Opinions please on 1 inch lift? Wheel spacers?

[Area51BS]

Have a Badlands 4 door. If I wanted to just make it a little more aggressive looking. 1 inch lift? Thoughts on wheel spacers? Bad idea? I like the stock rims. I also like the truck just how it is. But it has me excited to make minor modifications. Raptor look is bad ass, but I don’t even want to come close to that level of mods.

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[rtazz17]

No wheel spacers. (Bad idea). Just research it and you will see. Get a more aggressive rim offset if you want a wider stance. You like the rims you have so……1 inch lift wont change it much at all. Jmo

 

[Sitruc_btb]

Here's my Badlands 4 door. Minor mods.
34.4"(315.70.r17) tires. 1.5" lift all around.
I have no experience with wheel spacers, but peeps say as long as you use quality spacers like Bora, Borne, etc, and keep up on the lug nut torque, you shouldnt have a problem.

 

[2020FordRaptor]

Have a Badlands 4 door. If I wanted to just make it a little more aggressive looking. 1 inch lift? Thoughts on wheel spacers? Bad idea? I like the stock rims. I also like the truck just how it is. But it has me excited to make minor modifications. Raptor look is bad ass, but I don’t even want to come close to that level of mods.

I think a little lift would be good. Stay away from wheel spacers.

 

[Theherofails]

You're going to find a lot of people against wheel spacers, but they're fine. Honest. I do recommend doing your own research (on any topic), but as long as they are quality, hub centric and you install them correctly, you'll have zero issues - as long as the size is reasonable. I run 1.5" spacers to clear my UCA's and have ran them multiple times in the past on other vehicles. There are some additional stresses added to the vehicle, but its really no different than running wheels with a similar offset.

I'm not sure where this die hard attitude came from in the US that wheel spacers can't be driven off-road, but you see it pop up constantly. Can't tell you the number of vehicles I've seen clear the Rubicon with spacers installed..

Save some money by using 21' Ford Ranger spacers - same hub design, same bolt pattern and won't have that dreaded Bronco mark up. Dimensionally identical.

My Bronco's stance is VERY aggressive (I'm about 5-6" wider than factory Sasquatch now, between larger tires and spacers). That plus the fender flare deletes makes for an almost comical stance.

 

[BlueBronco]

Wheels spacers are fine. I ran them for years on my modded JKU that saw plenty of off road use. Also currently run them on my wife's BL. Just buy quality parts and install properly.

As far as a spacer lift, I wouldn't do more than 1".

 

[Southern Girl]

I have a one inch lift on my non SAS obx. I like it and I think it looks better.

 

[Bronco1971]

You're going to find a lot of people against wheel spacers, but they're fine. Honest. I do recommend doing your own research (on any topic), but as long as they are quality, hub centric and you install them correctly, you'll have zero issues - as long as the size is reasonable. I run 1.5" spacers to clear my UCA's and have ran them multiple times in the past on other vehicles. There are some additional stresses added to the vehicle, but its really no different than running wheels with a similar offset.

I found an article posted on this very board from Maximum Motorsports, written by Jack Hidley. It will be difficult to find a more reputable source of suspension engineering information. He made the point that wheel spacers are not going to be dangerous, in that your wheel isn't going to fall off because of them. The force holding the wheel to the mounting surface is friction and that a properly sized and torqued lug nut takes zero shear force. The lug nuts are torqued close to the elastic limit and constantly try to "spring back" into their static shape, which puts a tremendous amount of friction force between the mounting surfaces.

There are, of course, other geometric changes that will occur due to the centerline of the wheel being farther outboard, and there will be greater moment arms against certain parts in the control arms and steering. Not the least of which is that it will change the effective wheel rate, making the whole system feel softer in bump. There's also a potential for increased tramlining and brake squirm. Though in a well designed SLA suspension that shouldn't be too bad.

With all of that said, if you make modifications to an engineered (and tested) system you NEED to make a habit out of checking your components regularly. This isn't just with wheel studs, it's every single structural change you make could have an unintended consequence. It's better to be proactive than find the flaw in your thinking out in the boonies. (Check your lug nut torque often) Racing teams tear their vehicles down after every race for a reason. I'm not trying to discourage modifications, quite the opposite as I think it's a fascinating subject and one of the truly great things about the way the Bronco is designed.

 

[Theherofails]

I found an article posted on this very board from Maximum Motorsports, written by Jack Hidley. It will be difficult to find a more reputable source of suspension engineering information. He made the point that wheel spacers are not going to be dangerous, in that your wheel isn't going to fall off because of them. The force holding the wheel to the mounting surface is friction and that a properly sized and torqued lug nut takes zero shear force. The lug nuts are torqued close to the elastic limit and constantly try to "spring back" into their static shape, which puts a tremendous amount of friction force between the mounting surfaces.

There are, of course, other geometric changes that will occur due to the centerline of the wheel being farther outboard, and there will be greater moment arms against certain parts in the control arms and steering. Not the least of which is that it will change the effective wheel rate, making the whole system feel softer in bump. There's also a potential for increased tramlining and brake squirm. Though in a well designed SLA suspension that shouldn't be too bad.

With all of that said, if you make modifications to an engineered (and tested) system you NEED to make a habit out of checking your components regularly. This isn't just with wheel studs, it's every single structural change you make could have an unintended consequence. It's better to be proactive than find the flaw in your thinking out in the boonies. (Check your lug nut torque often) Racing teams tear their vehicles down after every race for a reason. I'm not trying to discourage modifications, quite the opposite as I think it's a fascinating subject and one of the truly great things about the way the Bronco is designed.

VERY well said. Thank you.

 

[Area51BS]

Perhaps just a wider tire like they do on the Black Diamond is what I need when stock ones wear out. No real off-roading in Florida anyways

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