Wheel Spacers or New Wheels?

Hey guys,

I'm far from knowing much when it comes to working on 4Runners.

I recently did a few massive upgrades (front and rear bumpers from pelfrybilt and CBI, stage 3 suspension, roof rack camper awning and light bar from frontrunner, etc.)

All I'm missing is upgrading my tire size from 265 to 285.

I want to go with the BFG 285/70 R17's. The problem: My shop is telling me I need to upgrade my wheel size from 17x8 to at least 17x9, or go with wheel spacers, which they seemed hesitant on.

What do you suggest? I dont know whether to go with wheel spacers or completely upgrade both wheels and tires together as a whole.

Any suggestions before I buy / sell?

 

First off, i do not understand your shop telling you that, because spacers have nothing to do with the way the tire fits the wheel. I have never had a problem with quality spacers,and Spidertrax are guarenteed for life, if you did have a balance problem send them back and they will ship you some new ones. That way you can see how the look stance wise, and take your time picking out wheels.

 

If you have the stock PRO wheels, they are 7" wide and you should get an 8" wheel if you want to run 285's safely.

I really recommend FN wheels (the six shooters are nearly 9lbs lighter than stock alloys). If you really like the look of the PRO wheels, FN makes a very similar looking wheel called the f(x) pro- except that it is lighter by 3-4 lbs, comes in a variety of colors, and (important) comes in a 8" width instead of the stock skinny 7".

As Slug mentioned, wheel spacers will not address your wheel width/tire incompatibility. It will just push your wheels outward from the hub.

Good luck!

 

I'm guessing the wheel width is what the shop is balking at. Or the UCAs that come with the stage 3 lift? I know on my JBA UCAs the max tire size on oem wheels was 255/80r17...anything wider you have to go to different wheels or spacers. I am a huge fan of the stock trail wheels so spacers it was.

I did a ton of research on spacers. I have always been leery of them, for no other reason than internet scuttlebutt. After a couple of months of being a google ninja my conclusion is that while there have been incidents where spacer failures have occurred, I couldn't find any that were attributable to the actual spacer itself. The majority seemed to come from installers getting torque happy and going way over the recommended specs.

I think a big no-no is going with no-name/ebay spacers instead of a big name brand. I would prefer to trust my vehicle and safety to a good ol American made product versus some chicom chunk of aluminum.

 

Ya I completely agree, safety is first for me - I think I'll look into some Icon Wheels or Methods (I've always wanted to go with one of those brands for wheels) - So wheel spacers dont address the width / tire incompatibility, but it sounds like it would be best for the long run and safety to look into 8" rather than 7" - Thanks for the help!

 

YMMV but I ran 258/75s on a 2500hd for 65k...on a 6.5" wheel. It's the norm when guys with those trucks upsize tires. I bet if you check with different shops others would have no problem mounting them. Its like BJs and Costco...they absolutely refuse to mount anything other than oem sizes, even if you come in there running the size you want to replace.

Good luck with the search for your wheels!