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2015 XT - Stock wheels with spacers?

30K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  atflick  
#1 ·
I'm interested in running wheel spacers on the stock wheels and tires. Maybe 20mm.
1. Curious if anyone has done this (search yielded nothing)
2. Does anyone recall if the stock wheels have pockets between the holes?

Image
 
#3 · (Edited)
2. Does anyone recall if the stock wheels have pockets between the holes?
They do but not that exact same shape. Looking at the spare on my MY13 SJ Australian XT Premium (which I think is equivalent to the USDM XT Touring so the rims should be the same); they are an almost perfect triangular shape with almost equal length sides with rounded corners (same layout & similar rounded corners to those shown in the photo).

A couple of quick measurements I took; the side of the rim centre hole to the closest part of the triangle measures ~9.0mm. The maximum width measures ~32mm (in a direction around the rim). The maximum length measures ~28mm (in a line from the centre of the rim towards the outside). The depth is ~7.0mm with ~1.0mm of raised printing on the bottom of most of the pockets. The sides of the pockets appear to taper slightly from the outside to the bottom.

Have a look at your spare & you will see what I mean – you don’t have to remove it from the vehicle to check the shape or size, just hand unscrew the spare wheel retainer.

Edit: A photo of my spare added to show what I mean.

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#5 ·
Well, I installed the 20mm spacers today. They fit nicely, and I'm really happy with the look of the wheel being pushed out and flush with the fender.
A few notes. 20mm is absolutely the thinnest wheel adapter you could use and still retain the stock wheels. The stud and nut fit right into the triangle pockets in the wheel. If the spacer were any thinner, the stock lugs would bump into the wheel, and wheel surface would not sit flush on hub (technically, the adapter at that point).

You can see the spacing in the pics below. Some install shots as well as some before and afters.
These are 20mm, 56.1mm bore, purchased from Amazon.
 

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#8 ·
This is what I bought.

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/5x100-Hubcentric-Spacers-Subaru-Impreza/dp/B00OJN3UJM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1443994431&sr=8-6&keywords=Subaru+wheel+spacer[/ame]

Comes with the lugs, but as I mentioned, I would have gone 25mm in hindsight.
 
#14 ·
any issues with these at high speeds? one of the amazon reviews said that they weren't perfectly balanced and that there was noise at speeds over 65mph.

For that reason I am considering these Perrin Spacers. Only downside is they are 2x more expensive. But I would trust Perrin's manufacturing and engineering more than a random brand on Amazon.
 
#15 ·
High speed stability is very good. I notice no discernible wobble. I regularly do 80+ without high stability issues. It is important to torque any wheel spacer down so that is centered.

I must be missing something. You gained stability and gained oversteer? Please explain.
That's what I felt. Below is a more detailed response form someone smarter than me...

3) A wider track will lower the roll center at that end of the car, thus making it softer in roll. This is because the car's CG will not change, and thus the vertical distance between the CG and the roll center at that end of the car will increase, kind of like using a torque-wrench with a longer handle that pivots at the roll center. So a wider track at the front will make the front softer in roll which will once again tend to reduce understeer.

4) A wider track will tend to reduce the load transfer to the outside when cornering, which in general will increase cornering power since you'll be able to get more traction from the inside tires. So once again, increasing the track at the front will tend to reduce understeer.

So in general, making the track wider will increase cornering power -- but -- it is important to maintain an optimum ratio between the front and rear tracks as a means to managing the load transfer from the front to the back, and thus the resulting balance between the two ends of the car.

Now, widening the track using spacers also does a number of other things to the geometry...
1) It increases the front scrub radius, which can increase the steering effort and affect the feel and kickback.

2) It can increase the load on the bearings since the load will be cantelivered further out then the suspension designer may have intended.

3) Without working out the geometry, I'd also be concerned about causing the suspension to pick up a tendency to change track under bump/rebound which can cause all sorts of sudden strangeness in the handling as the suspension loading is changed.
 
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