1/2" wheel spacers on a Base Bronco?

[Bronco Lou]

I've got a Base with 33inch tires on it that I would like to move out just a bit. Would half inch spacers work ? Would there be enough stud left to safely keep the tire on ?

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[V1Rotate]

That’s not how wheel spacers work.. the spacers themselves fit over your existing lugs then have studs of their own that the wheel mounts to. If you go with too small a spacer then you’ll have to trim your factory studs down since they’d still be longer than the spacer is thick and you wouldn’t be able to tighten the wheel down to the spacer since it would be making contact with the factory lugs. It’s usually an issue under around an inch worth of spacer unless your wheels have a channel on the backside that would clear any remaining factory lug sticking out (Ala stock Sasquatch wheels have this).. In other words you have to get spacers that are thicker than your stock Lugs are long.. also - only look at hub-centric spacers If you go this route.

 

[Bronco Lou]

That’s not how wheel spacers work.. the spacers themselves fit over your existing lugs then have studs of their own that the wheel mounts to. If you go with too small a spacer then you’ll have to trim your factory studs down since they’d still be longer than the spacer is thick and you wouldn’t be able to tighten the wheel down to the spacer since it would be making contact with the factory lugs. It’s usually an issue under around an inch worth of spacer unless your wheels have a channel on the backside that would clear any remaining factory lug sticking out (Ala stock Sasquatch wheels have this).. In other words you have to get spacers that are thicker than your stock Lugs are long.. also only get hub-centric spacers If you go this route.

1/2" spacers don't have their own studs,

 

[V1Rotate]

1/2" spacers don't have their own studs,

Zero chance i‘d go with a lug-centric spacer that relies on using half an inch less than your current factory stud length.. Aside from the fact that half an inch won’t really change the look much. Guess you could always go out and mark off a half an inch and then thread a lug nut on and see how many full rotations you get when threading it on

 

[orion]

1/2" spacers don't have their own studs,

Steel wheels need a minimum of 1.25" spacers. I have them on my BD. I wouldn't trust sandwiching a spacer between wheel and hub personally.

 

[Theherofails]

I’d do 1” hub centric spacers if possible. You can buy the versions for the Ford Ranger as they are usually more affordable as they don’t have the Bronco tax added on.

 

[Bronco Lou]

Zero chance i‘d go with a lug-centric spacer that relies on using half an inch less than your current factory stud length.. Aside from the fact that half an inch won’t really change the look much. Guess you could always go out and mark off a half an inch and then thread a lug nut on and see how many full rotations you get when threading it on

Thanks man. I really wasn't going for looks I was more interested in getting myself a bit more clearance of the upper A Arm. I don't do any heavy four wheeling just trying to save myself the money of buying new wheels for just a bit of offset.

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[V1Rotate]

Thanks man. I really wasn't going for looks I was more interested in getting myself a bit more clearance of the upper A Arm. I don't do any heavy four wheeling just trying to save myself the money of buying new wheels for just a bit of offset.

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I hear ya. But yeah in the interest of non-sketchiness I’d really go with a large enough hub-centric spacer to cover the stock lugs or keep it stock

 

[Bruno]

I also have a Base, with 33s (255/85 R16)

I want to go the other way - To get the wheels "Under the body"
I had 2 options:

1) Steelies with an offset greater than the stock +55. These dont exist...

2) Shorter fender flares than the smaller OEM. These also dont exist...
*Fender flare delete with stock steeleis makes the tires poke out. I want not have poke

 

[CatMonkey]

1/2 spacers, as opposed to wheel adapters, will not have enough thread contact with your lug nuts. If you can't get at least 7 full turns of the lug nut on the studs, you don't have enough thread engagement. You might get away with 1/4" spacer, but you'd need to check the engagement. I've heard of .75" wheel adapters and some OEM wheels have space between the holes in the wheel to get adequate clearance for the exposed portion of the studs. You would need to measure this very carefully. You don't want the wheel bottoming on the stud.

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