Avant, wheel spacers......someone must be able to give a straight answer

[Lexmat]

ive tried searching the web, and the site, but no where do i get a straight answer,
i wanted to fit spacers to the car, to bring the wheels out flush, i have already got the B5 spring cups fitted.
the wheels are original 18" as fitted to the car as new



i tried fitting Bimecc spacers today, and they would not sit flush with the disc, the spacer sizes were 12 for the front and 15 for the rear.

1. would these size spacers gave me the flush look i was looking for?...if not i am able to send them back due to point 2.....below
2. why the hell do they not fit, they were ordered specifically for the A4

please help....

 

[Jimbo.King]

I'm running 10mm front and 15mm rear on my std wheels with an offset of et43 8j.

 

[ajax1976]

Hubcentric spacers by any chance? Similar issue as this thread?

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/audi-s4-a4-a4-cab-b7-chassis/184608-spacer-problems.html#post1831174

 

[DieselJake]

Are hubcentric actually better than the others, thinking of getting some spacers too but no idea which (thread linked put me off ****** hubcentric).

 

[Jimbo.King]

Are hubcentric actually better than the others, thinking of getting some spacers too but no idea which (thread linked put me off ****** hubcentric).

Hubcentric spacers are a must unless you like the wheels to feel oval / unbalanced.

 

[TOM.S]

as above really
Use hubcentric spacers. and before you order them try to measure the gap/distance between the edge of the arches and the wheels the size you get is the size of the spacers you need 5,10,12 mm etc.
Its different with all the wheels due to their offsets.

 

[ajax1976]

I've been running a non hubcentric 5mm spacer over winter with no issues. The hub is long enough to protrude through the spacer to still mount the wheel safely.

When I'm looking into spacers I put washers on a few of the bolts between the wheel and the disc. By adding or removing washers you can get the wheel where you want it then measure the thickness of washers used to get the spacer size I need.

 

[Pat.]

^ Good tip is that

 

[Camster]

Hubcentric spacers are a must unless you like the wheels to feel oval / unbalanced.

I can second this. My other car (Mitsi GTO - not working!) had a vibration at motorway speeds when I bought. Thought it had badly worn tyres or a weight or two had fallen off so didn't think it would be anything too serious. Bought it and drove it home. Changed brake pads a few days later and when I took the wheels off I found spacers had been fitted to all hubs but none of them would sit centrally. I heard that due them not being off centre by much they shouldn't affect anything but I ditched them and after that the vibration was completely gone. Nice and easy fix!!

 

[OCDetails]

I run 15mm with ET45 wheels and im flush almost id say 17/18mm spacers would be a complete flush vertically. imo there is no gains by hubcentric spacers only losses adding more wight with the bolts to the car. not much but 5 bolts x4 adds up.

 

[ajax1976]

I run 15mm with ET45 wheels and im flush almost id say 17/18mm spacers would be a complete flush vertically. imo there is no gains by hubcentric spacers only losses adding more wight with the bolts to the car. not much but 5 bolts x4 adds up.

Hubcentric spacers do not necessarily have to be bolt on ones, I run bolt through ones with longer bolts. Hubcentric spacer is only a spacer that has a mimic of a hub machined on to it to centre the wheel on the spacer hence the name. Has nothing to do with how it mounts.

 

[Lexmat]

Hubcentric spacers by any chance? Similar issue as this thread?

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/audi-s4-a4-a4-cab-b7-chassis/184608-spacer-problems.html#post1831174

That is exactly the problem, I wonder if it's a model year specific thing.....

So my only solution, seems to be chop of parts of the hub, which I don't really want to do.

An Idea I had, as the gap at the rear of the spacer is approx 5mm, (I can measure). Is to fit a non hub centric spacer to fill that gap, and then order hub centric 10mm to run over it, that way the hub centric spacer is supported, and still sits over the hub, this would give me my 15mm rear and on the front use a non hub centric 5 with a 8mm hub centric

Sounds viable?

 

[jdp1962]

That is exactly the problem, I wonder if it's a model year specific thing.....

So my only solution, seems to be chop of parts of the hub, which I don't really want to do.

An Idea I had, as the gap at the rear of the spacer is approx 5mm, (I can measure). Is to fit a non hub centric spacer to fill that gap, and then order hub centric 10mm to run over it, that way the hub centric spacer is supported, and still sits over the hub, this would give me my 15mm rear and on the front use a non hub centric 5 with a 8mm hub centric

Sounds viable?

I'm far from an expert on this topic, but to my untutored mind, there are too many engineering compromises being proposed here just to achieve a certain cosmetic look. Ask yourself how important that look is. Is it so important that you are prepared to drive around with what sounds (to me at least) like a rather Heath Robinson concoction.

(Happy as always to be corrected by someone with better technical expertise.)

 

[Lexmat]

I hear what your saying, and I don't necessarily disagree but in the jap car world running multiple spacers is a norm...and no adverse side effects, my thoughts are to literally support the hub centric spacer by filling the gap with a non hub centric spacer

in fact all of the race cars I deal with have one form or another of wheel spacers fitted, and these are all 600hp cars

we all want that "certain aesthetic look" because we all would like our cars to be unique, or just right

 

[ajax1976]

That is exactly the problem, I wonder if it's a model year specific thing.....

So my only solution, seems to be chop of parts of the hub, which I don't really want to do.

An Idea I had, as the gap at the rear of the spacer is approx 5mm, (I can measure). Is to fit a non hub centric spacer to fill that gap, and then order hub centric 10mm to run over it, that way the hub centric spacer is supported, and still sits over the hub, this would give me my 15mm rear and on the front use a non hub centric 5 with a 8mm hub centric

Sounds viable?

Sounds like quite a good idea to me mate, can't think of anything that would cause me to worry. When you look closely at the hub there's actually only a thin raised ring on the actual hub that actually does the centralising. As long as the outer, the hubcentric spacer locates on that then I think you'd be good.

 

[Lexmat]

Sounds like quite a good idea to me mate, can't think of anything that would cause me to worry. When you look closely at the hub there's actually only a thin raised ring on the actual hub that actually does the centralising. As long as the outer, the hubcentric spacer locates on that then I think you'd be good.

Well, it certainly looks like the raised part is further out than 5mm......

Having not removed the front yet, as I was totally narked because of the rear am I right to assume the "gap" is the same as the rear.....i.e approx 5mm

 

[ajax1976]

Pretty sure the gaps different mate, was probably 18mths ago I did mine so can't really remember for sure. Think the back was wider because of the cap that's fitted.

 

[Lexmat]

Ok, thanks, will pull a front off tomorrow and have a look, thanks for the help, will post up if and when I have a working solution

 

[Lexmat]

well I took of the front wheel, and the 12mm spacer fits fine there, I measured the gap between the rear spacer and the hub and it was 3mm, I have a 3mm spacer which I will dig out over the weekend and see how it all fares up, that will in effect give me an 18mm spacer on the rear, so will be interesting to see how the wheels sit......