Does anyone make wheel spacers for the GLS?
 

I'm looking for hub centric bolted on adapters for 5 x 112 pattern, but it appears that nobody online makes any such spacers for the GLS...

Anyone with a mill and a rotary table can make these things.

My guess is that the market is too small for a manufacture to show up to service the need.

Probably so. I took off my stock 21s and put on 19s... and this was the single biggest improvement to ride quality ever. The car drives smooth like butter now. However, the fenders are too wide for the 19s, making the wheels look at tad recessed. So I wanted to put on good spacers, to make the wheels look proper again. Hard to believe that out of 10s of thousands of GLs sold, more people don't opt for 19" wheel option.

A lot of people are clueless*; most of the boy racers are using 20 and 25 aspect ratio rims that give the tires so little side wall the ride is simply terrible. In reality the 35 and 40 aspect ratios give better traction--you know that thing which actually helps one accelerate, decelerate, and corner !?!

Many times, one can compensate for short sidewalls by lowering the tire pressures moderating the rather harshness of the ride.

Few are smart enough to get wheels in a proper size the first time.

(*) probably the biggest understatement you will see on this forum all day.

I guess you have a 550? It sounds like you answered your own question. 19's don't fill the wheel wells good enough and the recessed look takes away from the aggressive stance.

The "recessed look" is from the wheels having the wrong offset. Not from them being 19" in diameter. If done properly, the 19" wheel and tire should be about the same height as your 21" wheel and tire. The use of spacers is to account for the offset of the wheel.

I found a company that will custom make spacers for my GL, so I should soon be back to the proper look.

can you share the company info? i might want to order them

They did not actually do a good job on them, I ended up returning. If you want the name of the company still, I can PM you.

Aren't these spacers harming the hubs and suspension shifting the wheels apart from where they are originally designed to be?

Not particularly, because stock GL550 wheels are wider and also have a lower offset, so adding spacers actually takes the 19" wheel centers back to stock (or slightly over, but not by too much).

I asked generally speakingactually, every vehicle looks nicer with spacers, but is it good for the vehicle?

Small changes in "track" (say 1/2" or 12mm) do not alter the loads on the bearings substantially, but large changes in track can.
Basically, you want the track to be in the center of the 2 wheel bearings; as this is where both bearings are doing the same amount of work.

track is where the wheel loads are transmitted to the road surface, and generally the center of the tire.

I bought some 10mm spacers that worked perfect for my GL550 I will look them up. Cost was like $60-80 for all 4.

Sorry they were 12mm and currently out of stock and total was $66 shipped for 4.

I have an extra used set of 30mm and 40mm (two of each) that are bolt on and hub centric to hub and wheel. Pm if interested.

Found a shop to do wheel spacer. CNC machined out of 6061-T6 Aluminum, hub-centric. Deciding on thickness, 10mm all around sounds good?

That's great! I have H&R spacers on my Abarth, they are very high quanlity. They don't have listing for GL/GLS after 2012. Found part# 2055665 for 2012 GL 350/450/550. This is the most recent model they listing. Can anyone confirm the fitment?

Confirmed. The hub bore and bolt pattern is the same after 2012.

You can use them on your GLS450 no problem.

You'll have to buy longer bolts. 10mm longer than your current bolt if that makes sense.

Great! Thank you. I believe H&R comes with longer bolts. At least last time I got some. Will double check.

i bought these and mine did not. i bought some from BIMECC.

You are right, bolts extra...

I will go with 10mm spacer, do you happen to know the H&R bolt part# for that?

Wish someone made good bolt on hub centric adapters. I don't know that I would trust a 6k lb wehicle to regular spacers.

H&R spacers are very good quanlity. Don't think you will have any probelm with them, provide not going crazy on size, 10mm or 12mm only, and installed correctly.

I found the part #2055665 fits GL up to 2012. Spec on paper looks will fit GLS. I would like to try but my local shop said they are non returnable in case don't fit :nonono: looking for other sources.