Spigot rings and spacers conundrum

[anonymous-user]

Bought a set of RTS Trafficstar wheels for the LS430 however i will need to run 3 or 5mm spacers up front in order to clear the brake calipers which are huge,

My question is the hub lip only protrudes around 8mm from without a spacer, With the spacer this gives me around 3 mm on which to mount the wheel,

I was told by our local tyre fitter that this would be dangerous as the weight of the car rests on the central hub as opposed to the bolts and 3mm wouldn't be enough. I was of the impression that the central hub is mainly for centralising the wheel and the clamping force of the wheel studs is what provides the strength.

I will post pictures shortly but I was wondering if anyone could clarify what is safe and what isn't.



Without Spacer



With Spacer







I have only fitted 2 just to test fit prior to running out to buy spigot rings again (Tried last night and the tyre fitter told me it was too dangerous so left without them.

Would be a shame as they look pretty good on the car



I get at least 6.5 - 7 turns on each of the bolts so I'm thinking that should be plenty...

Thanks in advance

[anonymous-user]

Thank you all for your replies! All fitted,

Took it for a drive and no wobbles or shakes at all, (Up to legal-ish motorway speeds in any case) I fitted spigot rings in the end however I don't think they are doing anything at all. I assumed that as the car has studs as opposed to bolts it should centre in any case.

Longer studs are on the cards once I find somewhere to have it done, (I'm in Poland where nobody actually wants to do anything and everyone claims to be an expert so theres no point in trying to argue my point in a language I hardly speak)

Thanks again! I'm so happy with how it looks now

Now to fit the original wheels from this on to the wifes IS200!

[anonymous-user]

Ok so the nuts are tapered, I would like to get some longer studs, Is there anywhere online I can order these as I have been looking and drawn a blank, Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Edited by CDB1983 on Thursday 25th August 07:29

[anonymous-user]

Cheers for all the replys!

I chucked some spigot rings on for good measure as they cost pennys, The fact they are thin hollow plastic confirms to me that they aren't load bearing at all as HorneyMx5 said to start with.

It seems that theres so much misinformation out there including from professionals who should really know better, (Tyre fitters namely)

Anyway as an update, I can get 7.5 turns on each bolt, I've ordered some longer studs to be on the safe side as I use this car for long distance stuff and want to avoid any issues.

So far i've driven to Warsaw and back from Poznan to pick someone up from the airport, so around 300 miles.

Invested in a torque wrench and torqued all the bolts up to 120nm when I first fitted the wheels and then checked them this morning after 300 miles and they are all still up to torque

I even gave the car a polish





I'm pretty happy with how it looks and again thank you all for your input!

[anonymous-user]

Camoradi said:

That looks great. Is it lowered a little, or are the wheels a little bigger than standard?

Thank you

Standard wheels are 18" 7j these are 19" 8j so they sit a bit more flush with the arches, The standard ones are very set back and look a little lost in the huge wheel arches.

Air suspension failed a month after buying it, (Well one corner did) so decided to go for Coilovers as a way of future proofing the car a little bit especially given the cost of replacement air struts (800 GBP a corner) and the state of roads here in Poland. I still have the 3 remaining struts in the basement and the compressor and airlines are all still in tact on the car.

I think its sitting around 40mm lower than standard at the front and 60mm lower on the rear they seem to have huge arch gaps from the factory. Still rides comfortably though although not as soft as it should be.

[anonymous-user]

SonicShadow said:

For turns on the nut, a good approximation of the minimum amount of turns is the thread engagement should be more than the width of the stud. So for Toyota / Lexus, that's 12mm. To work out how many turns that is, divide by pitch, which is 1.5mm. 12mm / 1.5mm = 8 minimum. Personally I would err on the side of safety and want more than that.

I've ordered the longer studs as with things like this its always best to be safer Hopefully they will turn up next week