RickS

I thought this needed a bit of clarification. Yes, that statement is false but not exactly for that reason. If you had a 13"-wide wheel and a 5"-wide wheel with the exact same contact patch center, the 13"-wide wheel would put more load on the bearings. It is the amount of rim beyond the hubs bearing surface that matters. ________Hub_________6.5" of leverage ___Hub___2.5" of leverage Moving the contact patch center does cause other problems though; specifically with steering effort. This is because as the contact patch moves away from the hubs (outboard) pivot point, you have to drag the tire across the pavement to turn. Adding more castor causes a similiar effect (though the added dynamic camber is usually worth it to a point). This is why the new Corvettes use DEEP backspacing. It keeps the contact patch center line closer to the pivot point (good for steering) and less of the tire ouboard of the hubs bearing surface (good for bearings) as well. This also has the added benefit of allowing longer suspension arms for better camber and toe gain curves.

I have to agree with pparaska on this one. Think about it, if you had a wheel that needed a spacer what would be the ideal solution? Correct offset in the first place, right? Now remember that as I take it a step further. Say, instead of adding a spacer we increase the thickness of the wheel where it mounts to the hub to make up the differance. So, now is it easier on the bearings than a spacer? - No; nothing changed. Now, you take that same wheel with the thick center and remove unneeded material (outside) from that extra-thick center. What you end up with is a wheel with the correct offset but still nothing has changed. One final example. This time, let's say you have 16"x8" stock OEM wheels with 3" of back-spacing. You buy some cool rims that are the same size (16"x8") but these have 5" of back-spacing so you use 2" (probably 1 1/2" would do it) spacer. Guess what? You now have the exact same offset and contact patch centerline as the stock wheel. If you went with a 10" wide wheel instead it would put more load on the bearings than the 8" wheel wether you had the correct offset to make it fit or you used a spacer because the limitation is still interferance with your suspension and that forces you to put 2 more inches of tire outboard of the hubs bearing regardless. That 2 extra inches of leverage will find it's way to the hub bearings wether or not there is a spacer somewhere in-between. Adding spacers usually goes along with wider rims and tires that increase the outboard size but not always. Simply stating that spacers cause more strain on bearings is incorrect. It should be said that spacers do often make it POSSIBLE to add wheels and tires that can cause more strain on bearings. On the flipside, you can go buy a rim with offset that allows a perfect fit but if it adds any tire further out than stock, more strain will be introduced to your bearings PERIOD.