Bearings and wheel spacers...

[cjtpb13]

I read ever possible thread on the use of wheel spacers prior to purchasing mine.  I have always thought the wheels and tires of the Esprit were inside the fenderwell too far.  So I purchased spacers shortly after obtaining my Esprit, 25mm in the front and 30mm in the rear.  I recall reading about the impending doom to my wheel bearings because of the use of spacers. New front wheel bearings and rear bearing hubs went on along with the spacers.

 

Well that doom has arrived, at least for the front wheel bearings....

 

a bit over 40,000 miles later !  No that is not a typo... that would be 40,000 miles

Edited September 29, 2013 by cjtpb13

[andydclements]

That's quite a distance, so if the doom-sayers were right it would have gone for 100,000 -1,000,000 miles. The thing with spacers is that it's not an absolute no-no, not even an absolutely negative thing. It's all to do with where the centre of the wheel/ tyre line is relative to the centre line of the bearings. In some cases the wheel line may be further in than the centre of the bearings, so a spacer could neutralise that or just invert it. In other cases the lines may be a long way apart and so the designers had to increase the specifications of the bearings to compensate, so it's just going to wear out a little sooner.

 

I'm not saying spacers don't make bearings wear prematurely, just that they don't always. Now, 6 inch spacers on a corsa are a different matter.

[Bibs]

Voice of experience Clemo?

[andydclements]

I have a vague recollection of a rear wheel parting company with the rest of the car. I seem to think it's more vivid memory for you Bibs.

[Simon350S]

LOL nice return Andy

[Bibs]

No spacers involved there.... classic fatigue failure the factory said.

 

I was talking about your Corsa! 

[Jukka]

My car had spacers in rear when I bought it 2006. Now driven 45 000 km without any bearing problems.

I'm not sure what they affect driving ability. But the car looks much better with spacers.

[steve930]

just replaced one of my rear bearings, I fitted spacers about 7000 miles ago. to be fair though said bearing had covered 121,000 milesbefore I'd fitted the spacer :-)

on a side note Porsche used wheel spacers on most of their model range during the 70's & 80's depending on what wheels were specced during the order process (usually 20 - 30mm)