[4thGenSSGuy]

Spacers can be dangerous. Consult a local Tire Kingdom or your favorite mechanic.

[armycop71]

Getting properly offset wheels works better than spacers. Go see a tire and wheel shop if you don't know what you're doing, and especially don't go off advice you get on the internet.

[badstorm48]

Really just made it cause I’ve ran spacers on my other car with no issue so when I tried to use spacers to just make it a little more even with the fender and it didn’t work just was wondering if anybody else had the same issue. I’m probably just going to not worry about them now as I don’t want to keep going back and forth with companies to find the right spacer that fits. I’ll just wait until I get some wheels and do a staggered set up. The spacers was just something temporary and just for looks. Now granted as safety goes I’ve never had an issue with them as long as you torque the nuts down properly you’ll be fine. As that’s what I believe and of course as there is enough of a lug for the wheel to go on and for the nut to properly tighten all the way how it’s supposed to.

[James6speed]

A lot of variables when considering saying spacers are just dangerous period. If that's the case, then I guess the German engineers at Porsche are wrong for putting spacers on the 911 GT2 as stock equipment. Obviously running a thin spacer that is the correct size and assuming the you have enough thread counts on the stock lugs, are all part of what's needed to call it "safe." I run 7mm spacers all around on my 911 Turbo with 82mm screw-in studs without worry and I make over 600hp to the wheels with AWD and hard cornering. A stock LT1 will be fine with a spacer, I would say anything over 5mm will require a bolt-on variety, which I have done that in 25mm with cutting the stock studs to fit my RX8 HPDE car back in the day. Not that this carries any weight either, but I actually am an engineer for Toyota NA, but I would say that doesn't mean anything including "What the engineers state at GM" lol

[Msquared]

Holy shit, there is some ignorant posting going on here! There is nothing inherently unsafe about properly-implemented wheel spacers, and any "engineer" who tells you differently is a terrible engineer...whether he can spell or not. Everyone should read a primer on the topic from an engineer with, you know, actual knowledge and experience on this topic.

There's so much bullshit in this thread to debunk! Let's start with the loads and load path junk. The hub doesn't see a different load path just because there's a spacer there. The load path does change a bit when the net offset (wheel offset minus any spacer thickness) changes, because the center of the contact patch (where the vertical load's origination point is) changes. However, within reasonable limits it's not critical at all: after all, Chevy produces Camaros with front and rear offsets all over the place (almost an inch of variance for different models), and they don't change the bearings or hubs between different models. So it's not a problem.

There's no weakening of the wheel's interface with the hub. For a given lug nut torque, the clamping force that locates the wheel on the hub is the same as that which locates the wheel to the spacer and the spacer to hub. If you don't think this is true, prove it mathematically. Good luck with that. And it's that clamping force that actually holds the wheel in place, both axially and radially. Period.

You also don't need hubcentric anything. Someone already mentioned this, but if you think "hubcentric" bores and pilots actually locate the wheel, then you don't understand tolerances and you don't understand how tapered lug nuts and seats work. Once you tighten your lug nuts, your wheels are located only by them and not by the hub pilot and bore. There have been millions of cars and trucks produced over the decades without hubcentric wheels, and there have also been plenty of race cars without them. The only reason most manufacturers use hubcentric setups now is to make it easier to install the wheels properly on the assembly line or service station.

Statements about dissimilar metals expanding/contracting at different rates are just ridiculous. Do you all not realize that your aluminum wheels are held to an iron hub by steel studs and (usually) steel lug nuts? There are aluminum and steel spacers: use whatever floats your boat.

Oh, and BTW there are often iron or aluminum brake rotor hats already lurking between your wheels and hub faces (there certainly are on our Camaros). So they more or less work exactly like spacers already. Clearly they aren't a hazard!

As for "consult a local Tire Kingdom or your favorite mechanic," do I really need to point out how ignorant most of those people are about how any of this works? I mean, most of the people that work at these shops can only barely grasp how to change a tire, much less the physics of wheel and hub interfaces.

