Beware of cheap ebay spacers.

[Ben J]

I think Australia should have some sort of equivalent to TUV when it comes to parts like these, or at least make it legal to use things that are approved by these bodies. The fact that any spacer, no matter if they are approved by various over seas bodies (which obviously wouldn't approve them if they weren't safe) makes it so much more tempting for people like myself (and many others on the forum, and in the car scene in general) to just buy the cheap parts as the expensive ones are still illegal anyway. If there were spacers which were legal to run over here, I think almost everyone would choose them over the ebay junk without much thought.

The fact that you can spend hundreds on quality parts which will get you in as much trouble with the police as the ones you can get for next to nothing makes it so tempting to just buy the cheaper ones. I've learnt the hard way and won't be using them again, but that was basically my reasoning behind getting them in the first place, and I'm sure a lot of peoples minds work just like mine. Luckily the spacers were the first and last cheap thing I've put on my car related to suspension/wheels/etc

[Diesel_vert]

I think Australia should have some sort of equivalent to TUV when it comes to parts like these, or at least make it legal to use things that are approved by these bodies.

I trust the TÜV because unlike some certification bodies, you can't gain their approval via self-certification, AFAIK.

Though given complexities of adopting a foreign certification body, I wouldn't expect anything anytime soon, especially given the size of our market.

The fact that any spacer, no matter if they are approved by various over seas bodies (which obviously wouldn't approve them if they weren't safe) makes it so much more tempting for people like myself (and many others on the forum, and in the car scene in general) to just buy the cheap parts as the expensive ones are still illegal anyway. If there were spacers which were legal to run over here, I think almost everyone would choose them over the ebay junk without much thought.

The fact that you can spend hundreds on quality parts which will get you in as much trouble with the police as the ones you can get for next to nothing makes it so tempting to just buy the cheaper ones.

I'm not sure I'm liking your train of thought here.

Just because a certain component is not allowed to used on public roads doesn't mean you should lower your vehicle's safety standards or reduce your duty of care.

I've learnt the hard way...
Luckily the spacers were the first and last cheap thing I've put on my car related to suspension/wheels/etc

I hope so.

[Ben J]

In hindsight it wasn't a very clever thing to do. I didn't figure much could go wrong with a pretty simple piece of metal, and it said it was made of quality 6061-T6 billet Aluminium and so in theory it shouldn't have been much different to the big brand name spacers. Is there an easy way to see what sort of grade of Aluminium it is short of putting it in a tensile testing machine? It doesn't seem like it is made out of what they claim it was. At the time it didn't make sence to spend a lot more money for what seemed to be the same product with a fancy brand name.

Clearly though, despite whatever bull**** the ebay sellers put in the description about their cheap spacers, not all spacers are created equal. This is the message I want to get out there with this thread.

[gecko2k]

Even though I wouldn't suggest anyone to run spacers, buy some with TüV, but please not from eBay, second hand or unknown shops.

The TüV seal of approval gets pirated a lot, which is a well known issue. So be careful when buying your next load of TÜV approved spacers in china...

I generally trust their judgement in terms of safety (read: fun police), hell....those guys don't even let you have more then 250hp in a MK1 no matter how strong your chassis is.


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[Diesel_vert]

Is there an easy way to see what sort of grade of Aluminium it is short of putting it in a tensile testing machine? It doesn't seem like it is made out of what they claim it was.

And therein lies the problem.

Short of ordering two pairs and testing one of them to destruction (assuming one even has access to or can afford to pay for a testing facility, which is unlikely), all you have to go on is their word, or their photos, or their flashy website, or marketing campaign, or word of mouth, etc.

Same goes with a lot of aftermarket products out there.

I'm not going to say, "don't buy anything from eBay", but know what you're getting yourself into before buying.

[kaanage]

I didn't figure much could go wrong with a pretty simple piece of metal, and it said it was made of quality 6061-T6 billet Aluminium and so in theory it shouldn't have been much different to the big brand name spacers. Is there an easy way to see what sort of grade of Aluminium it is short of putting it in a tensile testing machine? It doesn't seem like it is made out of what they claim it was.

The material wasn't the problem in this case - it was the insufficient machining out of the chamfer on the inner side which caused the ring to be bent, which then led to it breaking from the strain. A poorer grade (or unheat-treated 6061) aluminum would have just conformed to the new shape forced upon it (and loosened up as it deformed more over time, leading to the wheel bolts loosing tension and falling out...)

[MCiN7]

I've been using some H&R trak+ spacers for over a year now, 25mm and 30mm with no problems.

[Diesel_vert]

I've been using some H&R trak+ spacers for over a year now, 25mm and 30mm with no problems.

I wouldn't expect any issues with H&R spacers, though on their website, I found this interesting:

H&R TRAK+ WHEEL SPACER IMPORTANT MOUNTING-INSTRUCTIONS

Important Mounting Instructions. Must be read before installation!

H&R TRAK+ Wheel Spacers are intended exclusively for use in vehicles which are
permitted for use on public roads, and which fulfill the applicable legal requirements.
You are unconditionally advised against any other use.

Avoid unusual and aggressive driving manoeuvres which place excessive demands
on the vehicle (racing events, etc.).

H&R TRAK+ wheel spacers are manufactured under permanent quality control and
with the greatest of care; nevertheless, even top-quality products may become
defective.

So if H&R are ethical enough (or smart enough) to state this disclaimer, despite their R&D facilities and engineering nous, what hope do lesser manufacturers have?

[kaanage]

H&R aren't the cheap spacers at the heart of this thread.

But in any case, in their disclaimer, they're covering themselves against failure in other connected components like hubs and the wheel bolts (or studs) themselves since they get loaded beyond their intended design by the cantilevering effect of the wider track.

And once again for the "What about Porsche using spacers?" crowd, those cars are designed for the loading caused by a wide track.

To fuel the debate, what about spigot rings?

These similarly adapt different wheel's center bore diameters to the hub size. I had no idea these existed until I had bought a set of used rims and found one had a broken bit of plastic in the hub mounting area...

Spigot rings help reduce the loading on the fasteners (bolts/studs) by transferring the loads vertical wheel loads to the hubs leaving the fasteners to handle only the tension loads needed to clamp the wheels on to the hub face. They don't cause any additional loadings on the car's suspension. Wheels that have oversized centerbores and don't have an appropriate spigot ring are a danger as well but the spigot ring material and dimensioning is not as critical as that needed for spacers.

[kapowww]

This is what I was saying from the start. I originally bought 10mm wheel/hub centric spacers and realised that my hub protrusion was longer than 10mm (that's why I bit the bullet and got the spacer's wheel centric part machined off). Obviously this means the spacer doesn't sit flush - you'll have a problem no matter what brand. When torqued up and the car is static it would feel tight, but disaster is lurking in the shadows.

IMO this spacer broke because of human error. The title is misleading and is just fueled by brand snobbery. All the spacer balanced on was the hub protrusion with no support on the outside and with lateral forces of course it would strip the bolt threads and snap in half.