Hi, I'm looking at them billet wheel spacers, you know the ones that bolt to hub then wheels bolt to spacer type?

I want that wider look, sticking out the arch but wonder if its safe as I pull a 12,000lb gross 5th wheel trailer.

I also wonder if it stresses anything out, wheel bearings etc, this is kinda important as I'm UK based where parts are a struggle and normally inflated prices, just a Fram trans filter just cost me $90.00 this week.

Any advise

 

Other than the risk of shearing off and having a wheel fly down the road ahead of you (I have personally witnessed that happen right in front of me), yes there can be added stress on the front end, wheel bearings, etc. That happens any time you move the rim centerline out away from the hub mounting surface. Most spacers are well made, so shearing is rare. However, that stress does exist.

By the way, the wheels do stick out from the fenders on my truck. I can tell you this that keeping the truck clean, as well as maintaining the paint from rock chips is a real pain in the rear.

 

wheel spacers on these trucks is basically a bad idea, they are more suited for Jeeps or Toyota's etc.....they will also cause your ball joints to fail prematurely.

 

shame, not good news but hey, thanks for the quick answers, so I guess it would be an option to buy wheels with a different offset, although that is not possible here in the UK as there is not a single place that sell F350 fitment wheels and shipping would be out of this world cost wise.

The ONLY ford pick up we get officially is the lame Ranger

 

You're probably better off anyways. I have 10" wide wheels, and my tires stick out quite a bit with 37x18x13.50's on them. Any drive thru water on pavement...and your whole truck is dirty. I miss having 35's on 8 inch wide wheels.

 

You need to be REAL careful with spacers on our trucks. Our rim setups are whats called "hub centric". This means the bulk of the load is transferred from the rim to the axle via the hub. On all factory rims you'll notice the rim contacts the hub (front and rear) horizontally in addition to the normal vertical contact. There is a lip on the rear axle and the front it rests on the wheel hub assy. With this type of setup the lug nuts don't get a lot of shear forces (vertical force direction) as the forces are transferred rim to hub.

Where a lot of people go wrong is when they buy cheap spacers or rims that are not designed for our trucks that don't incorporate the hub centric setup. When the wrong rims or spacers are used it then switches the setup a "lugCentric" design where all of the vertical (shear) forces are now on the lug nuts / studs. The lug nuts are not designed for this as they are flat faced and will not center the rim on the hub (lugcentric nuts are tapered and center the rim) not to mention the lug studs are not designed to handle the forces either.

I'm not saying you should not use the spacers or new rims. I would encourage you, for your safety and those around you, to learn about the correct way to make the change and determine if you feel it is still worth doing. If you google "Hub Centric spacers f350" you should be able to start finding more info on this topic.

Good luck,

JP

Edit: Bill covers this real good (like him or not)

http://youtu.be/IBWeQHZy_nw

 

Is this a dually, and you just want rear wheel spacers for bigger tires. If so I have seen know problems with rear wheel spacers for larger tires. I know many people with them and they love them. Chet

 

I put a set of adapters on that are hub centric to put wider tires on the rear of my dually talk to Fred Goeske WheelAdapter.com > Wheel Spacers and he'll hook you up.Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - 1996pwrstrk's Album: Dually adapter Give him a call he makes all kinds of spacers not just for duallys .