Any spacer is safe as long as it is flat and stiff and you have enough threads remaining on the studs to properly torque the lug nuts. The adapters (which is actually what the OP was asking about) are heavier and have far more failure paths, but again as long as they are properly designed and the studs clear the backs of the wheel faces, they are safe also.

[Aquarius]

I preface my comment by saying I run 5mm spacer on the front of my Camaro to make things fit without rubbing issues. I feel confident using a 5mm spacer because: 1) I still use the original lug bolts, 2) I was able to find extended thread lug nuts, which made up for the 5mm of threads I lost from using a spacer, and 3) I did my own research and then double-checked my thresholds to make sure there was no issues with rubbing against the suspension and the wheel wells at full turn-in. I think a 5mm spacer, maybe 7mm max, is as think as you can go while still being safe. For every millimeter you increase the with of a spacer, you are increasing the chance it will break, or will cause something to break. Only gamble what you can afford to lose. Also, if you are going to do it, do it right. Use a hub-centric ring, and get it built into the space if you can afford it.

[Msquared]

Originally Posted by Aquarius

I think a 5mm spacer, maybe 7mm max, is as think as you can go while still being safe. For every millimeter you increase the with of a spacer, you are increasing the chance it will break, or will cause something to break.

That's completely untrue. Plain spacers can't break: they are sandwiched between a wheel and hub with lug nuts applying many thousands of pounds of force to them. How the hell can the spacer possibly break or cause something else to break?

To put this in perspective, the OP's car came with 20x8.5 et25 wheels, I think. If he used 14mm spacers* (more than 1/2"), he'd still only have the same net offset as a ZL1 1LE (11mm). So do you think Chevy put wheels on the ZL1 1LE that are likely to cause something to break...on their grippiest and most powerful Camaro?! The OP was literally looking for just 1mm more than that.

*Obviously, using 14mm spacers would require longer studs. I'm just using that figure to make a point.

[Aquarius]

Wheel spacers on cars increase the leverage on the wheel bearing. The larger the spacer, the larger the leverage becomes. In extreme instances, this can cause wheel bearing to fail, which could break other parts as well, including the wheel hub and even the axle.

As I said before, do your own research. That way you not only know is the truth, but you also understand why it is factual. Internet forums are the last place you want to look for facts. Also, then you have no one to blame when something goes wrong but yourself.

[Msquared]

Originally Posted by Aquarius

Wheel spacers on cars increase the leverage on the wheel bearing. The larger the spacer, the larger the leverage becomes. In extreme instances, this can cause wheel bearing to fail, which could break other parts as well, including the wheel hub and even the axle.

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Again, it depends on what the final net offset is (i.e. where the the center of the tire's contact patch sits laterally), not whether or not you have spacers on the car. For example, on the OP's stock wheels, there is 25mm net offset (just the wheel's offset without any spacer), so the contact patch sits 25mm (about 1") inside of the hub's mounting face. If the OP had a wheel with 50mm offset and used 25mm spacers, his net offset would still be 25mm and the contact patch center would still be 25mm the inside of the hub mounting face. OTOH, some

Base Camaros come with 35mm offset, and others come with 11mm front offset. Chevy clearly doesn't think it hurts the wheel bearing to move the ZLE's contact patch center almost an inch (24mm) further out than on the base Camaro. If the OP's wheels have 25mm offset and he uses 15mm spacers (per his first post), then his net offset will be 10mm and his contact patch centers will be only 1mm further out than Chevy's highest-performance Camaro. There is certainly no problem there, especially since the forces in question will be way, way lower than those of a ZLE.

Yes, if you added 3" spacers and make your tires poke 2" outside of the fenders, you might stress the wheel bearings. But that's pretty much self-policing, since at that point your biggest problem would be your fender edges cutting through your tires every time your suspension bottomed out.