Wheel Spacers on Stock C55 Rims?

heres a copy pasta from a tundra forum i read:

so you are saying (for example) if a wheel is 18x8 ET35 in specs that runs the 5mm spacer with the proper bolts will be worse than the 18x8 ET30 wheels that runs the same bolts, but without the spacers? given that the spacers are hub-centric that is designed to fit directly onto the wheel that even has a little screw that securely lock the spacer in place.
I'm not talking about anything other than high quality spacers/adapters here that are designed to be hub-centric. As I mentioned earlier generic spacers can cause vibrations which in long term could lead to damaging suspension parts. If someone is saying they want to slap on a 25mm spacer, then I would tell that person to think twice because that really puts a lot of stress onto the bolts. However for example the 25+mm spacer kit from H&R they are designed to have the spacer bolted onto the hub of the car before the wheels are secured to the spacer.
As most of you should know that aftermarket wheels tend to have thinner hubs evident that most of you are running shorter bolts in the rear wheel. Do the stock wheel put more stress on the hubs because it has thicker hub and use longer bolts? I personally do not think so. adding spacers AND the proper bolts should not be a problem at all either.
The bolt often broke not because of the spacers, but because they are not properly torqued or they are just crappy bolts. It has happened to someone running the stock wheels and it has happened to someone with aftermarket wheels. If that is what you guys are worried about the effects of running the spacers.
The post from the tundra forum offers valid points it's just how you interpret it. obviously the OP is not trying to make the wheels stick outside the fender.
1. that gives him the authority to disseminate other opinions.
2. make other posters (myself included)feel inches tall,
3.and then reply that it was not his intention to correct others?
Maybe he does offer a wealth of knowledge and I myself would concur that is probably more than most C Class owners. But it is the manner he chooses to debate issues that bothers some. FrankW's opening sentence "Why does Brabus, Carlsson etc..." doesn't give the impression of cockiness? I mean why not start off "Hey I disagree, and in my experience there are numerous manufacturers (blah,Blah)...... To me you can prove your point without sounding like a high school debate, or worse fox news.
Sure we have to follow board etiquette, but C55asleep is not alone in this thread. I myself like the saying "Walk softly and carry a big stick"
Now back to Hockey Playoffs

I've been corrected in more times you can think of over the period of 6 years owning this car and I've gladly learned from it.
and regarding spacers I'm sure you are against it too right?
Again thank you for the info,
Alex

