MR TIKI
Posted a lot
TIKI,style from a different angle!
Posts: 1,154
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Oct 21, 2014 19:14:01 GMT
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 I've had a set of these sitting about nearly as long as the Tiki Mobile has been off the road,having had lots of help recently it shouldn't be long before it's back. I picked them up to push the banded steels on the rear out far enough to fill the arches but have had mixed responses to say the least about the idea fitting them.it's my understanding that they came on the Clan as standard anyway,if these are a no-no can anyone tell me what's out there that does the job more safely or better? Cheers Bryan (Happy to be smelling like I drive an old Imp again) |
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Boldly driving faster than a tin worm can wiggle.
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Oct 21, 2014 19:25:21 GMT
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Hi Brian, you can get group 4 escorts wheel studs which are longer and the same thread as the imp, I use them with solid 20mm spacers, I too have heard bad things about the cosmic spacers, the extention bolts wear and turn in the spacer.you have to drill the hub/drum slightly to get the studs to fit properly.
Hope this helps, it would be good to see Tikimobile at Wicked Welsh one year mate.
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Oct 21, 2014 20:14:10 GMT
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DANGER DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE!
Those spacers are an absolute liability. You lose a massive amount of contact area on the hub, and what you do have is soft compressible ally. Plus you won't be able to tighten the "studs" up properly so they won't sit even. And, there's no hub location. They are a disaster waiting to happen and will end up getting all spacers/adapters banned one day.
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Oct 21, 2014 20:54:12 GMT
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I've run hubcentric spacers for a while now with no issues. Bimec are a quality brand, and come with correct length bolts. The ones you have come from an age when smoking was good for you, things have changed.
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fogey
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,598
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Oct 21, 2014 21:35:19 GMT
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Many, many years ago I used these on the rear of a Ford Corsair - knocked out the hub bearings within a couple of months . . .
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Oct 22, 2014 23:13:40 GMT
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DANGER DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE! Those spacers are an absolute liability. You lose a massive amount of contact area on the hub, and what you do have is soft compressible ally. Plus you won't be able to tighten the "studs" up properly so they won't sit even. And, there's no hub location. They are a disaster waiting to happen and will end up getting all spacers/adapters banned one day. Yeh but apart from that?  |
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Oct 23, 2014 10:08:40 GMT
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Hi, back in the day, they were never trusted because the studs were "two part" and spacers with longer studs were the preferred option. We are much better served nowadays with a wide variety of studs and wheel nuts available. High quality spacer/adaptors are another thing not readily available back then, unless you knew someone who could knock them up, very much a home industry. We used to use spacers because wide wheels were no widely available, in fact Weller wheels started out banding wheels.
Sorry, I am reminiscing now, I will stop!
Colin
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AB car pix
Posted a lot
Car mag' snapper
Posts: 1,337
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Oct 23, 2014 10:15:54 GMT
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These exact spacers are pretty much the main reason why spacers have a bad name! Just look at the design, and then consider the material they're made of.... Really no surprise that they were the cause of many a wheel bouncing down a street! Steer clear |
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1979 Chrysler Horizon 1.3 GL 1980 Ford Granada 2.8 Ghia 1985 Ford Sierra 3dr 1985 Ford Escort Mk3 1988 Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 1989 Ford Escort 1.3 Popular 1995 Volvo 960 1996 BMW 525i 1998 BMW 323i 1999 BMW 530d 2003 BMW 530i . www.facebook.com/ABCARPIX |
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MR TIKI
Posted a lot
TIKI,style from a different angle!
Posts: 1,154
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Oct 27, 2014 21:22:39 GMT
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Hi Brian, you can get group 4 escorts wheel studs which are longer and the same thread as the imp, I use them with solid 20mm spacers, I too have heard bad things about the cosmic spacers, the extention bolts wear and turn in the spacer.you have to drill the hub/drum slightly to get the studs to fit properly. Hope this helps, it would be good to see Tikimobile at Wicked Welsh one year mate. ;)It's looking like I might well make it to the Wicked Welsh next year now it's back on the street. |
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Boldly driving faster than a tin worm can wiggle.
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MR TIKI
Posted a lot
TIKI,style from a different angle!
Posts: 1,154
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Oct 27, 2014 21:28:26 GMT
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It's been interesting learning about these spacers from different forums,it would appear that if they are fitted,used and checked properly that they are safe enough and fit for purpose.as with most things if they are not used properly then bad stuff can happen.
the jury is still out.......
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Boldly driving faster than a tin worm can wiggle.
