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CK5 VENDOR ALERT! - 1.25" Thick Wheel Spacers - 8 x 6.5" (Straight Through Holes)

Greg72

Greg72

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As the final part of my "17-inch White Wheels & Hubcaps" project, I need to locate an 8 x 6.5" spacer that is 1.25" thick.

I'm NOT looking for the kind that bolt to the hub with 8 bolts, and are fastened to the wheel with 8 additional bolts.... I just want a "straight through" style spacer with only 8 holes drilled in it. (My wheelstuds are long enough to make this work just fine)

Is there a CK5 Vendor that is willing to take this on? Aluminum is probably cheaper and simpler to machine than steel (and certainly lighter!)

I tried the vendor that Brett provided below, but I'm having a heck of a time getting them to understand what I want, getting call backs....and they are pretty expensive and as far away (geographically) as you can get from my door. :doah:

Thanks!

-G



SPECS:


  • 8 on 6.5" pattern
  • 9/16" Stud Holes
  • 1.25" Thick
  • Hub Center Bore is 5.125" (add maybe .010" for a snug, but not "hammer on" fitment)



EDIT: Reference Photo of my current 3/8" thick spacers. Just need this exact same part machined to 1.25" thick instead. :waytogo:




Yes....I know..... These used to be 1" spacers, and I had them machined down to 3/8" spacers for the H2 wheels. Don't really feel like ordering another set from eXaXt in Canada and paying all the customs and shipping fees.
 
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TTT.....

Not making good progress with www.wheeladapter.com so I'm asking CK5 vendors to provide me with a quote and lead time...

Anyone feel like taking this on? :deal:


-G
 
Im no vendor but im a machinist. I could make these no problem but im sure it wouldn't be cheap, especially if you dont have material. Im not sure if you've thought about using a waterjet guy so bare with me as im just bouncing ideas around.

The waterjet i get to use now and again will hold .005", which is more than enough accurate for what you need and it could cut these out in about 30 minutes. They should be put on a lathe and trued up but it shouldnt run you more than $100 for waterjet time if you provide the material and a DXF.

Obviously the reason no one makes over .5" is because they dont want you snapping studs off because of the force youre putting on the end of your stud length. This may be more of a job-shop kind of thing if you know what i mean.
 
wetoolowdingbangow said:
Im no vendor but im a machinist. I could make these no problem but im sure it wouldn't be cheap, especially if you dont have material. Im not sure if you've thought about using a waterjet guy so bare with me as im just bouncing ideas around.

The waterjet i get to use now and again will hold .005", which is more than enough accurate for what you need and it could cut these out in about 30 minutes. They should be put on a lathe and trued up but it shouldnt run you more than $100 for waterjet time if you provide the material and a DXF.

Obviously the reason no one makes over .5" is because they dont want you snapping studs off because of the force youre putting on the end of your stud length. This may be more of a job-shop kind of thing if you know what i mean.
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Yeah, I noticed that most places that sell thick spacers do it as a 16-hole design and press-in 8 extra wheel studs. You basically mount the adapter to the hub with the original wheel studs, then mount your wheel/tire to the ones pressed into the adapter.

I used a 2" adapter like that a long time ago when I wanted to create a van-width 14BFF axle. I never had a problem with them loosening up over time. The problem seems to be that when you go to THAT style of adapter, they don't want to make them less than 1.5" thick.... so I'm kind of in a no-man's land dimensionally by wanting a 1.25" solution.

The original 8-Lug conversion kit I bought from eXaXt that converted my Unimog 404 drum brakes to Chevy 8-Lug included a 1" thick spacer as part of the kit. Unfortunately, I had those machined down to 3/8" thick (As seen in the attached image above) to tuck the H2 wheels under the truck more. That spacer would be just about PERFECT for the steel wheels I'm getting ready to use. :doah:

Live and Learn!


-G
 
A while back I looked at custom spacers. The cheapest guy was about 80 bucks per spacer. They weren't wheel spacers and needed a step in em. This was a while ago.
 
