OK
I just want to get my wheels out flush with the fender flares.
I've been thinking about getting some new wheels, but I won't settle for some heavy cast 20s.
Decent forged combos are too $$$ for me right now.

I am not looking for uneducated opinions on how these will break, or ruin my hubs, or axles.

Does anyone have any real life experiance with spacers?

I can buy some, or make some at work when I find the time

I found these:
ebay spacers


Anyone tried something like this?

 

the general opinion on these is that they're great.....until they fail. The problem is that they fail somewhat often and if that happens you're fucked.

You shouldn't have a problem running them although I guarantee most will disagree with me.

Peronally, I would never run them, but you should be fine as long as you don't abuse your truck too much.

 

I would prefer to make my own from steel.
That should take the reliability of the spacer factor out of the equation.
How well will the truck hold up?
A lot of guys run bigger wheels with more (negative) offset.
They must stress things similar to how spacers would.

 

You can find some aftermarket 17's with less backspacing for pretty cheap, depending on your preference in wheel style. The 2wd spindle lifts require 4.5" (or less) backspacing, so I had to search a bit for what is out there, but there are a few choices.

I am running the 17x9 ARE Baja's (MT/Alcoa knock offs) that I like well enough, but some folks think that they are too plain. they would kick out your wheels another half inch or so without the associated spacer problems (need for longer studs, wheel centering, etc).

I know of some folks that have run spacers without any problems though, so you might have no problems at all. I'm not sure why they earned such a bad reputation, but it was enough to scare me off.

EDIT: here is a bit of a discussion on a Ford board that I found:

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/52...rs-baaadd.html

 

Thanks Nbred94.
I would want around 1.5" to get the "flush" look.
I have been searching for some aftermarket wheels, but haven't found a reasonable setup.
IMO 17s or 18s look good with AT tires on a stock height 4x4.
I'll search a bit more.
I don't want to use spacers, but I would be very satisfied if my stockers just sat a bit wider. Kind of a stealth mod that would make the truck look "right"

I got it with the flares because I planned on getting wider/offset wheels.
However, I have expensive taste.
I just want to get the wheels to fit the truck for now, if I can.

 

The Breeze has spacers on his. I am not sure how big...PM him.

 

My best friend had some on his 72 corvette and while we were on our way to florida from NY the lugs all loosened up on the left rear. When I got the car stopped there was only one nut left on and 3 studs were broken. His were the type that the lug nut went into.
We had just checked them an hour earlier and all was fine.
I had the type in your link on the front of my AMX and they came loose but the problem was you had to pull the wheel to check them. I highly advise against them unless you want to pull your wheels weekly to check them.
Bob

 

If you really want some good cheap wheels try here CenterLine Wheel sale . They might have a style you like. I just bought my 20s for $700 total with shipping and their great wheels. Not very heavy also

 

a buddy of mine runs spacers on his Lifted 2500 Avalanche with 35's, he has then for years with no problems...

 

I run spacers on my truck. I also do some trail riding and have never had an issue. You just need to make sure to retorque them. I only run them on the back, would not trust them on the front I do not think. I run the billet alluminum ones like in the post above. They serve there purpose and have never caused me an issue. I have had them for at least a year now.