Front end wheel spacers problem
 

Please need some advice. I have been trying to install spacers on my 370Z roadster I got 18" OEM wheels and for some reason when I install 20 mm spacers I get vibration between 60 and 80 miles speed. I have balanced and re-balanced still same feel. I changes many brands from regular aluminum hubcentric no brands to Ichiba V2 brand still same vibration. Rear is good no problem. I'm starting to think it's the wheels themselves. Anyone have any feedback would appreciate it. Now I left the rear at 15 mm and nothing in the front...thanks

If bolt on type check the back of wheel where the stock studs come through the spacers.
If you see scuffs, dremel down the wheel just a tad for clearance.

Kenchan thanks my friend. .I will check

Is it really bad? Kenchen's right,with the 20 mm,they touch the rim slightly. You could also cut the studs back a bit as well(5mm). I noticed when I torqued mine down(wheel on to spacer) I would get it to the torque spec,but then the nut would all of a sudden give and then I'd torque it down some more. This led me to believe that the pressed in wheel studs in the spacer wasn't pressed in all the way so the nut was still pulling the stud into the spacer itself. Long story short,if the pressed in studs aren't all the way pressed in,it might cause vibration. Also as a note,my car has a bit of a shimmy at 130 km. not bad,but noticeable.

Thanks guys so if I get 15 mm will they fit better or it's the other way around they higher the more stud room..not that I want to go higher :)

I ran H&R Trak DRS and bolt-on type and never had any issues.

Have you tried driving w/o any spacers to see if it is the wheel?

Yes when I remove them from the front they run good.

Ya,if you were to run a 25mm spacer,it would clear. The better route to go would be just to replace the wheel studs on the car itself with the longer ones. There's a diy on here.

Are you torquing down the spacer nuts properly, meaning are you following a "star" pattern? Following that pattern, I usually torque them down by hand, use a torque wrench set to 80 ft lbs, then 90 ft lbs, and then finally, I go all the way around. But Kenchan's right, check the back of your wheels if the spacer studs are actually coming in contact. They really shouldn't if the OEM 18s have the slots between each lug hole.

I'd Dremel the OEM studs

I did follow the instructions accordingly and yes the wheels do have the gap but still vibration happen. Will check the back of the wheels for marks! Thanks

Has anyone experienced this problem and resolved it by making studs shorter?

my stock sport 19's did rub the studs when using 20mm bolt-ons and dremeled like 2mm off the corner of the back of the wheel adjacent to the lug holes.

i noticed this before i torqued down the lugs so never experienced vibration on mine.
some z's came with shorter studs so they didnt encounter this problem. i suppose you can dremel the studs if you want, but for me, i knew running the sport 19's were only temporary so didnt take that route.

i currently run the nismo wheels with no spacers at stock height on my base, i also have a set of the weds in my avatar.

Thanks appreciate the feedback very helpful

Kenchan please can you tell me what dremel accessori you used to dremel down the back of the wheel is there a DIY I am planning on changing the wheels in a year or so and didn't want to dremel the studs..thanks

you mean like grinder..? :ugh:

you can also use grinders made for drills. those come with a lot more coarse material to speed up the process.

the only grinding i did was like 2mm, just enough to clear the studs on my 19 sport wheels. ive not seen the back of the 18's so make sure you dont take off too much material to weaken it structurally.

Cool I hear u..thx

Ok guys I took off the wheels and no signs of stud rubbing. The wheel studs don't even get close to touch the wheels. Not sure what to do. Rotors are new..maybe the wheels themselves but when I take the spacers off the vibration stops

Are you using a torque wrench? Make sure the torque applied to each bolt that holds on the spacers is the same.

Merv has a 'work around' for the shimmy. He never drives under 150.

104

Brendan yes I torque then to 90..Zipper good idea lol

Sounds like the spacers themselves. What ones do you have. I have ichibas and they're garbage. The only reason I haven't changed them out is because I plan on getting rims with the proper offset. Also,are your spacers hubcentric? Do they have a lip that sticks out past the wheel spacer itself that rides just inside the bore on your rim?

Merv. I bought the ichibas V2 yes hubcentric. I thought they are 1 of the best on the market that is why I got them. I did buy no name Hubcentric aluminium ones before same thing rear is perfect front i get vibration above 60. That's why I get these thinking the brand name is better

Well I shouldn't really say there garbage,but there are better brands out there. Sometimes you just get a bad batch. I don't know if it's been mentioned,but try putting the back spacers up front. See if that stops the shimmy.
Edit: something else you could try,(and I've never heard of this being done),is go to a tire shop that does high speed balancing and see if they can't attach the spacer to the back of the wheel and balance it that way.

Cool thanks will do