[tipo949]

I've noticed numerous SUV's (BMW X5's, etc) on the street with wheel spacers...it gives the vehicle an aggressive, squatish-look that I kinda like.

How does this affect the wheel bearings and any other related component? does it void the factory warranty for those related components?

prices vary: https://shopeurocompulsion.net/products/otis-la-silver-wheel-spacer-kit-17mm-alfa-romeo-stelvio-2-0l

vs this: https://madnessautoworks.com/Alfa%20Romeo/start-shopping-cid1/suspension-brakes-cid8/alfa-romeo-stelvio-wheel-spacers-by-athena-17mm-set-of-2-w-bolts-pid7335

Has anyone installed them on their Stelvio>?

 

[Marco]

I've noticed numerous SUV's (BMW X5's, etc) on the street with wheel spacers...it gives the vehicle an aggressive, squatish-look that I kinda like.

How does this affect the wheel bearings and any other related component? does it void the factory warranty for those related components?

prices vary: https://shopeurocompulsion.net/products/otis-la-silver-wheel-spacer-kit-17mm-alfa-romeo-stelvio-2-0l

vs this: https://madnessautoworks.com/Alfa%20Romeo/start-shopping-cid1/suspension-brakes-cid8/alfa-romeo-stelvio-wheel-spacers-by-athena-17mm-set-of-2-w-bolts-pid7335

Has anyone installed them on their Stelvio>?

I LOVE this guy's videos .... check him out

 

[LC_LC]

Alfa Romeo has put a lot of research and engineering in the way our Stelvios handle. For me if you change anything with adapters, different wheels or anything, that engineering changes. It may not be enough that most people would notice but would it be worth it to possibly wear out parts sooner and that expense. Just my opinion

 

[Fiver]

Agreed. I'd assume the Alfa Romeo knows more than I ever will and I'm not about to make changes to such a complicated piece of machinery even though some mods are seen as common. My opinion may be biased as I have a strong dislike towards anything that changes the ride height of a vehicle to make it look squat.

 

[1265]

No way, stay away from this stuff, Stelvio is perfect, the max modification could be the eibach spring but I'm not sure confident

 

[TiSport]

If the vehicle were suppose to be wider, it would be. They delivered the crossover of the century. Grazie Mille, Alfa!

:wink

 

[Scalewoodman]

Agreed- rt to Baltimore today through miserable snow, slush, driving rain in perfect comfort and security. I love this car. Why screw with perfection?

 

[SailDrive]

I used spacers on the rear wheels of my Z3 roadster, which has virtually no stock suspension parts left on it at this point. They do subtly alter the handling and effective spring rates and many other aspects of the way the car feels. They CAN improve things, IF things need improved, but they could also just as easily hurt things and make it worse. I needed them on the Z3 for specific handling benefits as well as the cosmetic improvement (dat stance!), and the car is more solid in corners and breaks free in a much more predictable and controlled manor now with them (and also the different shocks, springs, sway bars, bushings, roll bars, etc, all followed up with a custom alignment that is not exactly to the "stock" specs either).

However adding spacers to a AWD or FWD vehicle is just asking for issues and should almost always be avoided.

One aspect I don't recall if mentioned in those videos above as I haven't watched them in a long time, is the effect on Torque Steer that can be caused by spacers. It's quite possible that adding them to the rear wheels of a car won't negatively impact anything, adding them to the front wheels of any AWD or FWD car will nearly always result in torque steer problems.

One lesser known issue is that depending on the LSD you have, it can sometimes require changes to the lock up % on the diff or you'll find it can cause tire squeal or even loss of traction in sharp turning situations. On my Z3 when I turn left at this one particular small 4 way intersection on the route to my office, the combination of the sharp turning and acceleration from the stop sign locks the rear diff enough that the inside rear wheel gives a little squeal most mornings. That almost never happened without the spacers, and happens almost every time with them, and it's because the difference in the rate of turn between the inside and outside wheel is greater as a result of the extra distance added to the end of the axel.

tldr? I would never even consider spacers for my Stelvio for one second, but they do have a purpose in certain situations (and cause problems in others).

 

[ViscontiVerde 164L*]

Most of those "mods" are done by folks with little or no knowledge of vehicular geometry. Doing it on a race car with specific mods is very different than on a stock suspension. Stay away. If its out of warranty or "old" let the idiots make their rides look "special" meaning stupid.

 

[Yolanda Rose]

After researching if wheel spacers were dangerous or not, I found out they are not. Due to some reasons why people find them dangerous was because of the following: Cheap spacers, lack in torquing the studded spacers, no center core, not putting extended studs.

People say that your wheel bearings will get damaged with spacers, that is true, same goes for people who are running aggressive wheel setups on their cars WITHOUT spacers. Our cars came with weak offsets for a reason, same goes with the mugen GPS or even HFP rims for our wheel bearings are designed for those kind of OEM rims.

Also putting wheel spacers on will be your last resort IF you can't find the right specs in rims you wanted (the one want that'll be aggressive) and want your wheels to look aggressive but do not have the extra money to sell your current rims.

and the other reason why ppl put them on is to clear out the inner wheel from hitting the struts (if running modified suspension) and also to clear brakes. (evos put them on the clear out their brembos)

such as this

or this

Just!!! use!!! them!!! carefully!!!
and you will be safe!!!