Why do we need the spacers for the 16" wheels? Is it only for the disc brake rear-ends or for the drums also?

 

I thought it was the other way around, only for the drums not the discs.

 

You mean the 1/4" inch ones? They came on the rear of my Camaro when I got it, used. I was told its to keep the rear rims and the rear brakes from corroding together. Or maybe to make the rear wheels stick out a bit further for a better stance. Who knows?

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West Coast GM Shootout 2001!
1991 Camaro Z28
5.7L 5-Speed (originally 305)
13.25 @ 107.18 MPH
Southern California
Member: SoCal 3rd Gen F-Bodies
Webmaster: SoCal F-Bodies
-=ICON Motorsports=-

 

I have them on mine too. I just figured they were for clearance. As it is I have to use stick on wheel weights because there are pieces of metal that catch the weight and drag it arounf the rim. I need and adjustable bar to solve that I think.

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91 Z28 Camaro
305 TPI
700R4 with 2000 Stall and shift kit

 

According to the GM parts manuals and my own experiences, they only came on rear-drum cars with the iron drums. This is because the iron drums were thinner than the aluminum drums and the rear rotors.

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Greg Westphal
'87 IROC 305TPI/A4

 

I have the spacers on my 85 IROC, which has rear disc brakes. There's something in the Chilton manual about the spacers, but I can't recall the details.

JamesC

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yeah the funny thing is that the 16" wheels are labelled FRONT and REAR. When i look at the front wheels, it looks like they already have an intergrated spacer. The 15" 88-90 IROC wheels are interchangable, with no front or rear labelling, and they already seem to have little spacers already.

 

my 86 roc has aluminum drums and it also has the small spacers. i think it was an easy fix for GM to get the front and rear track aligned. do we all have the same sized spacers? (mine aren't 1/4", mine are more like 1/8") if there are different spacers, here is my theory. there were 3 brake options, disk, aluminum drum, and cast drum. GM probably didn't want to cut a wheel for each type of rear brake, so they made a universal wheel with spacers for each brake system. that is my uneducated guess.

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86 IROCZ
T-Tops
700R4
305 TPI
3.23 gears
shift kit, manual TC switch, manual fan switch, flowmaster exhaust with edelbrock TES headers& hollow cat, gutted MAF.