Is this a safe wheel spacer?

I am thinking not. I took my front wheel off of my new to me car and found this spacer. I am guessing that the wheel needs to be hub-centric to the spacer. I hate when people buy stupid stuff like this. Also makes me wonder if the lugs are getting enough thread.

Stud length looks like it could be a concern. Any wheel that uses a tapered seat lug interface is actually lug-centric not hub-centric. The only thing the lack of hub flange really does is make installing the wheel more annoying.

dps214 said:

Stud length looks like it could be a concern. Any wheel that uses a tapered seat lug interface is actually lug-centric not hub-centric. The only thing the lack of hub flange really does is make installing the wheel more annoying.

i concur

Interesting, Thank you. I will check the safety if the threads

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

dps214 said:

Stud length looks like it could be a concern. Any wheel that uses a tapered seat lug interface is actually lug-centric not hub-centric. The only thing the lack of hub flange really does is make installing the wheel more annoying.

i concur

The stud length would be my only concern. At a glance it looks ok to me, but thickness of wheel? The tapered lug nuts should have 1 1/2 times the dia. thread engagement. 

if 1/2-20 studs, 3/4" engagement 

Another thing I've noticed with non-centric spacers is that you can pick up some vibration if they are way off. I just get the nuts finger-tight then push the spacer edges by hand until they are roughly even around the circumference. Granted, my Elise has only ~400lbs on each front corner, so it doesn't take a whole lot of imbalance to notice something, but it is noticeably smoother when I do this extra step. 

I would prefer that the spacer have a way of centering itself, but the red flag I see is that the spacer appears to be a smaller diameter than the OD of the wheel's hub face.  This can cause weird issues as the wheel flexes.  (Wheels flex.)  If you had a steel wheel, an undersized spacer like that can actually chew through the coining, leading to a two piece wheel.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

the red flag I see is that the spacer appears to be a smaller diameter than the OD of the wheel's hub face.  This can cause weird issues as the wheel flexes.  (Wheels flex.)

yes they do. good catch.

I think I will pull them off. I'm sure the car looks cooler with them on but I am not feeling to confident about them. 

Be sure they weren't using them for brake clearance or suspension clearance but you'll figure that out real fast if they did.

Sharing this with hopes it helps someone.

(By the way, I once had some wheels/spacers that didn’t pass.)

Spacers are just blocks of metal, that looks like it may a hub adapter to use wheels with a different bolt pattern. 

In reply to z31maniac :

It's just a universal spacer. It has elongated holes for various bolt circle diameters and there are four-hole and five-hole patterns. I've got a similar pair someplace.