X3! Seeing the little guy munch away and made me hungry. I ended up getting about halfway through the bag before I started writing this.

Madmax (and countless others) is right, Stephen is wrong. As long as the spacer is installed properly it can be thought of as an extension of the wheel which brings the mounting surface to the same position as the stock wheel. As long as all the parts used are in good condition, there should be no flex so the load will stay the same. As others have mentioned, the difference the OP noted was only felt because of the change in tire.

I should probably clean the butter off the mouse now.

 

i think that the problem is where you consider the spacer to be "anchored"
if you look at the spacer as an extension of the hub, without considering the wheel, then all of a sudden, stephen's argument suddenly makes sense.
however, you cannot forget the wheel.
if you look at the spacer as an extension of the wheel without considering the car, then stephen's argument makes sense...
but again, you have to consider everything involved.
the simple answer is that you need to get the wheels mounting surface back to zero offset, or as close as possible... if you can do this, then nothing changed in the scheme of things...
simple as that

 

I don't want to start in a new forum and make people mad at me, but I figured I would chime in here. I have to agree the forces will not change with a spacer, but it does add another point of possible failure. I cannot or willnot quote any physics, but as a certified ASE suspension tech, and alignment tech I would never use a spacer on my car. I have seen it done with good results and I have also seen bad results. The key is a PROPERLY installed and maintained spacer. As we all have seen over the years, no part lasts forever and many factory parts fail without warning. I am in the tire business, and the one thing that will make a tire man want to crawl under a bed is hearing about a wheel off. Even brand new factory installed, hand torqued studs can break in the right situation. It can and does happen. I am a professional in the auto industry. I have been doing it for 15 years. Over the years I have seen VERY few people properly maintain the factory studs and lugnuts, I cannot belive that the average person will maintain a aftermarket hub spacer any better. I know that some people will have good results with spacers, but I would never put them on my car, or my customers cars. I have NEVER installed spacers on a customer car and those that I tell that I wont do it, some have came back to have me fix the damage to the car after they had a wheel fall off, because of a spacer problem.
If it was a recomended thing, wouldn't the factory use them to make their optional wheels fit more vehicles?
I am not bashing anyones set up, just giving a opinion. If it works for you fine, just not my cup o tea

 

Racing Geek, that seems to be the most logical way of explaining this "think of the spacer as an extension of the wheel". Later.

 

madmax, you are so right on point it isn't even funny. the easiest way for noobs to look at it is, imagine the spacer is welded to the rim as if it had different backspacing now. it would stick out no further than a factory rim would. the ride will be dramatically different due to the wider tire, thinner tire, and the fact that it will need an allignment. by the way kuddos for keeping this thread alive. ive been laughing for over a week on this topic.

 

I actually un-IL'd Stephen just to read this thread.

If the wheels centerline doesn't change from stock (actually it moves in), how would there be more leverage? The spacers just reposition the wheel centerline in the stock location (or as close as possible).



EDIT: and I've been running spacers for at least 4 years on my firebird and I trust them just fine. I'd love to run without them but these wheels were cheap and they work. Besides, my car has been offroading with these spacers and they aren't cracked/broken!

 

Hey Iansane, haven't heard you for a while, are you back on the road yet with the bird. Later.

 

Nah, it's pretty much just sat with the LSx in it in the garage for a long time. Got burned out on it badly. I seem to have just gotten a second wind though. Hopefully before summer ends!