Opinions on wheel spacers

LOL, sorry for the image size, I found it on the internet.

I'm torn between the all black (which is the look I have now), hyper black, and gun metal (pictured).

Pepper white with gunmetal

Wow 10 to 15 mm spacers are pretty large. Are you going to be using a 17 x 7 wheel or are you going to 16's?

Greg is right - a 15mm spacer is pretty big, and could lead to early wear of some components (bearings, for one).  Spacers can get kind of pricey if you get the ones with the wheel centering components as well.  I'm not a fan of spacers that make you use the lug nuts for centering the wheel.  I've seen situations where the wheel bolts work loose due to improper installation on non-centering spacers.  If you have to do this, at least go to studs, and really pay attention to how you install the wheels.  Do the first tightening sequence off the ground, then torque to higher than factory spec.  I use 91 ft pounds just to keep things tight at the track (several of us worked up to this torque spec over several track days after problems with bolts coming loose when set at factory spec).  If you do check torque at the track, make sure everything is cold.  You can easily overtorque when things are hot, and then good luck getting bolts/nuts off when things cool off.  Also, you might have to deal with broken bolts/studs.

Boy - got carried away there a bit.  So - I'll cut to the chase.  If 10 or 15mm spacers are required, find another wheel.

Pat

Thanks guys.  That's what I've been thinking and is really the reason I haven't pulled the trigger.  Thanks for the sanity check.

Damn you sexy wheels!  Stop taunting me!

Todd

Roy,

SuperCoop wrote: Roy, The hyper black is more like a dark/tinted silver, see here: http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/tires-wheels-and-brakes/199169-rota-rb-wheel-gallery.html The silver is a very bright silver, but neither really look chrom'ish.

 

Edited by Roy - April/06/11 at 1:44pm

SuperCoop wrote: They can't be nearly as bright as the silver, I think the Rota silver would be brighter than my car's paint or the factory MINI silver wheels, and that's already pretty bright. I kind of want a "dark chrome" look to my trim/wheels, not black black, not silver...just a touch of sinisterness =)

I've always been a big fan of the gunmetal grey look.

I dont worry at all about the use of wheel spacers. when using them the wheel is still carried by the hub bearing. once the wheel and spacer are bolted to the hub it becomes a unit. as safe as bolting the wheel to the hub. proper hub sizing is really important for centering the wheel when mounting it, but again once its all bolted together everything is riding on the hub bearing just as it should be.  I agree that trying to center a wheel without proper hub/wheel sizing is a BAD IDEA! meaning get the right spacers and have hub centric wheels. Even using wheel studs wont guarantee you get them centered. the wheel hub flange is 13mm.  My personal MINI tech verified this. so with a 5mm spacer you still have 8mm of exposed flange. going to bigger spacers you definitely want ones with proper hub sizing and extended flanges. I cant imagine wanting or needing anything larger on a mini but everyone has their own ideas.

Edited by bobbyd - April/05/11 at 11:34pm

Also, the mating surface between the wheel and hub is greater than that between the wheel and the spacer. That means the forces to loosen the wheel lugs will be greater, even if just by a little. 

Hmmm, apparently no 16" Rota RBs in Royal Hyper Black to be found anywhere.

FastMini.net doesn't stock Hyper Black in the 16" size.
18Racing.com backed out on me.  They thought they had some, but turns out they don't.
RacingLab.com says they're back-ordered until June.

Bummer. 

To quote Sanderskog, "Damn you sexy wheels!  Stop taunting me!"

Thanks, I have found several RBs in the other colors, but apparently Hyper Black is hard to come by.