The Spacer Debate

I've picked up some Freelander alloys with some off-road/winter Kumho tyres on. The only problem is that I'm told they'll need 10mm spacers to clear the brake drums. I'm guessing from previous posts that these are older wheels, my car is an 03 model.

I see there is some debate about the effect on the wheel bearings, anyone have any thoughts based on experience?

I have some old 10mm spacers and extended bolts that I used on my Audi. I only have the the two, would just fitting those to the rears likely have any real impact?

Also to save me having to venture out in the wind and rain, does anyone know if hubcentric spacers will fit the Freelander and also what type of bolts are used?

How much do you want to lessen your freelanders already short life by ?

Hi chipfork,

Are you sure its the rear drums that need to be cleared?
I would have thought the hassle would most likely be the front brake calipers.

You could check this quite easily by getting a handful (say a dozen) large washers and try them on the wheel studs to see what thickness of spacer you need. If it's more than 7mm you will most likely need to fit longer studs.

FOR GOD'S SAKE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE WITH THESE WASHERS IN POSITION.

Sorry if you think I am shouting but this washer trick is purely to see what clearance you need. I do not want your injury or worse on my conscience. Remember to add on 2 or three millimetres extra clearance to allow for flexing.

3mm, 7mm, and 10mm aluminium spacers are quite cheap on eBay. You will certainly put extra strain on the bearings, nuts and studs and should use a torque wrench to tighten the wheel nuts - 115Nm

WARNING: You should of course tell your insurance company. You should NOT travel to Germany or Austria (and perhaps a few other places) with spacers as they will not allow them unless specifically permitted by LandRover and recorded in the Reg Docs. If you have an accident - even not your fault you will be in deep **** and they will not recognise your insurance as valid.

I'm sure you are a very sensible person and will do no wrong - but I do not want anyone saying that I was encouraging you to break any laws. For all I know you may only want to fit these wheels for off-road use.

I have 7mm alloy spacers which I put on only when I fit snow chains, to clear the struts and lower coil spring seating.

Thanks Singvogel.

I've just gone by what I was told by the guy who had the wheels. He had a 2004 facelift and thought the rear hubs had changed hence why he needed spacers. He thought they might just go straight on an earlier model, like mine for example.
I guess the only thing I can do is try them and see how they fit.

I understand the additional stresses and strains from using spacers but will it have a huge impact. It's only a temporary 'winter' solution and the car won't be off-roaded or exposed to any serious stress (hopefully).

My insurance company is mod-friendly so hopefully using spacers will be negated by using 'winter' wheels. I've used spacers on other cars before and have always been careful when fitting; I'll makes sure to use copper grease and also torque the bolts on and keep checking them weekly.

You should be OK then.

It's when you start into longer studs that things get stressed.

I'm no wheel expert but the ones from my 2002 fitted my present 2004 TD4.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I think its the much earlier wheels that don't fit the later models so wheels newer than the vehicle you have will be OK.

Hope it works out.

i think it was 99 models onwards fit each other pre 99 wont fit after 99 models. it was when the front calipers got changed.

Found the issue, it is the rears, when the wheel is on they have no clearance from the drums so are pressed flush against it. I don't have any washers to hand but by my estimation I don't need any more than a 7mm spacer, actually if they made 5mm spacers that would probably do.

The hubcentric 10mm spacers I have won't fit anyway so it's either a mate in the trade, eBay or Halfords.

I'm curious about the wheels, I'm guessing they're pre-2000. I'll get some pics but to describe; they're very similar in design to the 6-spoke 17" wheels on my Kalahari model, they're actually 5-spoke 16" but same if not very similar style. Unfortunately I can't find any part numbers on them.

You can use 6mm spacers, some people have used 5mm but it's very tight with 5mm. Even with the 6mm ones you will still have a very small amount of the hub spigot protruding to centre the wheel on the hub but 6mm is as thick as you want to go. You'll will also need the same 6mm spacers for the front to clear the calipers as well. Don't worry about the stud length as they are plenty long enough for these.