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Wheel spacers vs. black steelie's?
- Thread starter KI4KWF
- Start date
- Location
- Southern Maryland
dark painted vehicles look great with alloy wheels IMHO
jakec
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Alexandria, MN
There is a misconception here that should be addressed. The mounting surface on stock wheels is not centered in the rim. It is towards the front of the wheel (away from the axle). I am going to guess it is at least 1" away from the center line. What I am saying is that the weight of the vehicle is not centered on the unit bearing on a stock vehicle to begin with. If my 1" assumption is correct, and you used a 2" spacer, now you would be 1" away from center the other way. Same amount of stress on the unit bearings, just on the other side of center, toward the inside of the wheel (toward the axle). Using spacers, or wheels with more offset, puts no more stress on the unit bearings that a stock vehicle.
The only weakness in spacers is that it is one more thing to bolt on, one more thing to keep tight, and one more thing to fail. That being said, I have run 2" spacers on stock wheels in the past, and they worked great for me.
I personally think your jeep looks pretty sweet with the stock rims, but would look even sweeter if they stuck out a little. The black steelies would look sweet as well. I personally do not like chrome, but that is just my preference. Don't forget, it's your vehicle, and when it comes to aesthetics, your opinion is most important.
The only weakness in spacers is that it is one more thing to bolt on, one more thing to keep tight, and one more thing to fail. That being said, I have run 2" spacers on stock wheels in the past, and they worked great for me.
I personally think your jeep looks pretty sweet with the stock rims, but would look even sweeter if they stuck out a little. The black steelies would look sweet as well. I personally do not like chrome, but that is just my preference. Don't forget, it's your vehicle, and when it comes to aesthetics, your opinion is most important.
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+1 for the steelies. And earlier in the post the question raised about the center caps: when you go to change the ujoints or unibearings you have to take the hubnut off and leaving the wheels on (with no center caps) is the easiest IMO way to get it off. There are other ways, but just leaving the center caps off make changing hubs, ujoints, axle shafts, etc. so much faster and simpler. And thanks a lot mudslinger4x4, everytime I cure my self of wantboggers-itis, I see a pic like yours and have a relapse.:firedevil
- Location
- Reno, Nevada
What you are trying to describe here is the offset of the wheel. A stock 7" wheel has 5.25" backspace which translates into 1.75" positive offset. Here's a diagram that explains offset.jakec said:
jakec said:
No, you're absolutely right. The idea is to keep the tire centered over the bearing.
Now that I think about it, my drawings don't mean much. It makes a lot more sence to draw a line from the center of the tire to the center of the bearing, and measure the angle of that line. :doh:
MikeDCherokee
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- wichita kansas
Well I'm kind of burnt out on all the people running black steel wheels. I have them on my Jeep and seriously considering selling them. It has turned into a fad. But that is just my opinion. Build it how you want it.
- Location
- Hammertown, USA
here, you can check out black steelies vs nice shiny alloys on the same dark rig and make up your own mind.
The black steel wheel was my spare, this was fitment testing for 35's, checking what had to be trimmed and bumpstopped.
The black steel wheel was my spare, this was fitment testing for 35's, checking what had to be trimmed and bumpstopped.
amschnellsten
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- cincinnati
steel wheels is my vote. I have black soft 8s on my balck cherokee. I do not like the fact that everyone and their grandmother has them but I am going to paint mine graphite color for a little change. I swithched to the soft 8s because I needed an 8" wheel. I was going to buy spacers but I have dealt with them before and can not stand them. I had spacers on my 911 and was eating up wheel bearings and when i got correct wheels I have not had any wheel bearing problems since. As for spacers, one spacer to the next I do not believe there is much difference as long as one is hubcentric and looks well made. As for the wheel bearing change no cover on steelies is a lot easier to get the nut off, just crank it off with the vehicle on the ground. another note is that steel wheels do not bend,crack, ect as factory wheels and they are cheaper to replace. I had rubicon wheels on my rig before and if you use them on a trail buy two sets, because I think they are made out of silly puddy. It is all opinion but if you ask me spacers are for lowriders and mall crusing!
krelja
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- New Jersey
What I was sying is since center caps like this are on behind the wheel how would you get to the hub nut without taking the tire off?? Then when the tire is off the wheel either has to go back on or someone has to put their foot on the brake to stop the wheel from moving. I rarely have a shop bitch around so I ditched the center caps. The stock wheels have a little cap that you can pry off to get to the hub nut. My aftermarket steelies do nottomcat said:
this is kinda in relation to my other thread, but i was looking at my uncles jeep again today and i seriously think he has the same lift. i'll have to measure it, but im pretty sure. heres how i did it:
they were both sitting on level ground, we were just standing around talking. they are both pretty level, no sagging.
i stood at the rear corner of his and figured out what special point came to my eye level, which was right above the rear side window.
i went to the same spot on my jeep, and sure enough it was the same. his looks a lot taller, because he has some aluminum wheels that spread it out, and a roof rack with lights. I got to looking at it and realized how much shorter it would look without the rack.
I was like: "If I got some nice aluminum wheels and bought that rack off of him at a serious DEAL [he doesnt use it], my heep would look really good!
:rtm:
now, just to save some cash.
thread officially over. :lecture:
they were both sitting on level ground, we were just standing around talking. they are both pretty level, no sagging.
i stood at the rear corner of his and figured out what special point came to my eye level, which was right above the rear side window.
i went to the same spot on my jeep, and sure enough it was the same. his looks a lot taller, because he has some aluminum wheels that spread it out, and a roof rack with lights. I got to looking at it and realized how much shorter it would look without the rack.
I was like: "If I got some nice aluminum wheels and bought that rack off of him at a serious DEAL [he doesnt use it], my heep would look really good!
:rtm:
now, just to save some cash.
thread officially over. :lecture:
krelja said:
What are you even talking about? All you would need to do is engage 4wd, lift the side you need to work on, and leave the other front tire on the ground. There's no need for anyone to stand on the brake while you do this... Replacing a hub is a one-man operation.
And you have to take the wheel off to replace the hub anyways...
amschnellsten
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- cincinnati
it'sjust easier plain and simple! no arguing about it. See we have already deleted the step of putting in 4wd.
krelja said:
and you can't leave it in 4wd to keep the wheel from spinning, or just use an impact gun to spin it off? you aren't making any sense.
the only reason I have those center caps on it to keep dirt out of my hubnut, so they stay nice a clean. some of them are nice and dented too, but it keeps everything clean
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jstone8952
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- florida
IMO keep the stock rims. they look good and match the car. steelies seem to be everywhere and they just look cheap. if you like the look of darker rims just paint them. seriously. i did and if you take time and do it right you have good results and theyll last.
- Location
- Roanoke VA
The Turbines look good with spacers and different. Plus I can get these all day long for free around here.jstone8952 said:
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