The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop S10 Frame swap/ Front wheel spacers???

I am statring a swap of a s10 frame under a 48 burb and read that I will need to run 2" spacers on the front wheels to get them away from the inner fenders.
Will this not put a lot of pressure on the inner wheel bearings or BOTH of them.
If so whats the answer?
Thanks,
rodnut

No, it will be fine with the spacers.

This is something that some people say you need to do. It all depends on how you want the truck to look. I'm running 15x8" wheels on the front of my 46 with 3-1/2" backspacing and no spacers. There will be no clearance issues, and my truck is fairly low, and I have 2" dropped spindles in the front.

If you're wanting more of a stock track width, you'll need the spacers. Personally I like the fat tire look tucked into the fenders, and a lot of reverse on the wheels, so that's how I set mine up.

Thats good to know.
Glad to know I have options
Thanks

to answer your question, yes, putting wheel spacers increases bearing moment. however you will be fine for the most part.

with wheel spacers you are adding unsprung weight though, and that is always a negative

its because of not wanting to do spacers is why I developed my own kit to put GM metric IFS under a stock frame with a stock track width.

The new spacers are billet aluminum... the amount of unsprung weight you're adding really isn't enough to be noticeable. Any change in wheels and tires to any vehicle changes the unsprung weight. In most cases it makes no difference. To each their own, there are tons of options out there.

Spacers will also mess up the scrub radius, sai, and included angle dimensions. If you do run spacers of that thickness, get the kind that have their own set of wheel studs on them, rather than using extra long studs. Also, be aware that most tire shops will not service vehicles with spacers of either type over 1/4" in thickness, unless they were oe to the vehicle (ex. IROC Camaro) due to liability issues.

An 8" wheel is not bad at all. I just wonder if there is a lot of room between the tire and the fender lip. Does the wheel well look m/t? Does the front end look to narrow?
I'm going ahead anyway because it appears to be the best option. No bumpsteer problems, advanced suspension, late rear end, ect.
I am curious how much frame shows under the running boards..
Thanks to all for the input...
Rodnut

How much frame shows under the running boards depends completely on how low you place the body on the frame. On your suburban you may have to choose between how much rear floor you want to lose and how low you want the body over the frame.

an 8" wheel with 3.5" backspace fills the wheelwells quite well, while leaving enough room for turning. In the back 15x10" with a 3.75" backspace fills it good, but that's on a pickup and with tubbing the box. You might have to play with it on your setup.

Is there any difference between putting wheel spacers in rather than having wheels with more back spacing (besides having a deeper dish wheel)?
Seems to me any more stress on the bearings or changes to the turn radius would be the same for either option. Comments?

It would actually be less backspacing for a deeper dish wheel, but to answer the question, no, there isn't really any difference. Anything that changes the wheel centerline in relation to the spindle center centerline will cause the same issues, be it spacers or a change in backspace/offset.

For what it's worth, I have read many many times people concerned or telling other people to be concerned about bearing stress or turning radius with different offset wheels.

My dad's '52 with an S-10 frame is running 8" wheels with 3.5" backspace on the front and has over 20,000 KM's (12,500 miles) on the truck since built with absolutely no chassis issues. The truck has a 454 in it, and the bearings were checked and repacked but not replaced when the truck was built and are still tight and have no issue. The rear runs 10" wheels with 3.75" backspacing with 285/70 tires on the stock S-10 rear end, with no issues either. My 46 is over 6300 KM (3900 miles), with the same wheel and tires sizes and offsets and the same result.

All those with concern about bearing life because of wheel offset might want to keep this in mind.

The S10 suspension was designed for a TRUCK which meant the bearings and other components were designed to hold the weight of the truck PLUS a load in the bed. The additional lever arm length gained when using spacers still is within the designed range. If one has spacers plus a thousand pounds in the bed then the ground might be getting a little shaky.

That's actually incorrect. The S10 suspension is based on the '78-'88 GM A and G body metric Passenger car suspension on the 2wds, and the Oldsmobile Toronado/Cadillac Eldorado/Buick Riviera suspensions for the 4wd. In either case, adding spacer WILL alter the alignment specs, including several dimensions that have no factory adjustment, as they are designed into the spindle itself.

Enlighten us which dimensions have no factory adjustment on an S-10 that would be affected by spacers?

Scrub Radius ,which is dependent on the location of the wheel centerline in relation to Steering Axis Inclination, which is built into the spindle is not adjustable. Also, camber angles can be affected, though that can be compensated for with factory adjustments. Altering the Scrub Radius can affect handling, especially Positive Scrub Radius (moving the wheel outboard).