to space or not to space THAT is the question

I know this topic has been raised 8 million times before and i know opinions are very mixed on this but I would like to know are 30mm wheel spacers really that bad? I want them to increase my overall track width (not gonna put offset wheels on) mainly for cosmetic reasons but also to try to get a better turning circle, i rarely venture properly offroad (greenlaning etc).

Now every mechanically minded die hard landrover person on this forum will tell me how it puts a lot of strain on the wheel bearings etc and class it as a uneccasary "bling" item but i would like to hear ONLY from people who have actual experience with fitting 30mm spacers to a Disco1, will my bearings really wear out that much faster? if it means changing them every 5 years instead of 10 i can live with that, if it means changing bits every year i'll give it a miss, also are they dangerous? Has anyone got them on their Disco? How long have they had em on for? Have they developed any problems? Has anyone added them only to remove them at a later date due to problems?

What are the actual pros and cons to fitting spacers? No hypothetical answers please just experienced ones, cheers, Nice 1 fellas!

I was getting wheel spacers for my 300 until last week. After a days offroading one of the discos rear wheel CAME OFF... ON THE MOTORWAY! He was very lucky. It sheared the studs, he has wheel spacers.

I'm not going to bother.

If they are fitted correctly to the right torque with locktite they are fine, nothing to worry about.
Its when people put them on and do them up with the factory wheel brace problems occur!
I have a set on my 90 for when i use it on the road and green laning, because i want it a bit wider like you do. with 300bhp and cruising speeds you dont want to know about i have had no problems.
Like i said fit them properly and make sure they are good ones not some knock offs.
Only downside is they are a pain to remove if you got to get your shafts of hubs off to do your brakes.

daveyboy300tdi said:

I was getting wheel spacers for my 300 until last week. After a days offroading one of the discos rear wheel CAME OFF... ON THE MOTORWAY! He was very lucky. It sheared the studs, he has wheel spacers.

I'm not going to bother.

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Bloody hell! do you know if they were fitted professionally or by himself? was it loosened up by the off roading? is this common?

like i said, common if not fitted properly which probably 9 times out of 10 is the case!
There are exceptions of course. Breakages do occur but not just wheel spacers, just they have got a bad name because of so many stories.

To gain a better turning circle I assume you are going to adjust the stop bolts? If this is the case will this not put additional strain on the CV's? Or am I missing something here?

I tried spacers on a racer to get tyre clearence and ripped the studs straight out, to be fair this was a car and not a 4x4 which puts less tractive load on the studs anyway, this off course assumes no serious off roading.

regards

Dave