Safety regarding Spacers

Hello everyone, a new member here.
So Im going to be lifting my truck. I'm thinking 2 or 2.5".
My main concern is not lifting to much the center of gravity, and since I have the Smitty Bilt XL roof tent, it adds some weight on the top, lifting even more the Center of Gravity.

Because of that, im considering installing spacers, that way lowering the CG.

For me safety is all, and I want to ask you guys to share some knowledge and wisdom about the safety of running spacers.

I use my truck for going to work and also to do overlanding.

Thank you so much!

 

I have 1.25" spacers on my Tacoma without issue. They are installed with the proper recommended lug nuts and properly torqued of course. However, I don't off road with my truck at all. The general consensus I've seen for spacers is they are a no go for off-road applications.

 

I’d imagine the negative’s for spacers are the same whether on-road or off. Wheel bearings are going to be loaded in a way they are not designed to be loaded. So it’s likely they will fail more frequently. This will happen with wider-offset wheels too.

The reason that a wide offset on wheels is preferable to spacers, is that spacers add an additional point of failure where you don’t want more points of failure. Think of it this way, 6 lugs hold the wheel to the hub. A spacer needs to use those lugs for installation. Then the lugs that come on the spacers will hold the wheel to the spacer. There’s no problem with this arrangement if it’s installed correctly and periodically inspected and torqued, but that’s the rub. If I had spacers, I would not want anybody besides me removing a wheel/rotating tires etc. A mistake by somebody else will have serious consequences for you and others on the road. If you get service for brakes, tires, etc, you really should double check the spacer installation. Also, you don't want to cheap out on spacers, as failure with the material will be a bad thing.

Whether or not a lift will give you a safe center of gravity depends on how heavy the roof top tent is. I think weight up high is what you should worry about first.

I’m not saying either are a bad idea, but rather that you just need to operate and maintain the vehicle with an understanding that you as the driver and maintainer need to make adjustments to ensure the safety of a vehicle that has been modified. As long as you operate it safely for the configuration it’s in, you’ll be safe.

This is not unlike driving a semi. The weight and CG of one of those loaded vs unloaded makes a semi two completely different beasts. It’s really the driver that ensures safety in operation.