wheel adapters

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Mrkidd

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does anybody know a good place to get adapters from ...im not going to race my car or hard drive it really just cruz and i didnt want to convert everything over right now maybe at the end of summer so i wanted to see if you guys know any shops or web sites that can point me in the right direction....
thanks fellas..
 
I hate to tell you, but wheel adapters are, generally, a bad idea. They put a lot more strain on the hubs/wheel studs than other things. Plus, they change your backspacing significantly, meaning you might have clearance issues, depending on the wheels/tires you're using. But, if you do go w/ them, be sure that they're NOT cast aluminum. Billet steel is the only material for this sort of thing.
 
I wouldn't get those if I were you. I looked into those last week and what he say's is totally true. VERY BAD IDEA!!!!! Just deal with it like me until you can afford to swap everything over.
 
thanks guys..i'll be pataint and do it right the first time...
 
are you all talking about the adapters to go from sbp to lbp? or like spacers? i need to space my wheels out about 7/16" to clear stuff is that a bad idea to? i have never liked the idea of using them to change the pattern but the spacing dosent seem to bad to me
 
I have a set of 1 inch billet aluminium spacers from Stockton Wheel (they make, or did make, the same thing as an adaptor from small to large bolt pattern as well). I assume you are taking about this kind of set up. These spacers are bolt on, meaning they bolt onto the wheel lugs and the wheel in turn bolts onto lugs in the spacer itself. To me, this kind of set up would be almost if not equally as safe and strong as a direct wheel to hub bolt on. I may be wrong and would like to know the science of it all if someone can impart that.
 
sydcuda said:
I have a set of 1 inch billet aluminium spacers from Stockton Wheel (they make, or did make, the same thing as an adaptor from small to large bolt pattern as well). I assume you are taking about this kind of set up. These spacers are bolt on, meaning they bolt onto the wheel lugs and the wheel in turn bolts onto lugs in the spacer itself. To me, this kind of set up would be almost if not equally as safe and strong as a direct wheel to hub bolt on. I may be wrong and would like to know the science of it all if someone can impart that.
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Can anyone else corroborate why wheel adapters are a bad idea? Inquiring minds want to know. I have a set and mine are actually Mopar Performance. My gut tells me if they were a bad idea the MP wouldn't put their name on them.
 
yes they are a bad idea,,maybe if you had the clearance, it wouldnt such a bad idea,, ive seen them work there way loose,,and when they do usually one or more of the wheel studs breaks,,

not speaking from experience,,but maybe a removeable grade of thread locker on the main studs would help with this problem,,

but i wouldnt bolts slicks to wheel adaprters,,,
 
The spacers change the backspace about an inch outward. No big deal there.
The sppacers got a bad reputation years ago. The instructions plainly state "mount flush to the drum surface" yet so many would ignore the interfearence of balancing weights welded on the brake drums. Maybe they didn't have a grinder to remove a small portion of the weights. Anyway...
If the adapters are properly installed they are fine for normal street driving duty.
 
RedFish said:
The spacers change the backspace about an inch outward. No big deal there.
The sppacers got a bad reputation years ago. The instructions plainly state "mount flush to the drum surface" yet so many would ignore the interfearence of balancing weights welded on the brake drums. Maybe they didn't have a grinder to remove a small portion of the weights. Anyway...
If the adapters are properly installed they are fine for normal street driving duty.
Click to expand...

RedFish: I think you "hit the nail on the head."
 
The first adapters I can recall were for changing the VW "wide five" to a 4.5 or 4.75 bolt pattern. They were poorly designed with studs pressed in to an plate about 1/8" thick. The studs usually loosened up, and the plates were notorious for cracking - especially when used on dune buggys and sand rails. I think that's where the bad rep got started, they were nothing like the ones made today. Like others have said, I wouldn't use them on something that was going to put some serious power to the ground, but I've thought about putting some spacers on mine just to bring the rear tires out to where they should be.
 
RedFish said:
The spacers change the backspace about an inch outward. No big deal there.
The sppacers got a bad reputation years ago. The instructions plainly state "mount flush to the drum surface" yet so many would ignore the interfearence of balancing weights welded on the brake drums. Maybe they didn't have a grinder to remove a small portion of the weights. Anyway...
If the adapters are properly installed they are fine for normal street driving duty.
Click to expand...


Agreed. Just make sure they're hubcentric- to the car's hub, and to the wheel's centerbore. You don't want to have the whole vehicle's weight on the studs alone. The centerbore of the wheel needs to index on some sort of center hub, and transfer the load to the axle/hub. This an example of a hubcentric adaptor (note the raised "hub" around the center hole)...
1.jpg


This is NOT what you want!...
4.jpg
 
jgale said:
Agreed. Just make sure they're hubcentric- to the car's hub, and to the wheel's centerbore. You don't want to have the whole vehicle's weight on the studs alone. The centerbore of the wheel needs to index on some sort of center hub, and transfer the load to the axle/hub. This an example of a hubcentric adaptor (note the raised "hub" around the center hole)...
1.jpg


This is NOT what you want!...
4.jpg
Click to expand...
That center register is not the player you make it out to be. A lot of wheels dont have a continuous shoulder to mate with it. Magnum wheels are just one example. The acorn nut is the main player in wheel mounting.
Then again there are many used magnum wheels out there that have their lug holes worn out too. Special nuts were produced for correcting this problem , giving new life to those used wheels.
While working in a trie store we would catch a half dozen per year at most of wheels froze to the center register. Easiest way to conquer it was leave the lug nuts loose and drive around the parking lot. All that says is with loose lug nuts the wheel will eat the center register right along with the lug holes.
Bottom line... correct mating surface contact and tight nuts are the most important factors.
 
I would just buy wheels that fit what you have... or wait until you can swap things over and get them then...
 
i'm usin billet spacers that are true spacers, i.e. i already have long studs and all i really needed was a spacer, not one w/ studs built in. its a temporary deal bec i'm running wheels with 5.72 backspace (cobra rims)
so far so good. when i get a b-body housing the spacers will go, but for now they seem to be fine and i havn't stopped driving it hard at all.
 
i have a set of adapters on my cuda with chevy wheels on em...
and have had 3 wheel studs snap with out me really knowing about it..
bad idea in my books, trying to get hold of some nice mopar wheels that fit at the mo, but the ones i just bought off a friend have a different pcd..!!
life must be a bit easier in the states for this kinda stuff..!!
 
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