Usually, rear wheel-drive sedans and coupes have tracks (the distance between the centers of two parallel wheels) that are narrower than a front wheel-drive vehicle’s. When you want to install a wheel that’s designed for a front-drive car onto a rear wheel-drive vehicle, the front wheels might rub on the suspension components or parts of the braking system. This will most likely rip the tires apart and damage the wheels, suspensions, and brakes. To install this kind of wheel correctly, you will need to do a simple modification on your car’s hubs. For this, you need to fit a set of wheel spacers. If you’re looking for a nice, wide track to make your car look sportier and perform better, you might want to use two-inch wheels spacers for both front and rear wheels.
The main purpose of wheel spacers is to improve the incorrect offset of aftermarket wheels or wheels designed for front-drive vehicles.
There are four kinds of wheel spacers: floating slip-on, hubcentric slip-on, floating bolt-on, and hubcentric bolt-on. You will have to find out first what kind fits best on your vehicle, be it a sedan or coupe, pickup truck, or sport-utility vehicle. It would be a good idea to ask the advice of an experienced mechanic or tuner what sort of 2-inch wheel spacers to get.
The best wheels spacers are made of billet aluminum. They are highly recommended for being lighter but are still as strong as aftermarket aluminum wheels. 2-inch spacers made of steel are okay but are heavier and more likely to put more stress on your hubs and wheels.
Widening the track also makes your sedan, coupe, truck, or SUV look meaner. Even sports car owners perform this mod on their vehicles. Pickup truck and SUV owners do this so they can fit huge balloon tires on. It’s also widely believed that widening the track of your vehicle makes it more stable.
Here are some tips if you want to widen your vehicle’s track by installing 2-inch wheel spacers:
- Bolt patterns are important! The bolt pattern on the 2-inch wheel spacers should be the same as that on the hub, otherwise, your new wheels won’t fit.
- The wheel spacer’s center bore should be the same as your wheel hub’s and new wheel’s center bores. If they’re not exactly the same diameter, the closest measurement should suffice.
- Always tighten both the wheel spacer and the wheel itself properly!
- Your wheel spacers should have the same number of bolt holes.
Popular brands like GoPlus, Orion Motortech, Spidertrax, and Rugged Ridge can be found both online and at automotive accessory and specialty shops.
Also, if you’re not very experienced in mechanics, you should take your vehicle to a reputable garage and let a professional install your two-inch wheels spacers.
