Wheelers Off-Road 1/4” Spacer

Hello to all,
To preface, I am coming from the Jeep XJ world so IFS and Toyota in general is a new experience for me.

Right or wrong, I have been a long time believer in avoiding wheel spacers. I do absolutely understand that installed correctly they are safe. However, my concern is with the long term wear and stress put on components by a spacer rather than using offset to your advantage.
After a recent discussion with a JBA Offroad rep (where I purchased new UCA), I believe that with the TRD wheel I will be running and the Wildpeak AT3 in 275/70/17, I am planning to purchase the 1/4” spacer from wheelers off road. Does anyone have any experience with these or a similar setup. I know there are spacer threads but I do not want to go 1.25” spidertrax etc.

Long term plan will be to go 285 and either deal with the issues (BMC and fender trimming) that come with the trd wheel combo or get new wheels with more offset and ditch the spacers.

I welcome any and all advice. Going through a build very soon when the components all arrive. We are pumped.

thanks in advance to all!

 

Never had any components wear prematurely due to wheel spacers.

I also never understood the argument that offset wheels are any less "stressful" than wheel spacers. Maybe someone can explain that to me.

 

I could definitely be wrong. No shame here in that assumption. I have never been one to go with extreme (deep dish ) offset OR wheel spacers due to that thought: what I believed to be extending the strain to a new location along the drive or wheel components.
I am equally interested.
JBA rep said 1/4” would give me what I need, if the wheelers are fine and there are no issues, with fitment or wear and tear, I would be more comfortable taking that leap and going the small spacer route.
Also curious if studs are long enough to safely secure once I lose 1/4” of threads.

 

"As a rule of thumb, you want at least the same amount engagement as the stud is wide. For example a M12x1. 5 stud would need at least 12mm of thread engagement to be safe. At a 1.5mm thread pitch, this equates to about 8 full turns of the lug nut."

https://summit-offroad.com/blogs/news/are-wheel-spacers-safe-will-they-kill-me

 

Thank you for that article. That’s great help!

 

Just make sure it's a quality spacer from a reputable company. Also, follow the install instructions and you'll be fine.

My spacers came with lugs built in. I imagine that's not possible with a 1/4" spacer. I'm not sure if the stock lugs are long enough to accommodate that spacer or not but they aren't, just get longer lugs.

 

So any decision? Pics? I’m looking to go to 275s next, but was hoping more options would pop up over time.

 

Thank you. Probably gonna be the course of action I take.

 

Starting the build soon, spoke with eibach and JBA about the setup. We preferred for now, the price point of the TRD wheels we got, want to be reasonable without destroying normal drive ability with suspension set up as well. Wife and I really wanted 285 on trd pro. But for now we’ve decided on 275s going with the wildpeaks. They’re actually a larger 275 in terms of height and on the wider end of the bunch in terms of width.

To save you time, definitely WAY more options at 265/70 and 285/70. If it’s your thing you could go tall skinnies at 255/80 and tons of options there too.

hopeful as time goes on and the demand with these for 275 rises in the market more options will pop up when new tires are needed. Otherwise depending how we like 275, May or may not take the leap to 285.

 

If you haven't already bought the wheels, consider the FN Wheels fx pro. Same spoke design but lighter, wider, better offset, and your choice of color.

https://www.fnwheels.com/store/product/fn-wheels-fx-pro/

 

I searched and searched in the beginning and continued to find trd knock offs thinking they would all be a sketchy purchase. Not realizing the FN option even existed. Kinda a farce on my part, but At this point, I now own 4 TRD wheels straight from Toyota

considering what some people say about the TRD wheels not being wide enough for 285 (7in instead of 7.5-8) if we end up feeling like taking the next leap, I may buy the FN TRD and ditch the Toyota TRD.

I know the BMC really isn’t that big of a deal but the wife was not a fan of me chopping on her brand new car when I showed her the process that the majority seems to encounter when jumping to 285 with more offset. So I aired on the side of safety for offset with the factory TRD wheels.

 

It's not your fault, FN doesn't really advertise or market themselves much outside of the forums. They didn't even have the Pro wheels listed on their website for the first few years, making it difficult to even be aware of. I myself am using the six shooters with 275/70 KO2s, and I'm happy.

The nice thing is that the additional offset is negative (zero offset with 8" width). They won't be the reason you need a BMC, but you might need to clearance your fenders/mudflaps with the additional scrub radius. The BMC might be necessary with a wider tire though, when you hit those full lock/full compression scenarios.

As for spacers, I have no advice beyond your original impressions. Good luck!

 

much appreciated on the heads up for FN.
i will be sure to take a picture and post them once the build is finished.
Planning on probably taking the leap and just purchasing them for the guaranteed UCA clearance based on the low cost from wheelers. I will probably ride them for a few hundred to 1000 miles and see how everything reacts.
I’ll repost with an update on there performance later down the road as well.

 

Don't worry about 285's on a 7" wheel either.

Literally thousands of people do this with no issues.

I know the tire manufacturers recommend a wheel that is 0.5" wider; however, the tire shops have no issues with it and they're the ones dealing with customers all day.

In fact, the Americas Tire website says a 7" wheel is fine with 285's.

 

I am looking at the six shooters as well. How much do they weigh? It’s not listed on the FN site.

 

No worries, if installed correctly, you are right, no danger. If I were you, I would get at least 1 inch spacers, if not 1.5. It is not aggressive and you may regret later not doing it, as the aspect of the vehicle improves, at least IMO. If you get thicker spacers (FWIW I got Titan spacers), which come with studs, then you can use some blue Loctite on the vehicle studs, where you tie the spacers to, for peace of mind. The only downside I have seen, at least when moving the offset aggressively towards negative (more than 1/2 wheel sticks out) is some tire wear, those become "choppy" if you do not rotate them every 2-3k, but I have noticed that being an issue only after 30+k, and I was rotating them every 10-is thousand miles (when I had the XJ - btw I had one too). Lesson learned the hard way, I currently have no issues with tires in the current Jeep with 1 inch spacers, waiting to do some 1.5 inch on the Yota sometimes soon.

The "issue" with the current TRD wheels is that you can't put a 12.5 inch wide tire, so probably a decent alternative is spacers and a 9.5 wide tire.