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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Stay away from Super Forma wheel spacers!!!!!!!


marc_p
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Ok so after looking around on Supra forums, I was after some 25mm wheel spacers for the front and 20mm for the back to space the stock wheels.

 

After searching, I got two different makes, front ones seemed good, rear ones didn't feel as beefy but just assumed that was because they were a tad narrower.............well tonight I fitted them and the below happened.

 

Now before anyone says anything, I am always very cautious with wheel nuts and never over tighten them, as I was tightening up the rear ones they were getting tighter but never 'tight', something just didn't feel right, luckily I have the 'know-how' to know when something isn't right, so I took the wheel back off and this is what i found, yes, that is the bolts pulling through the spacer under very little torque.

 

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1402091231.998663.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1402091245.000116.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1402091257.165462.jpg

 

On the plus side, I did get a comparison shot of the spacers before and after:

 

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1402091324.065734.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1402091336.099107.jpg

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Looks just that bit better than stock - If you find a decent set can you please PM me with what they are and what size you go with as I have been tempted with spacers for a while

 

Not sure that is a good idea if you are planning on enjoying her, in my opinion it adds an extra layer of something that could go wrong!

 

That was a lucky escape Marc, good spot!! Though have to agree with Jon it does look much better than stock.

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Not sure that is a good idea if you are planning on enjoying her, in my opinion it adds an extra layer of something that could go wrong!

 

That was a lucky escape Marc, good spot!! Though have to agree with Jon it does look much better than stock.

 

My car is more of a show car so I wouldn't be too worried about something going wrong. ;)

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It looks to me as if the stock studs are proud of the wheel mounting face of the spacer, and the wheel is sat on the ends of the original studs, not on the wheel mounting face of the spacer. So when you tighten the wheel nuts the studs in the spacer and the area around them are in fresh air, and the studs are therefore being pulled out.

 

 

Personally the day when spacers are banned cannot come fast enough.

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It looks to me as if the stock studs are proud of the wheel mounting face of the spacer, and the wheel is sat on the ends of the original studs, not on the wheel mounting face of the spacer. So when you tighten the wheel nuts the studs in the spacer and the area around them are in fresh air, and the studs are therefore being pulled out.

 

 

Personally the day when spacers are banned cannot come fast enough.

 

:thumbs:

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Hard to tell from the photos, but that thread seems to show the same problem that Marc is seeing, the stock studs protruding beyond the wheel mounting face of the spacer. Installation error. Not all end users of potentially life threatening modifications are engineers. The search for the right "stance" or whatever mumbo jumbo is currently fashionable comes with risks to handling and safety.

 

 

I'd love to see photos of the mounting face of the wheels, I wager there are witness marks where they were riding on the ends of the original studs. Amazed all the self professed experts on that fast lorry forum couldn't see the potential issue.

Edited by Chris Wilson (see edit history)
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As Chris says, looking at the OEM studs in the hub, they are too long and you are then not tightening the wheel to a flat face on the spacer.

 

All the original studs will be different lengths depending on how they have been tightened originally. Once you bolt the wheel on you are not tightening the wheel to a flat face, just the tops of the OEM studs and this may be why they are pulling though as all the torque is on a single stud and the load is not spread.

 

I don't like spacers at the best of times as a ex mechanical engineer but if the faces are not flush together, it will never work due to the forces involved.

 

H.

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It looks to me as if the stock studs are proud of the wheel mounting face of the spacer, and the wheel is sat on the ends of the original studs

 

Nope, I dobbed copper grease on the end of each stud and then removed the wheel to make sure there was no copper grease on the wheel. The supra wheels have a recess between each stud to allow for the factory studs sitting slightly proud.

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Nope, I dobbed copper grease on the end of each stud and then removed the wheel to make sure there was no copper grease on the wheel. The supra wheels have a recess between each stud to allow for the factory studs sitting slightly proud.

 

Aah. Could it be that the spacers have been over drilled and the tap has not put a deep enough thread in the spacer?

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Aah. Could it be that the spacers have been over drilled and the tap has not put a deep enough thread in the spacer?

 

I'd have thought the studs are on splines with a head so to speak to stop them pulling through as opposed to being screwed in. Possibly just a bad set. I had a wheel bearing the other day with a new nut for the stub axle. The tightening torque on that particular bearing is 235nm, it got to 180 and started loosening off where the nut had sh!t itself.

 

I was going to fit hubcentrics to my car, but I think now I shall use wheel nuts with a longer collar and use max 10mm spacers!

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