[Soks]

I'm curious if anyone is running spacers on their cars. with a stock wheel/tire setup. I am running Euro Exige Wheels (6.5" front / 7.5" Rears). I'm wondering how wide of spacers I could run without rubbing? I'm also on a NON-sport suspension.

 

[bimmerbob]

I ran 12 mm front and 5 mm rear with no problems, got them from Elise Parts.

 

[LI-Lotus]

can someone outline the pros and cons of putting wheel spacers on a otherwise stock Elise? I'm a newbie, I have a Sport Package Elise.

 

[enderw88]

can someone outline the pros and cons of putting wheel spacers on a otherwise stock Elise? I'm a newbie, I have a Sport Package Elise.

You will change the scrub radius in the front which will change the steering feel some. Having not done it myself I can't tell you if it would be noticeable.

 

[s2077s]

Looking at the 12mm spacer adaptors for both my front and rear coupled with their +7mm longer bolts on my stock Elise S2 111R on stock wheels. Questions.

+7mm bolts are sufficient? The website seems to only sell this spec.

+12mm spacers will still have enough clearance for all the fenders?

 

[Soks]

Looking at the 12mm spacer adaptors for both my front and rear coupled with their +7mm longer bolts on my stock Elise S2 111R on stock wheels. Questions.

+7mm bolts are sufficient? The website seems to only sell this spec.

+12mm spacers will still have enough clearance for all the fenders?

What width wheels and tire size are you running in the front? Because I believe the stock wheels can vary from 5.5" - 6.5". Just from the eyeball test on mine, it would seem that 12mm up front might be too aggressive. The rears should work fine.

 

[Soks]

Has anyone run Larger spacers in the rear than the front? Does it generate a lot of understeer? I'm talking about something like a 5mil difference.

 

[so_illlotus]

16mm rears extented studs

 

[s2077s]

What width wheels and tire size are you running in the front? Because I believe the stock wheels can vary from 5.5" - 6.5". Just from the eyeball test on mine, it would seem that 12mm up front might be too aggressive. The rears should work fine.

I am on the LSS wheels

16x6.5 ET31
17x7.5 ET38

Stock ride height.
Occasional track time and daily drive.

 

[Gunpilot]

Do not play around with lug bolts if you are going to use spacers. Put extended studs on.

 

[streetthrowback]

opcorn:

 

[Almighty]

Here's a question...

Does anyone have the numbers to calculate our scrub radius? From what I understand a zero scrub radius is what is optimal and I'm curious what our cars have from the factory.

 

[<@¿@>]

Here is the design problem with spacers...

1.) The center-line (plane) of the wheel should go through the center of the wheel bearing. This distributes the load through both rows of balls. This puts the least load on the bearings... Think of it like skiing. When you have equal loading on both skis, you go much faster. Through a turn, you do slow down. That offset (wheel spacer) acts like a crowbar and puts unequal and a significant moment on that bearing.

Are the bearings strong enough to take it? YES! Is it a good idea to constantly "up"-load the bearings? Hell NO!

2.) Your studs are 12-mm in diameter. It is OK to space them up to 1 diameter...12-mm thick. After that, you need studs in the spacers and bolt the spacer to the hub... two problems with that. Weight first...you are not adding lightness per the Lotus way. And second, most manufacturers use recycled aluminum for those spacers and the studs strip out! Your lug nut spins with the stud and can't get your wheel off! That is fun!

Wheel spacers are NEVER a good idea! Don't ghetto-ise your car...

 

[<@¿@>]

Looking at the 12mm spacer adaptors for both my front and rear coupled with their +7mm longer bolts on my stock Elise S2 111R on stock wheels. Questions.

+7mm bolts are sufficient? The website seems to only sell this spec.

+12mm spacers will still have enough clearance for all the fenders?

You need one bolt diameter of threads to have full strength of the bolt/stud. These studs are M12-1.5...so 12/1.5=8 If you do not get at least 8 full rotations of the lug nut, the studs are too short!

 

[jds62f]

So in short, if you run spacers you'll need longer wheel bolts because however thick your spacers are, you'll have that much less thread engagement. Pelican parts sells plenty of 12mm 1.5 pitch wheel bolts in all different lengths.... how long you'll need will depend on what your new setup is.

FYI on stock LSS wheels even with a thin walled socket, the socket would still touch the wheels using the bmw style bolts... ended up going back to the OEM bolts ( I don't run spacers on the stock wheels).

 

[Prolene]

can someone outline the pros and cons of putting wheel spacers on a otherwise stock Elise? I'm a newbie, I have a Sport Package Elise.

You will change the scrub radius in the front which will change the steering feel some. Having not done it myself I can't tell you if it would be noticeable.

I thought spacers were to prevent tire rubbing on a part of the car when running wider tires, thus "necessary"?

If I could run A7 225s on LSS rear wheels without spacers, then I would.