I've seen that some people run wheel spacers on the rims I have (914s) on a similar car (BJ swing beetle), ie: 8mm on the front and 25mm on the back. I'm pretty sure they're illegal over here, but why do people run them?

for clearance. i need 10mm spacers on the back of one of my rides, so the tyres clear the spring plates.

Porsche come with them standard so that makes them legal apparently

ive done some research, the type of spacers that are just bits of steel/aluminium with holes in them are illegal if they are over 5mm thick. They are legal however if they were fitted from factory.

However, you can use the type that bolts onto the hub, then the wheel bolts onto them separately, as these are counted as adaptors. However adaptors cannot have more than one bolt pattern.

Spacers were always illegal in NSW, even back in the 60s , but they were advertised for sale in South Australia...
so I presume they were legal in SA....

A pair of 25mm spacers give You that "Negative camber" on a swing axle beetle... for better handling....

I used to love that "illegal" look....

and Yet You can buy Magnesium Rims with Multi holes for different pattern cars... but not so for adapters...
They are sold in the UK by most VW Shops....

Lee

Illegal in S.A unless fitted from factory

What about when you put a Porsche Hub on a Beetle? Does this mean you can use spacers?

In NSW, If you use the porsche suspension yes,

that way the car is judged on the whole back axle set-up as per its specs on a porsche.

I have type 3 IRS suspension on the back of my 60' buggy, so the wheels and tyres have to meet the requirements for a type 3 on the rear. Where as the front is all beetle, so it has to meet beetle requirements. Weird but true. That it was fully engineered and certified by an RTA signatory goes without saying.

Its also even more weird when the semi-trailing arms on late beetles are actually the same part as a porsche 928 as ive heard. Which i think had the option of spacers from the factory...

All very interesting and surprising. Steve C, I was going to ask you what Matara did, so I guess I have to do something about my illegal car, even though It was approved recently when I got a Blue slip... I have Porsche hubs but not Porsche suspension. There's so many contradictions that it makes it hard to know where you stand. I think that if you get the car registered then it should therefore prove it to be legal. The RTA should be held responsible if they allow a car to be registered that shouldn't be. Unfortunately this isn't the case but it would be easy if it was...

Hi

When the car is inspected its really not that detailed, the thing that worries me that if crash into Rolls Royce or something, the insurance guys would love to find someone to blame, if your car is illegal you will foot the bill or you will have to try to shift blame to the inspector.

Steve

yeah thats what i'm worried about. So i want to try to get the engineer's report to mention them or something so I have it in writing!

Jon, love your avatar, have you seen the videos of that guy?

Yes! its the Kreisuke guy eh? His website is pretty cool.

I have had to fit 3mm thick spacers on the front to get the 15" wheels to clear the aftermarket Varga calipers. Will these spacers get approved?

I have found similar things along the lines as what Jon states above re. bolt on spacers in same pcd/bolt pattern as hub are okay but floating spacers unless fitted by factory are not.

These types of modifications always have grey areas though and it seems to be different for each state and each person you talk to!!

I checked with an automotive engineer before I shelled out the $330 approx for a pair of spacers (5x130pcd - same as hubs) that were 35mm thick - he didn't have any problems with it, however the shop who made the spacers puts a disclaimer that they are for "offroad use only" to cover their ar$e I guess. Go figure?