An extra inch........

[LythamBrownie]

Evening WSCC Forum,

A novice Westie owner here...... looking for help.......  I want to get my rear wheels to fill the arches more and not be so recessed.  
 

Mine look like the red car.... I’d like them to look more like the orange car.

 

Assume I need some kind of spacers?!?!?

 

Can anyone advise please.

 

KR

David

[CraigHew]

Assuming you want / need to keep the current wheels then yes, a spacer is needed.

The problem you'll face is that once the spacer is in place your current wheel studs probably won't be long enough and will need changing too.

 

The spacers are simple enough, just measure how much the wheel needs to move and buy that size spacer.

 

Personally I wouldn't fit more than 15-20 mm and if possible I'd try to get some hub - centric ones so the car weight isn't carried too much on the studs.

 

Perhaps other members who have fitted them can advise further....

[LythamBrownie]

8 hours ago, CraigHew said:

Assuming you want / need to keep the current wheels then yes, a spacer is needed.

The problem you'll face is that once the spacer is in place your current wheel studs probably won't be long enough and will need changing too.

 

The spacers are simple enough, just measure how much the wheel needs to move and buy that size spacer.

 

Personally I wouldn't fit more than 15-20 mm and if possible I'd try to get some hub - centric ones so the car weight isn't carried too much on the studs.

 

Perhaps other members who have fitted them can advise further....

Cheers Craig

[Gary Taylor]

Buy the best quality ones that you can find from a reputable motorsports dealer 

As Craig says if you get the hub centric ones they bolt on to your hubs and the wheel to their own studs , but, and there’s always one, you may need to shorten the origin studs depending on spacer thickness

if your original studs are long enough you may be able to use a basic spacer, but please ensure that the wheel nuts engage fully. I have experienced losing a wheel and believe me it’s not something I would wish to repeat !!!

Also beware of going to far out, as on full suspension compression whilst driving around our undulating roads with their less than perfect surfaces you may run into tyre / wheel arch rubbing issues . Which may or may not be able to be resolved by sanding the rear return edge back a little.

your other option IF your wheels are still available is to order a pair the same style / size but with a greater offset to fill the arches ( you can always sell on the other pair) this alleviates the spacer / stud / nut problems and is what I have just done 😁

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman)]

Do, before committing to anything, measure the clearance to the return edge on the lip of the wheel arches, for both sides of the car!

 

Westfields bodywork was designed and moulds made firmly in the manual days of making moulds from hand produced clay bucks etc. The bodywork is not symmetrical down the centre line of the car, particularly around the rear wheel arches. Additionally, builders generally find themselves tweaking the precise position of the tub, to get the best overal looking fit.

 

So it’s not uncommon, if you make the wheels too close a fit to the arches, for one side to rub, and not the other!

[Maurici- CleaR Motorsport]

1 hour ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

 

So it’s not uncommon, if you make the wheels too close a fit to the arches, for one side to rub, and not the other!

 

Flap sanding disk is your friend here!! and with the benefit of weight saving.

 

Regarding the spacers... for such a light car and with what we commonly say aftermarket wheels, buy whatever you have on hand. More than likely your wheels will be lug centric ones, with conical nuts... therefore you don't really need the flange of the hub at all.

 

The advice given for hub centric stuff is good advice for OEM wheels... but unnecessary with aftermaket.

 

Another wrong concept is the weight in the car on the struts...

The weight if the wheel is correctly torqued is supported by the clamping force between wheel and hub, never by the flange on the hub and never by the struts (they only work in traction).

 

Summary...

Buy whatever fits, be sure the struts are long enough and torque the wheels correctly.

 

 

 

[BigSkyBrad]

I had https://www.superforma.co.uk/   custom make a set for me, cost about £45+post, took about a week to receive them. I was lucky that my rear hubs already had long studs, so i was able to use a hubcentric slip-on set at 15mm thick - that took the ET from 35 down to 20.

[TAFKARM]

Agree with Maurici. I run 16mm spacers on mine, have done for years. Get hammered on kerbs at track days and not broken yet... you may need longer studs though. (Rally Design I think)

[Davemk1]

Since no one else has said it - adding spacers to better fill the rear arches does more than make it look better.....it will for sure effect the handling at the limit. Adding the spacers will increase the rear track width and this will end up giving the rear end of the car more grip. More grip isn't bad of course but unless grip is also added to the front the car will tend toward understeer.

 

If the car currently has oversteer adding grip to the rear would be a good thing. If the car currently understeers then adding more grip to the rear will make the understeer worse.

 

Just putting this out there.

 

dave

 

 

[Maurici- CleaR Motorsport]

Well, and will change the leverage the wheels do to the suspension arms, and therefore the effect on the springs and damping speeds...

 

But i don't really bother to go down this route when the question is done for purely aesthetic purposes, as I've found that people doesn't particularly cares about how it will handle at the limit... as long as it looks nice.

[cast iron]

why not check you have the correct offset rims and look for a second hand set that meet your requirements, sell yours on, ultimately little out lay and less to go wrong