Eibach 15mm spacers installed w/ stock wheels
 

long story short i've been trying to get these for a long time. Eibach has been out of stock for months, and probably won't get these in the states again. in the beginning of january, they thought maybe drivewire might have them in stock based on an order placed in september, i ordered them online through drivewire and in the process, i had to fight with and eventually do a chargeback against them for not refunding money. it was a harrowing experience. thanks to eibach and a resourceful inside sales rep, i had these sent from germany and they finally arrived today.

before-
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1714.jpg
after-
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1723.jpg

before-
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1713.jpg
after-
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1725.jpg

before-
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1183.jpg
after-
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1720.jpg

the spacers-
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1718.jpg
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1709.jpg
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1711.jpg
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1716.jpg
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1717.jpg

i'll get some better 'after' pics, but the wheels are significantly bumped out now. they do NOT rub under any circumstances; i drove around under all kinds of conditions and haven't rubbed once.

the setup this is equivelent to is a 18x7.5 42 with 225 tire, which is a common 'well filling' wheel combination.

It looks much much better. I love the new look. How is the handling?

thanks. it's definitely different, but i've yet to quantify exactly how it's different. to me it seems like there is alot more initial turn in, but i'm unsure of how that can be from just this modification.

very cool. I want a set. Is Eibach the only one that offers something like that? How much did they set you back?

eibach is the only one that makes this type with the studs in the spacer, in 15mm. H&R has them like this but at much higher thicknesses. there are a few generic types available on ebay, but i'd never suggest anyone use those. one thing to keep in mind is these studded type spacers are 100% holding your wheels on, so it makes sense to use the best available.

H&R and Eibach make regular 15mm hub centric spacers that would require you to install included longer studs. this sucks because 1. it's alot more work and 2. you can't go back to stock w/o using open ended lug nuts, but hey, it's one way to get a 15mm bump

shipping was 77 dollars on these puppies. i can't say how much i paid for them, however, if you are interested in them elbartorex might be able to arrange something through his company JSC speed. he is direct with eibach and could potentially set something up through germany, i'm not sure.

it looks way better then the stock ones

not gonna lie that looks pretty good!

I'm a little bit concerned about this change in dynamics you mentioned.

thanks!

lex, i need some more time to nail it down, but it's definately good, not bad. it might just be the overall feeling of the wider track that gives me the turn in feeling. the overall track is a little less than 1.25 inches wider total, so who knows for sure....

Cool, interested to know your findings.

Looks great! Think there will be any importing of them soon?

That makes the offset on the stock now +65 right?

Looks great!

i don't think so. i don't think they (for the mazdas) sold very well for the time they were here (which was a couple years!), but, i also don't think the ms3/ms6 community really tried them (for some reason). maybe i'm wrong, but it doesn't seem like anyone really used these with our cars from my research.

Odd, you think more would... Let us know how it goes.

yeah i think just noone decided to try it, especially at the time when they were readily available. also, for some reason, they never listed the ms3 as an application for the spacers, but, then again, they didn't even make a pro-kit for the ms3 until the middle of last year.

i'm kind of hoping that this will revive the idea because i'm really pleased with how they look and i think alot of people will like their stock wheels more if they are bumped out like this.

like i said, i *think* elbartorex can get them from eibach, through germany, but it's something that needs to be discussed.

I had spacers on my old SVT Contour and the car started to shake a bit when at highway speeds until I rotated the wheels around until I found it stopped ... the thought occurred to me at the time of what I would do if I didn`t find a solution with the rotating and I wondered if the wheels could be balanced on the car or if the spacers could be put on the balancing machine along with the wheels.

Have you had it up to highway speed yet?

Like my old SVT it looks much better now!

No, it would equate to +37.5.

Thanks for the compliment. yeah i put all kinds of miles on them, including a drive on the highway.

what spacers were they?

the reason i ask is legit hub centric spacers won't do that UNLESS there was some sort of obstruction on the hub center or face, like rust...some sort of accumulation of junk. in that case, the spacer will not be able to sit flush to the hub. otherwise it's physically impossible because they are computer machined and the center bore hugs the center of the hub. by legit i mean those made by H&R and Eibach.

What suspension do you have? Eibach?

yep! eibach pro-kit

Explain that to me. How is adding more to the back spacing making the offset less? You're adding 15mm more to the current offset right?

VTEC is correct but yeah, it's odd to think about. it's an equivalency thing, really. he's saying our wheel, but with a 37.5 offset, would stick out as much as what i have (52.5 with the 15mm spacer)

this might help explain that...

i have the variables already plugged in for the change, 52 offset vs. 37 (since you can't do .5 in this)

Wheel-Tire size comparer - RIMS-N-TIRES

Ok, so the outside would equal to a 37 offset and the inside should equal to a 65 offset?

