i know spacers put stress on the bearings but they can't put much more stress on the spacings than larger rims do...

 

i dont "need" spacers, and im just after a different look. i am also not worried about the problems it might cause. ive ran spacers before with no ill effects. i like my factory h3 wheels and do not want to replace them was just wondering if anyon was running spacers and what size. I had 20" on my last truck with spacers, the truck had the 20's and spacers on it when i bought it but later on when i tried to go back to the factory wheels i found out that they were adapters and not spacers. I also found out that the rim shop that put the rims on for the previous owner neglected to tell him what they had done with the spacers and that they had trimmed all 20 lugstuds down to make them fit. i am not going through that again as i found this out in the parking lot of the dealership when i was getting my H-3. i will say that you can force a 5x120 wheel onto a 5X115 adapter if you have to. i had just reaplced all the tires and was not going to give the stealer ship a brand new set of 20's for free. I may just go down to pep boys and look at a set and do some measuring. I dont want to trim my studs down and i definately dont want to go over 2" so if i cant get around both of those this is just another worthless thread

they way it looks no one has spacers on there h3, well atleast no one on here

 

i talked to a guy in california who builds spacers custom...

www.wheeladapter.com

and he said if the spacer is 1 to 1.5 in. you won't have to trim the old stubs... the only problem was he wanted like $380 for 4 spacers.... thats tough to swallow when ebay has 4 for like $180

 

That sounds about right. Most of the spacer sets I've ever had have run me 3-400 bucks. As for that eBay crap. Stay away. I did that one time and the spacer cracked. There's a reason why they are so cheap.

If someone wanted to run some spacers, I really don't see it causing any problems. Like I said, I've run them for years on other vehicles without issue. But, it won't be cheap. You would have to figure out of the stock h3 rims are hubcentric or lugcentric. If they are hubcentric you'll have to buy hub rings. You'll also have to buy extended studs.

So spacers
Rings
Studs

Looking at like 4-500 bucks. Take pics when this goes down. I'd like to see what the end product looks like.

 

If you put spacers on your h3 can you post some pics, I was thinking about doing this and putting some bigger tires on it after
Thanks

 

With 2" (50mm) spacers you could go up to a 365/65/16 if they make such a thing.

That's still a 35" tire....

You would either have to have the factory rims widened or buy aftermarkets for that though.

 

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Tires/LT3...&t_pn=BFG28483

http://netshoppers.com/retailer/q-OP...pid-807872717/

 

Well there you go.

Just find a welding shop, and have the factory rims widened to accept the new meat and presto.

There is a place on the net that will widen them, can't remember the site off hand.

 

$350 a tire!!??? geez thats steep to me... when you are buying 5 of them that adds up quick...

i can get Maxxis Buckshots for about $150 a piece and i love them. never had an issue with a maxxis tire.


why would you have to extend the tire stubs? I was told that if you got 1 to 1.5 in spacers you wouldn't need to trim the stubs....

my mechanic told me get the spacers ($380) and he could put them on for $50....

 

Ok there are two types of spacers:

Those without studs
Those without studs

If you install a spacer with studs already on the spacer. When you install the spacer the factory studs with the provided lugs (which are used to hold the spacer onto the hub) then the factory studs stick out. This makes installing the wheel require one of two things:
A. A Rim with cutouts in the spoke that allow the wheel to sit flush.

B. Triming of the studs that protrude beyond the spacer to allow the Rim, without the proper gaps in the spokes, to sit flush.

Trimming of the studs is never recommended as it weakens them making them very easy to snap. Some will scoff and say it's no big deal, but trust me, I've had it happen to me. It's NEVER a good idea to clip the factory studs. They WILL snap, sooner or later.
This is what your mechanic is talking about doing.

So this comes down to....do the factory h3 rim have gaps in the spokes that will allow the rim to sit flush on the hub without making contact with the existing factory studs.

This answer is NO.

Which leads you to your only option:

Spacers without studs:

These spacers do not come with studs pre installed on them. Only holes in which to mount them to replacement, lengthened, studs.

This involves removing the factory hub, using a press to remove the factory studs, replacing the factory studs with the new extended studs, re-seating your hub with new extra long studs, and finally mounting the spacer and rim onto these studs usually using open ended lug nuts.

This is your only option with the h3 I'm afraid. Using spacers with built in studs is just not going to happen. You must find some without and replace your short factory studs with long ones.

Good luck.