Rear wheel spacers

[SilverZed]

Looks like the stock alloys on my Zed would look better a little wider apart to fill art those nice flared arches. Does anyone know what size spacers I need? I was thinking 20mm each side..

 

[swamper]

i used 15mm seemed spot on...but im not sure what off set you have

 

[GazHyde]

It depends on how far you want them to move out. I fitted 15mm spacers on my 18 inch alloys. Had to put the 16's (same style as yours) on for a while over christmas, but couldn't get the spacers off.

So here is a couple of pictures of a facelift Z3 with the same wheels as yours with 15mm spacers, and it did not move them as much as I thought it would.

 

[heath]

I have 20mm spacers on my 18 inch alloys & it fills the arch out nicely. I worried that 20s would push the wheel out too far but they dont I think looking at it now even 25s would fit ok

 

[z3cade]

Yes go for 20mm

 

[g8jka]

Haven't got a better picture of the car from behind to show, but same wheels with 15mm spacers on the rear. Pushed them out a lot better but you should get 20mm spacers on easily.

 

[gookah]

Haven't got a better picture of the car from behind to show, but same wheels with 15mm spacers on the rear. Pushed them out a lot better but you should get 20mm spacers on easily.

Don't forget though, yours is lowered, so the camber kicks the top of the wheel inwards allowing for wider spacers.
Remember when we first put on your BBS wheels, when the car was still on the jack they were protruding beyond the wheel arches and as we lowered the jack they went inside them. At first we thought they would be too wide,
The lower the car, the wider the spacer, or smaller the offset, is allowed.

 

[heath]

The lower the car, the wider the spacer, or smaller the offset, is allowed.

Sorry but this isn't really correct, the maximum size spacer or smaller offset you can have is still the same wether the car is lowered or not, if a spacer is too wide for a standard set up & hits the arches it will still hit the arches if the car is lowered as the outside of the wheel will still follow the same curve as it goes up & down

 

[TaffZee]

My suspension is standard, just bought a pair of hubcentric 20mm spacers from these people: https://www.dvbcaraudio.co.uk/advanced_ ... el+spacers

Just keep in mind the 15mm spacers use longer bolts bolted to the original hub, the 20mm Spacers bolt onto the hub first and then you bolt the wheel directly to the spacer.

Make sure you go for the Hubcentric spacers...

Best Price I could Find

 

[z3cade]

I got my 20mm hub centric spacers from eBay and they were just spacers with longer bolts... We're around £45

 

[heath]

Yes definately get the hubcentric ones.
You need spacers with
5 x 120 pcd
72.6mm centre bore
Plus what ever thickness spacer you require. Some of the 20mm ones do bolt to the hub then your wheel bolts to them but mine are the ones with the longer bolts. I think mine were around £56 delivered off ebay

 

[gookah]

The lower the car, the wider the spacer, or smaller the offset, is allowed.

Sorry but this isn't really correct, the maximum size spacer or smaller offset you can have is still the same wether the car is lowered or not, if a spacer is too wide for a standard set up & hits the arches it will still hit the arches if the car is lowered as the outside of the wheel will still follow the same curve as it goes up & down

I disagree,.... the wheel camber angle changes as the car is lowered, look at these pics of the same car.

how do you suppose the angle of the back wheels has changed? allowing these wheels to be fitted.


Also on another car

Tyres protrude..

and same car ...

now they don't


thats how you fit Z3M offsets to a normal Z3..


Lowering a car results in negative camber at the rear. Lowered Z3's always make the existing wheels look further inset. so they require spacing out more. or consequently non lowered can not accept smaller offset wheels or as large a spacer

 

[Daz3]

I'll second that gookah.

 

[r37]

springs by themselves dont to alot to the camber, maybe 1% if your unlucky. I remember the black z3 from .net and im sure he fitted coilovers with camber adjustment.

 

[gookah]

springs by themselves dont to alot to the camber, maybe 1% if your unlucky. I remember the black z3 from .net and im sure he fitted coilovers with camber adjustment.

see this post..

linky

 

[r37]

hmm, i still dont grasp why but majority rules.

 

[g8jka]

When I fitted my 18's to the car we put the back ones on and they stuck out miles from the arch when the car was lifted on the axle stands. There was no way they were going to go under the arch if they were fitted like this and I almost took them off and returned them, but when we lowered the car so that the wheels were on the ground they sat about level with the arch. Now it has been lowered they do sit further in and there is more negative camber to them, before I couldn't get spacers on without them sticking out of the arches, now I could get away with 10mm/12mm ones probably.

Look at the pictures of mine, not the best to show it but the top picture is when its not lowered and they sit flush even a little out of the arch and the bottom picture shows with the car lowered and them sitting in the arch and with more negative camber.

Since lowering the car I have shredded the inside of the tyres on the rear, proving the camber has changed whereas before it was lowered, they wore more evenly.

 

[GazHyde]

hmm, i still dont grasp why but majority rules.

The 18's on mine certainly look to have more camber with the spacers on.

Have no idea why, but it looked \m/ so didn't really care why.

Just had it in mind it would wipe out the inner edge of the tyres quickly, so would need to get them swapped on the rim at some stage.

 

[gookah]

hmm, i still dont grasp why but majority rules.

Because they are not true trailing arms as such, those would appear to arc up and down as if the arms were hinged at the rear edge of the sill,

The Z3 rears act as if they hinge at the differential so the top of the wheels go in and the bottoms come out as you lower it.

over simplified but best I can describe it.....simples..

 

[heath]

The lower the car, the wider the spacer, or smaller the offset, is allowed.

Sorry but this isn't really correct, the maximum size spacer or smaller offset you can have is still the same wether the car is lowered or not, if a spacer is too wide for a standard set up & hits the arches it will still hit the arches if the car is lowered as the outside of the wheel will still follow the same curve as it goes up & down

I disagree,.... the wheel camber angle changes as the car is lowered, look at these pics of the same car.

how do you suppose the angle of the back wheels has changed? allowing these wheels to be fitted.


Also on another car

Tyres protrude..

and same car ...

now they don't


thats how you fit Z3M offsets to a normal Z3..


Lowering a car results in negative camber at the rear. Lowered Z3's always make the existing wheels look further inset. so they require spacing out more. or consequently non lowered can not accept smaller offset wheels or as large a spacer

Yes I get your point & see what your getting at & I agree that you get more camber when the car is lowered & the wheels go in further at the top when sitting on lowered springs but what I was trying to say is that if you fit spacers to the rear on standard suspension & the wheels rub the arches when you drive down the road they will still rub on lowered suspension as you drive down the road. wether the suspension is lowered or standard it still follows the same curve as it goes up & down.