, it hasn't got any place on the UK's roads, because it is unlikely to have had a qualified European Engineer do the calculations and the tests. There are probably thousands of Chinese wannabes that swear they are Elvis, but it ain't necessarily so..........
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