Wheel Spacers

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by Spanker

I don't know much about the spacers on Big Red.
They were on the car when I bought it.

I've not even measured them to see f they are the same width front/back.
In fact, I'll know less than MJ about my own spacers.
All I know is that they make the car look better.
Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I wouldn't know if they were "bolt-to-the-hubs" or "bolts-straight-through" spacers. And I don't even know if they would be suitable to swap over to the S8 either (I don't know if the suspension on an S8 is that much different to that on a 2.8QS, possibly resulting in any clearance issues that I don't currently get with the 2.8).

They are bolt-through, 15 front, 20 rear iirc. They will swap straight over to the S8, including the bolts.

Originally Posted by moltuae

You don't think one of the refurbished wheels might be a little bent? Would that give the same symptoms?

A buckled wheel could do that, but it would have to be pretty bad. I think try jacking it up first and see if there is any visible run-out. A simple trick is to put something heavy just barely touching the edge of the tyre (brick, can of oil etc) and spin the wheel by hand. You'll hear and see if there is any run out as it intermittently touches and doesn't touch the heavy thing.

One other thing - did you get those exact bolts in the listing? They are taper-seat and for aftermarket wheels. If you're using genuine FE wheels then you need radius-seat bolts. Big Red was the same so I swapped them out for the proper ones. They shouldn't cause a wobble, but they won't torque up properly and put all the load on the wheel in the wrong place.

Taper vs radius:

[moltuae]

Thanks!

Not sure about the bolts. I'll check tomorrow.

[David's8]

The only issue I have ever had with spacers was when using some non- hub- centric spacers. As it was well nigh impossible to centre them exactly to within <1mm they induced a high frequency vibration which increased with speed. But as yours are hub-centric then this issue shouldnt apply. My guess is, as suggested by MJ, that the faces arent scrupulously clean and the wheel is therefore out of alignment.

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Taper vs radius:

This was the cause Well spotted MJ!

Funny thing was, the brakes were behaving oddly too; more pedal travel than usual. Pumping the brake pedal would bring the pedal travel back to normal but only for a few seconds. Couldn't possibly be related to the wheel wobble, or so I thought ...

Turns out the studs had worked a bit loose because they were the wrong profile. My mechanic's theory on the brakes issue was that the discs were moving a little too, pushing the calipers back. I suspect he's right because the wheel wobble has gone and the brakes are back to normal now that we've removed the spacers.

[RS6]

Mark are you still going to fit the spacers? just need different bolts?

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by RS6

Mark are you still going to fit the spacers? just need different bolts?

Probably. The seller has offered to replace the bolts if I send them back.