so you are saying (for example) if a wheel is 18x8 ET35 in specs that runs the 5mm spacer with the proper bolts will be worse than the 18x8 ET30 wheels that runs the same bolts, but without the spacers? given that the spacers are hub-centric that is designed to fit directly onto the wheel that even has a little screw that securely lock the spacer in place.
I'm not talking about anything other than high quality spacers/adapters here that are designed to be hub-centric. As I mentioned earlier generic spacers can cause vibrations which in long term could lead to damaging suspension parts. If someone is saying they want to slap on a 25mm spacer, then I would tell that person to think twice because that really puts a lot of stress onto the bolts. However for example the 25+mm spacer kit from H&R they are designed to have the spacer bolted onto the hub of the car before the wheels are secured to the spacer.
I'm asian so this a simple but lame example:
Imagine the equal signs are 'chopsticks' and 'xxx' are your hands. Now imagine that xxx1 is resting on a table with the chopstick underneath while the remainder is dangling over the edge. Its alot easier to break the first chopstick (which your hand is further apart).
xxx1------xxx2
=========
xxx1--xxx2
=========
Throw in the mass of wheel/tire and the force of the suspension travel moving in 3 axis and gravity, that extra 10mm exponentially does make a difference.
I have no doubt that the quality of materials are probably good, otherwise your wheels would have fallen off long ago, but I sincerely believe it adds alot of stress to alot of components besides the bolts hubs and suspension components.
Last edited by crazeazn; Apr 11, 2008 at 04:22 AM.
OP: is it going to rain today?
1st guy: hm...look at the clouds...it'll rain
2nd guy: yea, I agree...look at the clouds it'll rain
3rd guy: i heard it's going to rain too
4th guy: i read the weather...it won't rain it's just cloudy
1st, 2nd, 3rd guys: once again the smartass said it won't rain...damn it...we feel bad because we didn't read the weather, but lets gang up on him anyway.
I'm asian so this a simple but lame example:
Imagine the equal signs are 'chopsticks' and 'xxx' are your hands. Now imagine that xxx1 is resting on a table with the chopstick underneath while the remainder is dangling over the edge. Its alot easier to break the first chopstick (which your hand is further apart).
xxx1------xxx2
=========
xxx1--xxx2
=========
Throw in the mass of wheel/tire and the force of the suspension travel moving in 3 axis and gravity, that extra 10mm exponentially does make a difference.
I have no doubt that the quality of materials are probably good, otherwise your wheels would have fallen off long ago, but I sincerely believe it adds alot of stress to alot of components besides the bolts hubs and suspension components.
I'm not saying that the 5mm spacer actually made the hub on the wheel thicker for the ET35 wheel than then ET30 wheel as you described in your example.
I agree of course if you extend that hub too far with the spacers then you are putting all the stress onto the bolts and the hub. BUT if you have a wheel with the same overly aggressive offset without the use of spacer you are still putting all the stress onto the bolts.
here's what I meant to say with a quick drawing
Last edited by FrankW; Apr 11, 2008 at 05:20 AM.
Being as large as they are and the litigious country we live in, I doubt they'd be selling their wheels as such if it was indeed a huge problem.
The debate is good information but I think it is being overanalyzed, by just a tiny bit.
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
Being as large as they are and the litigious country we live in, I doubt they'd be selling their wheels as such if it was indeed a huge problem.
The debate is good information but I think it is being overanalyzed, by just a tiny bit.
Here's my situation:
Running Axis Milano on a CLK 430 - 19 x 8.5 front and 19 x 9.5 Rears with 35 mm offsets on all 4 wheels with Kumho Ecsta SPTs:
- Front 235 35 19 which is the correct size - no issues with them installed.
- Rear 245 35 19 which isn't the ideal size of 265 30 19. - With the 245 35 19s installed, I'm hearing a clicking noise when driving slowly. I don't know if it's a spacer issue since the rims in the rear are 35mm offset and the AMG wheels that came with the car were 30MM offset. If it's a spacer issue, do I need a 5MM Hubcentric one or since it's only 5mm, don't bother with hub centric?
I took one of the rear wheels off and did not notice any severe rubbing.
So, I've narrowed it down to either 5mm spacers or incorrect rear tires.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Is the 265 30 19 that big of a difference that 245 35 19s would cause differential issues???
The wheels look great on the car, but I'm afraid to drive it right now.
By the way, some Kmho Ecsta owners have reported that running 265 30 19 have sight rubbing issues due to the roundness of the Kumhos on MBs.
Last edited by newguy2008; Apr 23, 2008 at 02:38 AM.
I'm not running any spacers at all yet. The bolts looked fairly short as it was.
This would also explain why some of the bolts that came with the rims were slightly smaller (2-3 mm?) than the others. I'll check this out tomorrow night. The guy that I purchased the rims from didn't mention this at all.
Thanks.
Last edited by newguy2008; Apr 23, 2008 at 01:21 PM.
http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/c...chmentaspx.jpg
This happened going 5MPH - thank god. All bolts snapped off!!
Good thing that I took the bus to work today - lol - 1st time in a long time.
It was too late in the evening to continue messing around with the wheels.
Tonight though.
http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/c...chmentaspx.jpg
This happened going 5MPH - thank god. All bolts snapped off!!
It was the locking wheel lug. 2 were shorter at 0.875 of an inch which are supposed to be for the rear and the longer ones at 1.125 inches are for the fronts. I didn't know that there was a difference. But the noise is all gone.
This site is awesome!
I'll post pics later. I must head out to burn some expensive fuel now.
Thanks again!
It was the locking wheel lug. 2 were shorter at 0.875 of an inch which are supposed to be for the rear and the longer ones at 1.125 inches are for the fronts. I didn't know that there was a difference. But the noise is all gone.
This site is awesome!
I'll post pics later. I must head out to burn some expensive fuel now.
Thanks again!
Can anyone provide the correct part number or specifications (taper or round bolt head and shaft length for the required 'longer wheel bolts" ?
As well, does anyone have a preferred vendor for their
1. Tune up (a/b service) parts
2. Performance modification
New here, so HELLO to all !