Greg72 said:
Yeah, I noticed that most places that sell thick spacers do it as a 16-hole design and press-in 8 extra wheel studs. You basically mount the adapter to the hub with the original wheel studs, then mount your wheel/tire to the ones pressed into the adapter.

I used a 2" adapter like that a long time ago when I wanted to create a van-width 14BFF axle. I never had a problem with them loosening up over time. The problem seems to be that when you go to THAT style of adapter, they don't want to make them less than 1.5" thick.... so I'm kind of in a no-man's land dimensionally by wanting a 1.25" solution.

The original 8-Lug conversion kit I bought from eXaXt that converted my Unimog 404 drum brakes to Chevy 8-Lug included a 1" thick spacer as part of the kit. Unfortunately, I had those machined down to 3/8" thick (As seen in the attached image above) to tuck the H2 wheels under the truck more. That spacer would be just about PERFECT for the steel wheels I'm getting ready to use. :doah:

Live and Learn!


-G
Click to expand...


Yeah im very sketched out by the whole bolt on spacers with pressed in studs. I know a lot of people use them but im not comfortable with that being that im rock crawling i feel like id start loosening the studs in the aluminum by coming down off of something like a big drop. 6061 is strong but those spacers arent for me.

I know ive seen quite a few race cars that use the aluminum thru hole spacers like were talking about and my dad uses a few stacked up on his corvette. I think if it was me id get two .5" ones and a .25" one, tack them in a few places (obviously aligned) and give that a try. I just like the idea of them all being stuck for some reason. You just have to keep after the lug nuts to make sure they stay torqued, which takes about two or three times and theyre perfect.

I suppose one could get the 1.5" inchers and turn them down .25" but youd have to press the studs out, which might be okay but its easy to start mushing material with aluminum...
 
Why not buy some 1" spacer and then add your existing 3/8" spacers as well. Yes I know it would make it 1 3/8" but probably the cheapest route if you can accept that extra .125" thickness.
 
4X4HIGH said:
Why not buy some 1" spacer and then add your existing 3/8" spacers as well. Yes I know it would make it 1 3/8" but probably the cheapest route if you can accept that extra .125" thickness.
Click to expand...

Well.... I don't know of anyone selling a through-hole style 1" spacer either. :dunno:

The center bore is a problem too... 5.125" is certainly a non-standard size so no matter what I'll bet I have to pay for some machining to rework an off-the-shelf spacer (assuming I could find one)

Ideally, I'd prefer a single full-thickness spacer rather than stacking thinner ones! :waytogo:


-G
 
Greg72 said:
Well.... I don't know of anyone selling a through-hole style 1" spacer either. :dunno:

The center bore is a problem too... 5.125" is certainly a non-standard size so no matter what I'll bet I have to pay for some machining to rework an off-the-shelf spacer (assuming I could find one)

Ideally, I'd prefer a single full-thickness spacer rather than stacking thinner ones! :waytogo:


-G
Click to expand...


Yeah the material is just too expensive and the need too low. I believe for most of the 8 lug wheels you really need 9" in diameter. I use some on the rear that are under that but id rather have the whole seating part of the rim on the adapter. A quick peek at mcmaster for 6061 in a size that would be perfect for machining runs about $100 for a 12"x12"x1.25" plate. I can see $600 to get it finished counting the material. It would probably be a quarter of the price to go steel.


As far as getting these things made i dont foresee anyone in the wheel adapter world taking this on. Thats why i say job-shop it. They could care less what youre using them for and theyll get it done cheaper usually.
 
I would buy some 1.5" spacers and have them machined to 1.25", you could even leave the studs out and use them through bolt style if you wanted.

I could even handle that job if you don't have someone local to do it for you.

EDIT: You would have to leave them through bolt after machining .250" off of them, but it would work fine especially if they were machined to be hub-centric.
 
