Spacers and Fender Flares?

[SkylineWalkrGTR]

Do i need to know anything before i install wheel spacers, and what are your general thoughts on it. And same goes for fender flares

[lbus9168]

Spacers aren't safe. They put excess stress on your wheel bearing, the only thing connecting wheel to car, and when it starts to go it will go quick, you might not pick it up, and it could result in a suspension failure.

If you want more poke buy new wheels.

As for fender flares, they require a fair amount of work to fit. Done correctly, yeah it could look awesome, but you need to have a plan to do it rather than just throwing them on because they'll look shit if you do.

[deevergote]

I fully agree with all that has been said above regarding safety. Spacers are NOT a good idea. If you must get some, which I strongly discourage, at least get some that are hub-centric. Your wheels should also either be hub-centric, or have hub-centric rings on them as well (even when not using spacers.) Lower offset wheels will push the rim out further from the hub... but they will also put additional stress on the bearing.

Regarding fender flares, you will not be increasing wheel clearance just by bolting/gluing flares to your car. You will actually need to cut your fenders, which will introduce much greater opportunity for rust... especially in the rear, where there's far more going on than just the metal you see on the outside of your car. Doing it properly will take a LOT of work, and it will be extremely expensive to do it properly if you can't do it yourself. If you're not an accomplished fabricator and bodywork guy, you're not going to be able to do it properly yourself.
You can install stick-on fender flare overlays for appearance only. They won't offer greater clearance, but they will change the look of your car without requiring any serious modification to the sheet metal.

[SkylineWalkrGTR]

yah very good points and the negatives obviously out way the positives, so i won't be doing that then lol. But that just leaves what is the best sounding exhaust system for a 4 cylinder honda. I really appreciate your guys input, thanks again.

[deevergote]

There are a bunch. Depends on what you want. It's been discussed at length on here, so you'll learn a lot by searching. The most popular for a fairly deep, quiet sound is the Apexi World Sport 2.

[lbus9168]

I'm a bit left of field when it comes to exhaust sound, I think that deep and Honda shouldn't go together. It's a 4cyl 2L, it won't ever sound like a big thumping v8.

I like mugen/ OBX twin loops with deleted resonators, but it's not for everyone (I.e. drone!)

[Corweena]

OBX twin loops will never sound the same as Mugen ones. My brother had a Mugen on his Civic....paired with an 18in Magnaflow resonator, it was the perfect exhaust. Made a 1.6L sound good. Deep smooth tone, and no drone at freeway speeds.


The only reason I run spacers is to clear my bbk. And I'm literally running the smallest one I need (7mm). And I have the necessary ARP extended studs to ensure I get full threading on my lug nuts with the spacers. I'd stay away from any spacers unless you absolutely need them, like in my case. Instead, find wheels in the specs you need for them to fit how you want. That goes for flares too....if you do happen to get flares, you are gonna need more aggressive wheels to fill them up.

[Mike1357]

While I agree that they are not the safest option, as long as you are smart about using spacers, you should be fine. I'm using hub centric spacers with hub centric rings for the wheels to keep the load on the hubs and not the lug studs. I recheck my lug torque at every oil change interval as well. There are various different options so just do your research on different types and be safe about it. Ultimately, properly sized wheels for your setup are preferred.
Concerning fender flares, you can either cut your fenders and quarter panels to allow for the extra clearance or raise your car up (if you are lowered). I chose the second option myself.

[deevergote]

Even with hub-centric spacers, the bearings still have additional force put on them. Think of a spacer as a breaker bar... adding extra force to try to pry that wheel bearing apart. A few millimeters may not seem like a lot, but it can make a BIG difference.

If you do go that route, check the health of your bearings on a regular basis. If you notice any play, it's time to replace them before they cause an accident.

[SkylineWalkrGTR]

yah i already decided i'm not gonna go that route, i need to get new tires pretty soon so i'm going to get wider ones and get flares. But i really appreciate all the input really helped, i was just going to put them on without taking any of this into consideration lol. i luckly said to myself i should ask the forum before i did that to make sure.

[CyborgGT]

Even with hub-centric spacers, the bearings still have additional force put on them. Think of a spacer as a breaker bar... adding extra force to try to pry that wheel bearing apart. A few millimeters may not seem like a lot, but it can make a BIG difference.

The extra load with a spacer is no different than what lower offset (or even higher offset) wheels would do. Rim width still provides leverage. And spacers thick enough to warrant coming with their own studs can be built with quality, such as those by H&R. Cheap spacers or extended studs using poor quality metals can break and put you in a world of hurt, but you can't generalize them all as dangerous. You may as well condemn Moog or Eibach just because AutoZone parts failed you.

OEM parts aren't bullet-proof, either. Over-torque a lugnut and the factory stud can break just as easily. Smack a curb hard enough and the wheel can fracture. Use quality parts and install them correctly, and you shouldn't have problems.

[Domesticated]

I agree with everything Cyborg said. Being a Jeeper now, I have seen done interesting things. Like guys taking stock 45lb tires with 7.5" wheels and throwing 80lb tires with 9" wheels and 1.5" spacers. Doing the crazy stuff we do wheeling and crawling, and never seem to have a failure. Buy quality spacers if you go that route.

[CyborgGT]

What is it, Spidertrax spacers, that everyone swears by for off roading? They're anodized blue, I know that.

25mm spacers are extremely popular with the RSX crowd because so many owners like the OEM wheels, but we have huge fenders. I've yet to hear of a failure there with H&Rs. Hopefully I'll have a set in the next few weeks.

[deevergote]

I would still be a bit nervous with what is likely a 25 year old wheel bearing.

[CyborgGT]

Eh, even with fresh bearings, I can understand where you were coming from, though. It's like using two short ratchet extensions together rather than one solid long one. It gets the job done, and while you know it's secure, it still somehow feels wrong. Like you know there's the logical potential for something to go wrong because you're using multiple pieces Lego'd onto each other where you could better use few. Something like that anyway, I'm tired right now, haha.