Are Wheel Spacers Safe?

Are Wheel Spacers Safe?

Today’s topic is one of the most common and most debated questions we hear from customers and across the off-road community:

Are spacers safe? Will they make my wheels fall off? Do they cause vibrations?

In this article, we will break down the facts about wheel spacers, clear up common misconceptions, and help you decide if they are right for your build.

Wheel spacers are a polarizing subject. Some people will never touch them, while others swear by them. From our experience at SSW Offroad, most spacer-related failures come not from the spacer itself, but from improper installation or misinformation. When installed correctly, spacers are a safe and reliable solution. Let’s go over the essentials so you can make an informed decision.

The Purpose of a Wheel Spacer

A wheel spacer fits between your wheel and hub, pushing the wheel outward. This effectively increases backspacing and creates more negative offset. For a deeper dive on offset and backspacing, check out our other article.

Spacers are used for a few key reasons: sometimes to achieve a more aggressive stance, other times to provide necessary clearance for suspension, brakes, or protruding hubs.

There are two main types:

Slip-on spacers slide over existing wheel studs and are clamped between the hub and wheel.

Bolt-on spacers  attach directly to your studs, with their own studs for the wheel to mount to.

Slip-On Spacers: Key Considerations

1. Always use hub-centric spacers
These ensure the spacer centers properly on the hub instead of hanging on the studs. Most post-installation vibrations trace back to non–hub-centric spacers.

2. Check thread engagement
Slip-on spacers reduce the available stud length for lug nuts. As a rule of thumb, you need at least as many turns of engagement as the stud is wide. For example, an M12x1.5 stud requires about 12mm of engagement, or roughly 8 full turns of the lug nut. If you can’t achieve that, extended studs are a must.

Bolt-On Spacers: Key Considerations

1. Hub-centric is still a must.Proper centering is critical, especially since bolt-on spacers are thicker and heavier than slip-ons.

2. Double the studs, double the responsibility. Each wheel now has two sets of lug nuts: one securing the spacer to the hub, and another holding the wheel to the spacer. Both need to be properly torqued. After about 100 miles, remove the wheels and recheck torque on every lug nut. Beyond that, make it a habit to check torque before and after off-road trips, regardless of whether you’re running spacers.

Final Thoughts

Wheel spacers have been around for decades, and when installed correctly, the risk of failure is minimal. The internet often sensationalizes spacer “horror stories,” but the real cause is usually loose lug nuts or low-quality parts.

The bottom line: with the right hardware and proper installation, spacers are a safe, effective tool to get the clearance or stance you want.

Spacers have long been used extensively, even at the highest levels of motorsports. For example, here we see nearly 4 inches of spacing on a 1200 HP competition drift car, which is far more than most people would ever use, and it ran an entire season without a single failure. If you follow our guide and stick to proper maintenance checklists, you can expect the same reliability. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back for more of our technical articles.