Here they are on ebay.
eBay Motors: Eibach 90.4.15.002.1 Pro-Spacer 1999-2004 FORD Mustang (item 200303912557 end time Feb-27-09 07:01:23 PST)

take my word for it- call them before you order and make sure they guarantee the item is available. do NOT trust the in stock number on that auction.

i would be willing to bet the item is not in stock. Eibach themselves has not had them for months on end; it'd be very odd for some obscure company to have them sitting around.

email from that ebay store:

Mike,



I see the reason for your inquiry. We do not have them physically in our MI warehouse so we would have to source them directly to Eibach and they do appear to be on backorder there as well. The ETA on their site is for 2/18. Please check back with me in a couple of weeks if you are still interested.



Thanks,



Dan

800 470 1443


And also, built hatch, did they come in a set of 4?

nah, two sets of two. isn't it asinine that they list that they have 6 on that auction, but in reality, they have none? that's what half of these guys do. that is NOT what JSC does, that is why i patronize JSC, i never get BS. i learned my lesson with DW.

I apologize for bringing this thread back from the dead. Who did you speak with at JSC? I am interested in the 15mm.

Are you still using this setup or have you opted for another one since your last post?

I would love a set just for the rear! Seems like it would accent the bubble back end much like a C4S.

I would also like to invest in a set of these, I take it they are rather hard to come by?

Based on this thread, I would assume so. I would like to hear from builthatch before I start making any mistakes. I hope he finds this thread or checks his PM inbox.

I never saw this thread before, but to clarify this you must first understand what "offset" refers to. The "offset" of the wheel is the amount of distance away from the wheel's vertical centerline that the wheel's hub mating surface sits. Zero offset wheels have that hub mating surface directly in the middle of the wheel. Positive offset wheels have that hub mating surface closer to the outside of the wheel (as it's mounted on the car), and negative offset wheels have that hub mating surface closer to the inside of the wheel (as it's mounted on the car).

Offset is not the same as "backspacing."

This diagram sums it up:

http://www.conceptonewheels.com/images/anatomy.jpg


I also want to comment on how this modification affects handling dynamics, as it seems a new rash of people are interested in performing it and I'd like them to be well-informed.

Doing this mod will significantly increase your scrub radius and will increase your car's susceptibility to torque steer. It will also have what some might describe as an adverse effect on the "passive rear steer" effect utilized by the SLA "control blade" rear suspension (through it's effective lengthening of the moment arm of the system). It will also likely cause your hubs/bearings to wear a little bit faster from the alteration in vector geometry with the forces involved at those areas.

Just something you need to be aware of...

i just bought the ichiba 15mm spacers and they will be on tomm. ill post up a thread

That would be great. Are they similar to the Eibach 15mm spacers?

i think people are just using offset as it applies in this thread as an equivelency reference to wheel changes people are making vs. how far these spacers bump the wheel, since centerline references and comparisons would be alot more trivial and confusing in those cases.

regarding scrub radius, i talked about this before, i swear we did...maybe it was on a different forum hehe

while going wild could definitely potentially flip the neg scrub radius, with this minimal amount, the benefits from the wider track outweight the slight reduction in negative SR.

this is incredibly negligible compared to what most people on here are doing with wheel offsets.

i've had them on for several months now and have noticed nothing negative from a performance perspective. whether or not there is some sort of culmulative load issue on the bearings, i won't see it in the few years i have this car. that is the gamble i took ; )

IAM, yes, speak to Aaron at JSC!

regarding Ichiba or any other ebay brand...

these spacers essentially hold your wheels on your car, since they are studded. i trust the materials, measurements, R&D and machining of eibach. i don't use knock-off wheels, and i would not suggest using knock off studded spacers. if you were using regular hub centric spacers, with either the stock studs or longer studs, that is a different story, but this style, where it is bolted to the hub and then the wheel bolted to the spacer....i'd only run a mass market heartily R&D'd product.

Yeah, I seem to remember visiting this issue briefly with you before...

Can you further clarify what you mean here?:

Using 15 mm spacers does the same thing to your scrub radius as running a wheel with a +35 mm offset, which I would argue has a larger tangible effect on the alteration of your scrub radius than it has on the widening of your front and rear track...

That being said, if you're happy with the car's dynamics and it suits you, more power to you. ;)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_1717.jpg

help me out here...

since im too lazy to readthe other reply's...

doesn't the rim now sit on the end of the shorter studs.. instead of flush against the hub?

No. I believe they protrude into the "void spaces" on the mating face of the wheels, if that makes sense...

I would imagine there are some wheels that wouldn't work with these, depending on their design.

Wow that looks great, gonna look into this a little bit.

thanks...yep. you are correct as some wheels don't have those negative voids.

Are you sure there are void spaces on the stock rims to take up the protruding stock studs? I'm not a big fan of cutting the stock studs just in case I want to take the spacers off, thanks.

Woops that was already answered! THANKS!

Could Spacers Of This Thickness Prematurely Wear Out The Hub Bearings?

Yes.


...enough to keep the type of people who put spacers on for looks from doing it? Probably not.


It also affects steering feel and the car's propensity to torque steer.