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Oct 27, 2014 23:12:36 GMT
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These exact spacers are pretty much the main reason why spacers have a bad name! Just look at the design, and then consider the material they're made of.... Really no surprise that they were the cause of many a wheel bouncing down a street! Steer clear amen. Ive only ever known one person (personaly) to put these on a car. It was a Mini. It didnt end well. |
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Oct 28, 2014 18:27:18 GMT
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ooh yes I used to use these on the old mini's, a 1" spacer with 10" rims 6j wellers etc, with wide arches, they looked amazing, the only problem I ever had was that they helped kill front wheel bearings.
a mate of mine had same set up, he had work done on his brakes by kwik fit one day and the very same night, the wheel left his car thankfully at a slow speed in roadworks on the M61 near bolton, the screw on "extensions" had not been tightened properly.
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steveg
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,565
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Oct 28, 2014 19:37:57 GMT
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The ones I have seen were really badly made and the material used for the spacer itself really didn't look fit for the job. I've got spacers fitted on my Volvo 940 so I could fit later front wheel drive alloys but they are German made H&R hub centric ones that bolt to the hub and then have new studs to attach the wheel with. These are 25mm think, any thinner than that longer studs and hubcentric billet spacers would be the only way to go.  |
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Oct 28, 2014 23:25:33 GMT
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I had cosmic spacers on a Reliant Robin (rear wheels only).
I didn't have any problems in the short time I used them, but remember that as well as all of the correctly pointed out problems with the design it was not possible to tighten all of the extensions to the same torque.
If you tightened them all the same and the flats weren't in line with the slots you had to either overtighten them severely or undertighten them.
They are a terrible design from an engineering point of view, anyone who has had no problems with them has just been lucky.
Some owners being lucky is not a reason to say that they are safe and fit for purpose if fitted and checked properly, they simply aren't, ask a mechanical designer or even anyone with a basic knowledge of materials and forces what they think, I'll tell you myself that they are an accident waiting to happen because of a complete lack of knowledge about materials and forces by the designer of them.
They do make a nice period garage ornament though, the only thing they are good for.
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MR TIKI
Posted a lot
TIKI,style from a different angle!
Posts: 1,154
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Oct 29, 2014 21:40:37 GMT
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all the talk of wheels flying off reminded me of this,it took a while to find because I thought it had been a Hamlet ad.
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Boldly driving faster than a tin worm can wiggle.
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Oct 29, 2014 23:24:05 GMT
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they were factory fitted on Clan Crusaders and I know one guy who still has them on his Clan that he races all over europe, but guess the difference is maintenance
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retired with too many projects!
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Colonelk
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,740
Club RR Member Number: 83
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cosmic spacers,friend or foe?Colonelk
@colonelk
Club Retro Rides Member 83
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Oct 30, 2014 12:45:37 GMT
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Ive used those on a Senator on track days/drift days...... nothing fell off.... but I havent used them for a long time now as I thought better of the idea!
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Oct 30, 2014 16:19:51 GMT
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I've never been a fan of this kind of spacer, people have already said why, there's no point repeating.
My wheels come off my cars when I'm rotating tyres, sorting breaks, or changing rubber over, so any spacer solution I'd want to be fit and forget.
I get the impression they'd need to be checked regularly.
For that reason, I'm out.
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The lurker formerly known as Cappuccinocruiser.. or wedgedout..
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Oct 30, 2014 17:11:46 GMT
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DANGER DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE! Those spacers are an absolute liability. You lose a massive amount of contact area on the hub, and what you do have is soft compressible ally. Plus you won't be able to tighten the "studs" up properly so they won't sit even. And, there's no hub location. They are a disaster waiting to happen and will end up getting all spacers/adapters banned one day. Ive run them on a reliant, metro, and a boat trailer with zero problems. Loads of older cars wernt hubcentric and the wheels didnt just fall off. Old bugs for example. Some old beetles are wheelstanding mentalists and arnt running hubcentric rims or spacers if needed. Older american stuff , plenty of those have non hubcentric wheels. Ive got some old cragars kicking around here with Unilug centres, and you could say they are equally bad. The alloy centre is a push fit into a steel rim, and theres very little meat around the hub, (could say compressable seeing as thers not much there) But They fitted those to plenty of drag cars etc... As for tightening up the studs, They "should" be slightly shorter than the depth of the spacer, Meaning you can run small shims under them to get them to tighten down at the right angle. They cant come undone due to the way the spacer is basicallly centralised by the studs. It basically works out the same as a aftermarket stud conversion to run Revolutions etc... Just my pence worth... As i said. Zero problems, Thousands of miles covered. |
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