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I live in the rust belt of upstate new York and have been running bolt on 3" wheel spacers for over 5+ years on my c&c 14ff to make it a srw width axle . hade tons of heavy loads of over 4k lbs or more on it and few different tire/rim combos .

never 1 problem wih them or lose lugs . still going just fine with years of plow truck duty also . hope o remove them soon as I am redoing the truck and have a correct srw axle for it .

its all in prep / install / initial recheck I think .

wetoolowdingbangow said:
Yeah im very sketched out by the whole bolt on spacers with pressed in studs. I know a lot of people use them but im not comfortable with that being that im rock crawling i feel like id start loosening the studs in the aluminum by coming down off of something like a big drop. 6061 is strong but those spacers arent for me.

I know ive seen quite a few race cars that use the aluminum thru hole spacers like were talking about and my dad uses a few stacked up on his corvette. I think if it was me id get two .5" ones and a .25" one, tack them in a few places (obviously aligned) and give that a try. I just like the idea of them all being stuck for some reason. You just have to keep after the lug nuts to make sure they stay torqued, which takes about two or three times and theyre perfect.

I suppose one could get the 1.5" inchers and turn them down .25" but youd have to press the studs out, which might be okay but its easy to start mushing material with aluminum...
Click to expand...
 
sweetk30 said:
I live in the rust belt of upstate new York and have been running bolt on 3" wheel spacers for over 5+ years on my c&c 14ff to make it a srw width axle . hade tons of heavy loads of over 4k lbs or more on it and few different tire/rim combos .

never 1 problem with them or lose lugs . still going just fine with years of plow truck duty also . hope o remove them soon as I am redoing the truck and have a correct srw axle for it .

its all in prep / install / initial recheck I think .
Click to expand...


Yeah some people have luck with them but i wouldn't use them. Im just not a fan of the design and ive seen them take a **** before. Im not sure what gregs plan is for his truck, maybe he wants to send the thing over dunes 80 feet in the air...in that case i think youd need your head checked if you used wheel adapters. Maybe he plans on doing light wheeling with big horsepower? Theres a lot of variables.

Definitely very important to do the checks and rechecks. I would be more worried about putting a hairline in the adapter wheeling and then getting the thing out on the freeway. Obviously sliding down a hill and coming to a crashing halt would be a much larger load then anything you could put in the truck or tow with it so thats my only concern.

If i had time i could do an FEA on both wheel adapters and the through hole spacers. I have a feeling they come out similar but youve got another thing to possibly fail with the adapters. I know this is one of those things that for every 1000 people who dont like them theres a 1000 who do...
 
Now to derail this particular thread. I feel perfectly safe with bolt on spacers. I'm not so sure about the through hole ones. That's a mighty long wheel stud/ bolt.

I could see a hole wallowing out over time on the through hole ones. If the spacer ever starts to move even just a tiny bit your gonna have problems.
 
blazinzuk said:
Now to derail this particular thread. I feel perfectly safe with bolt on spacers. I'm not so sure about the through hole ones. That's a mighty long wheel stud/ bolt.

I could see a hole wallowing out over time on the through hole ones. If the spacer ever starts to move even just a tiny bit your gonna have problems.
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I agree, hubcentric mounting will help take some stress off of the studs.

A quick search brought up these.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wheel-Adapt...eel-/251810790904?hash=item3aa117bdf8&vxp=mtr
 
You know, you could order the bolt over style and remove the studs and it will fit exactly like you are wanting.
 
Having properly sized holes for the thru hole design wheel spacers definitely helps with deflection.

At some point the wheel adapters are every bit as dangerous as spacers because your leverage is just as far out. For example if you have 2 inches of stud length and you use a 1.25 inch wheel adapter, you still have a wheel mounted to a surface thats 1.25 inches away from the hub relying on an aluminum spacer. In my mind there the same thing except the adapter can loosen up easier due to having more studs. Sure you're in the sweet spot of the outer studs but your doing the same thing to the hub studs as if you had a spacer.

Good find on those wheel adapters. Atleast they're steel. 480 bucks for four! :doah:
 
dremu said:
The Ebay ad says



-- A
Click to expand...


Oh no my pants are down lol! I cant believe there 6061. Someone needs to use a sharper tooling or speed the machine up or perhaps both. They should be almost mirror like, which is why I thought they were steel being how dark and dull they are.
 
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