I'm considering buying a set of 16" 4thgen wheels for my '86. Checking the FAQ here, it says to purchase spacers from vette brake. No problem I figured, they couldn't bee TOO much.. Having gone to their website, I was shocked to see them go for $150/pair! Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but isn't a wheel spacer just a piece of aluminum flat stock with 6 holes in it (5 lugs + a center hole)? If that's true than WHY SO MUCH? Seems to me that anyone with a little machining experience could make a decent set of these. Anyone done this?

 

i wondered the same thing. at one time i was wondering how hard it would be to make a set on my lathe but after finding out the cost of the materials it wasn't that bad a deal.

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-=ICON MOTORSPORTS=-
1st & 3rd

 

FYI only.. i don't recommend doing this but... my friend has a 4th gen and he mounted a set of 26in slicks on his stock wheels.. well anyway it rubbed a little bit on the inside... so i used my spacer and put a washer behind it on each stud.. it worked!!

ps.. i was desperate because i had money riding on a race against some supercharged M3
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and i won

[This message has been edited by Pro91Z (edited November 10, 2000).]

 

I can't imagine the materials being that much, really. At local metal suppliers, a piece of aluminum stock big enough for the spacers shouldn't be more than like, $40. I know a good machinist that would make what I want for probably under $100. That's under 1/2 the price of the vette brake spacers.. I'm just wondering what these spacers actually LOOK like. Do they do anything special to them other than knocking a few holes in a round disk?

 

Well, they have the holes for the lugs but they also have studs pressed in for you to bolt the tire to. So basically you use the holes that are in the spacer to bolt the spacer to the axle; then you use the studs sticking out of the spacer to bolt your tire on. I have pix somewhere on my website http://members.nbci.com/scauffiel/index.htm of the spacers that I had to get and use for my Mercedes rims.

Steve

 

I recently bought a piece of aluminum to make my own TB spacer instead of paying $40-70 for one and the 3/4"x4"x6" aluminum was only $5. The same place would machine it for me but never gave me an estimate unti I could give them specs on what they would need to do to cut it.

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1988 TA 300+hp 350 w/ TBI and Holley TB unit, Holley projection intake,
WC T-5, 3.42 gears w/ Auburn posi. MSD 6A, edelbrock TES headers, dynomax 3" cat and cat-back system, ACCEL coil, polyurethane bushings all around, aluminum driveshaft, Mr. Gasket open air cleaner.

1993 S-10 w/ 4.3L V6 TBI, slightly bigger cam, Mild polish job and 3 angle valve job on heads, Edlebrock TES headers, Dynomax cat back, MSD 6A, ADS chip

2000 Kawasaki KX 125

 

Im in the market for a set as well. skulte seems to be the cheapest.

maybe we can all get together and get a deal
what do u guys think?

Tie

 

Ok well, having seen these spacers, I now have a little more respect for them. I can see why they're so much. Oh well, guess I won't be getting these rims, just have to hold out for a set of 3rdgen 16"ers I guess!

BTW.. Do you suppose Skulte is actually selling the vette brake spacers? His part numbers start out with "VB" after all

 

You could probably make the spacers how you described (5 + 1 holes) and use dually truck style studs which are long. If yo go to NAPA or some other decent parts store you could look through their manuals for a 2 3/4 x 7/16" (12mm) stud (or there abouts) before machining your spacers. I think structurally speaking that you would be fine, since the wheels will effectively have the same offset as the original ones. I am not an engineer, so i suggest you get some other opinions before going through with this. I have seen it work on many a stock car for whatever its worth(?)

 

I was just about to suggest that.. making the studs longer would greatly simplfy the construction of the spacer. I wouldn't think this would affect the yield strength of the stud, either. Why didn't vette brake or andris skulte have this insight before making their spacers? (or maybe the did, andris is an ME after all, I'm just a lowly EE