I went to a shop that sells tires and wheels and does lifts. As you all know, for a wider tire on my 2015 JKU, I need new wheels or wheel spacers on the stock wheels. I live in PA and the manager of the shop told me all wheel spacers are illegal in PA. He wanted to sell me new wheels. My local mechanic said the manager is wrong wheel spacers are legal. He called them wheel adapters. Is there a difference and who is correct?
I've never heard of anyone claiming that spacers (or adapters) are illegal in and of themselves. But here in Texas is it technically illegal to have tires that extend beyond the edges of your fenders, so spacers could help make your legal vehicle "illegal."
(I have also never heard of anybody getting a citation for running tires outside the fenders.)
I would guess most vehicle codes would refer to spacers as something that simply slips onto your lugs and in turn the rim gets tightened against the spacer. These are dangerous and should be illegal. a wheel adaptor like spidertrax or synergy etc actually gets torqued to the stock lugs and uses oem quality lugs that the rims get torqued too.
Wheel spacers are just shims they go between the hub and the rim. They have holes for the studs to poke through.
Wheel adapters, used to change your bolt pattern. They bolt on, then have their own studs. They are typically used now to keep the same bolt pattern but work as a spacer. They are still wheel adapters.
I don't know when we started calling them spacers. (long long ago). If you want to research legality, you need to see if there is any law on the books for wheel adapters.
Let's not split hairs here... you can't have "adapters" without adding space. Adapters have always inherently been spacers. Spacers are not always adapters. In any case, the inspection requirements are quite clear. If he goes over 1/4" to increase the stance he fails. If the tires stick outside the fenders (pretty common with spacers and wider tires), he fails.
^^^A Forum is not the best place to get legal questions answered..IMO
Just call your local DOT, and they will answer your question....:thumb:
As Kjeeper10 has already stated, many of the reputable tire shops like DT (most of their stores), will not install wheels with adapters. They are concerned about the liability factor!!!
^^^A Forum is not the best place to get legal questions answered..IMO Just call your local DOT, and they will answer your question....:thumb: As Kjeeper10 has already stated, many of the reputable tire shops like DT (most of their stores), will not install wheels with adapters. They are concerned about the liability factor!!!
I've called PennDOT about this and they had no clue. I even talked to a vehicle inspection person who regulates the inspection stations. He basically stated that the law is the law and mechanics that are licensed can interpret it as part of their duties. I asked my attorney and he said its a grey area because the Commonwealth has not defined what a spacer is or excluded the use of adapters. I asked a Magisterial Judge and he said it seemed like a vague requirement and he wouldn't convict someone unless there was something more involved hat proved that it was unsafe. My inspection mechanic didn't even blink. He felt that spacers were things that went over the studs and reduced the threads and created an unsafe situation. I feel that I've done my due diligence and I run them. YMMV.
If the tire shop said spacers are illegal and he wanted to sell you wheels, then he's probably not objecting to the extra width and the potential of tires sticking out past the flares. He's responding to the spacer/adapter itself.
And it probably doesn't matter whether he's truly right or wrong. What he believes will dictate his actions. If he thinks they're illegal he won't deal with them and you're out of luck.
LOL, the last two Porsches I had (but not my current one) had factory installed "spacers", circular plates that served to widen the track of the car. OEM wheels, OEM spacers (you can so order it on the Porsche Configurator for several hundred dollars.) One of these cars had a top speed of 173mph and the other 196mph. I don't think the mere presence of spacers renders things unsafe.
To be fair, Porsches have always used wheel bolts rather than threaded studs and lug nuts. But still, as long as your studs have sufficient thread left for the lug nuts to fully engage with threads their entire depth, there's no harm in not having an additional 1/2" of stud sticking out beyond the lugnut.
Even if you can finagle your way around the definition of a spacer... if the tires extend beyond the fenders that could cause an issue for inspection or a nitpicky LEO, no?
I agree with you, but think of it in different terms.
2A : A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed
Reality, if I bear arms here in NJ I go directly to jail for 5 years minimum.
Now back on topic we are talking about wheel spacers and not guns, I have spidertrax spacers and have no problems with them. Hell, I had a volkswagen that used 4 to 5 lug adapters and at 80mph and a thousands of miles on them, I never had problems with them either.
The fact of the matter is you would need to substantiate the difference between adapters and spacers, and make sure there is no legislation written specifically about adapters.
My opinion, take them off for inspection, take the odds on the fact that a cop will most likely not notice them, unless you give him a reason to go over your rig with a fine tooth comb.
They are safe to use when used properly, checked at oil changes to make sure they are all tight and evenly torqued. Attention is payed to vibrations in steering.
I think that is pretty accurate. As I recall when the requirements were reviewed, there wasn't anything about adapter, it was just spacer. That is what made the argument valid and for me it would be worth the fight if I lived in a state that was actually that stupid... I don't.
I have to agree. Where the law is concerned, words matter. What we call spacers and really offset adapters. If they law says spacers and doesn't define in such a way to include offset adapters, then you're probably good to go, fender coverage issues notwithstanding.
However, that doesn't mean the cop or the DMV inspector knows that or even cares. Legal in theory and legal in practice are two different things. Call the DOT/DMV or the Highway Patrol/State Troopers and ask. Unless you're willing to get a lawyer and fight it in court, do what they tell you do and move on with your life.
90% of what we do modifying our Jeeps falls into a grey area nobody cares about. But let some moronic County Mountie find a theory/practice/definition thing he can exploit and watch out. He will have the municipal/state/federal pockets to make his case. If he gets that tunnel vision ego thing going you will not win. And he has the scare tactic of trucks killing people when they lose a wheel.
There are simple choices here. Buy spacers.... if you do not change bolt pattern they are NOT adapters.... or buy rims with the correct offset. So simple to avoid the contraversy. Just buy rims which fit. Those are legal.
X2 ^^^^ 90% of what we do modifying our Jeeps falls into a grey area nobody cares about. But let some moronic County Mountie find a theory/practice/definition thing he can exploit and watch out. He will have the municipal/state/federal pockets to make his case. If he gets that tunnel vision ego thing going you will not win. And he has the scare tactic of trucks killing people when they lose a wheel. There are simple choices here. Buy spacers.... if you do not change bolt pattern they are NOT adapters.... or buy rims with the correct offset. So simple to avoid the contraversy. Just buy rims which fit. Those are legal.
But are they really? Is it legal in your state to be uncertified to properly torque your lug nuts? If it really comes down to spacers(adapters) in court, I think the legal system failed somewhere. Myself, I would probably be the smart ass if I got pulled over just for spacers, and I'd grab my jack and lug wrench out of the back and say "ok, hold on while I take them off." My small, anti legal, legality recommendation is as follows: If it's a gray area and you can't get any legal/LEO/administrative contradiction, do what you want, but do it safely. If you do end up getting cited for it, ask for the citing agency to clarify the law, pay your fine, and sell your spacers(adapters). Odds are the spacers will recoup your fine $, if it comes to that. I honestly doubt it will.
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