Positives and negatives to hub spacers?

[detroiter]

I've been looking a little bit into hub spacers but it's all foreign to me, I'm not getting any of the details aside from they space the wheel out from the hub. What are some of the ups and downs to using them? Do you need an alignment after installing them? Etc. I'm running stock tires and rim size

[Altitude]

They'll widen the rear track to provide some more stability and a much better look. Just bolt them on and go. No alignment required. No downside that I can see. Tamago may offer some more info seeing as how he designed the ones for Penguin Garage.

[detroiter]

How about the thickness, I think I saw 10 or 13mm on microimageonline. Might just have to give them a go but I want to learn more about them since I'm totally clueless.

[Altitude]

How about the thickness, I think I saw 10 or 13mm on microimageonline. Might just have to give them a go but I want to learn more about them since I'm totally clueless.

Post in the Penguin Garage spacer thread. Give them your wheel/tire size note if you're lowered etc. and they'll recommend which size is appropriate. I think there are some general guidelines in one of the threads that Tamago started when he announced they were available.

I have wider wheels so I went with the 10mm.

I'm sure Tamago would answer any question you have.

[aeipee13]

the only negative I see is the possibility of rubbing. that depends on your wheel and tire fitment though. Just post in the PG thread as Altitude said and they will answer your questions.

I have a stock wheels and tires with 13mm spacers. The only side affect I have experienced is a boner from my car looking and feeling better when driving.

[CASTREX]

There are no REAL down sides... just a little change in the overall handling characteristics of your car.
You'll see... by adding 13mm spacers ( that should be your choice for stock wheels) you are adding over an inch of track to the rear of your car.
That added track will improve your stability and rear traction. It will make you feel more comfortable at high speed. This will probably make the car more oversteery than already is, but that's not a bad thing for a daily driver as is safer for the overall driver. On a tight auto x course on the other side you usually want to decrease the rear traction to reduce that factory oversteer... but that is another story...


Get the 13mm for the stock wheels... a worthy mod IMO.

[Tamago]

just saw this thread.

please PM me if you have any further questions.

[KCALB SIRAY]

^ I think the OP is looking for knowledge, maybe you can share yours with everyone so that others are informed.

[Tamago]

there are no downsides to hub spacers. they mount inboard of the wheel bearings, so they do not encourage premature hub failure.

rubbing is not a downside, it MAY be a side effect from the spacers. however, all PG spacer kits ship with optional camber shims that usually do away with any rubbing issues.

[1NZYaris1]

there are no downsides to hub spacers. they mount inboard of the wheel bearings, so they do not encourage premature hub failure.

rubbing is not a downside, it MAY be a side effect from the spacers. however, all PG spacer kits ship with optional camber shims that usually do away with any rubbing issues.

They are a Worthy investment , and way better than putting spacer's on the front of the drum .:bow:

[detroiter]

Aside from just looking cool, do they actually do much handling/performance wise or are they just more about looks?

[2009BBPliftback]

There are no REAL down sides... just a little change in the overall handling characteristics of your car.
You'll see... by adding 13mm spacers ( that should be your choice for stock wheels) you are adding over an inch of track to the rear of your car.
That added track will improve your stability and rear traction. It will make you feel more comfortable at high speed. This will probably make the car more oversteery than already is, but that's not a bad thing for a daily driver as is safer for the overall driver. On a tight auto x course on the other side you usually want to decrease the rear traction to reduce that factory oversteer... but that is another story...


Get the 13mm for the stock wheels... a worthy mod IMO.


I'm sorry I always thought the general rule was Understeer was much easier to control than Oversteer. Understeer is Plowing forward and Oversteer is when the rear end steps out. If I had to guess the wider track would reduce oversteer but i could be wrong.

[Tamago]

understeer scares drivers
oversteer scares passengers

:biggrin:

[lilredrocket]

^ That's ture unless the drive doesn't know how to correct it

[Tamago]

driver to me means DRIVER, not simply the person behind the wheel lol

[lilredrocket]

Oh ok. Then you previous statment is very true

[botchilah]

Most, if not all cars are designed to have a degree of understeer, if not terminal understeer on the limit.

It is more intuitive to control / correct a car that understeers (slowly get off the gas and/or apply the brakes gras compared to a car adually) that oversteers (countersteer, however cool it looks and sounds is not something for the novice driver).

I've got the 10mm PG hub spacers myself. I like it. Got rid of most of the rubbing in my inner rear tire well. Looks very nice too, and is cheaper than those JDM-branded hub spacers. When I installed it it does seem to have made the rear a little more squirelly but I'm not sure if its because I don't have enough toe / camber OR I lack rebound control from the shocks.

The quality of the PG hub spacer, as well as the aircraft grade fasteners included seem much better than even the Toyota OE fasteners. Plus the guys at PG took the time to answer my questions knowing that I was form abroad and had low chances of ordering from them anyway and even recommended which size to get. Nice guys, very helpful and a great little but highly useful product.

[AdeJong 03]

im running 10mm PG spacers as well and have no regrets about em.

they are always a good buy for our cars

SHADOW OFFSET FTL!!!

[CASTREX]

I'm sorry I always thought the general rule was Understeer was much easier to control than Oversteer. Understeer is Plowing forward and Oversteer is when the rear end steps out. If I had to guess the wider track would reduce oversteer but i could be wrong.

If you carefully read my post, that is exactly what I said.

Decreased oversteer = Increased understeer

Increased understeer = Decreased oversteer.


When you increase the rear track your are some what improving the rear traction and therefore increasing understeer.

I also said this is actually a good thing for the average driver as it won't change the way the car handles and it will improve the high speed stability making the driver feel more confortable.


Experienced drivers who want to modify the handling of the car for more oversteer will still take benefits from the rear spacers but will add other factors such to higher rear rates, sway bars, front spacers to achieve the desired handling.

[CASTREX]

understeer scares drivers
oversteer scares passengers

:biggrin:

:bellyroll:

That's a good one!

And yeah the Yaris has put me before in some scary understeery situations at high speed... not funny. :biggrin:

[Tamago]

and it's not like installing rear hub spacers will turn your yaris into any more of a plough than it is from the factory anyway :laugh: :) alignment and tire pressures are your best and easiest way to change the way your car rotates

[expo2]

I recently purchased a set of 13mm PG spacers for my stock setup. Can anyone tell me where the (4) shims (washers with one flat side) are intended to go? Maybe (2) shims on the bottom pair of bolts to provide camber?

[Tamago]

I recently purchased a set of 13mm PG spacers for my stock setup. Can anyone tell me where the (4) shims (washers with one flat side) are intended to go? Maybe (2) shims on the bottom pair of bolts to provide camber?

yes, that's where they go, but not required. if you are running a low offset wheel (which you're not), you may experience rubbing on the passenger side. .