Safe to use Wheel Adapters 5 on 4" to 4.5"?
these adapters got a bad reputation many years ago, mostly due to improper installation. Brake drums have balancing weights welded onto them. In many cases the weight holds the adapter away, it doesn't sit flat to mating surface. Either not noticed or just ignored. Just thrown on with impact or lug wrench. Proper install and torque is a must
Exactly. Adaptors and spacers have gotten a bad reputation primarily from people that don’t install them correctly. That’s been added to by a few spacers on the market that are not strong enough for continuous duty, like the cast aluminum Trans-dapt spacers the OP originally linked. They don’t have enough material around the studs.
Those are entirely different than what we're talking about here.
That said, I said in my first post that "I" personally would not use wheel spacers or adapters of any kind. You marked disagree, but you cannot disagree with what I will do on MY stuff, because it's mine, not yours.
They’re not any different. They’re just adaptors that go from one pattern to another and change the track width. The fact that they’re cast iron or steel does not significantly change their use, remember that those are for 3 ton trucks not a car.
And that’s all it comes down to. If the adaptor is made out of a quality material and has enough material around the stud to provide the necessary strength all it has to be is torqued correctly and it will work just fine and be perfectly safe. Plenty of cars have aluminum hubs.
As far as the disagree, of course I can. You can have your opinion and do whatever you like on your car, and I can still disagree with it. I’m sure you probably “disagree” with my 18” wheels, and likewise I don’t care if you do.
never saw those before , but they are iron or steel not cast alum . even billet alum would hold up better than cast alum . i like those wheel spacers , they look to me like budd type wheel off sets , not spacers between the rims .
As I said, they do the same exact thing as the adaptors we’re talking about. To be clear, I DO NOT recommend using the cast aluminum adaptors the OP originally linked. Not because they’re adaptors, but because the cast material they’re made of needs more material around the studs than those adaptors have- they’re a bad design.
As long as the material around the studs is capable of carrying the load a spacer/adaptor is perfectly safe. The ones I showed were just an example because of your dually remark, they’re out there. And they’re made out of steel or cast iron because they belong on a 3 ton truck. Billet aluminum is more than capable of supporting the studs on our cars.
Plenty of new cars use aluminum hubs. Heck, wilwood brakes have used them for years and all kinds of folks think they’re the best stuff out there.
