As above lol
I'm pretty sure i remember people saying no, they aren't legal.

is this true?

regards,
Chris.

that is correct and the only way you can run them is if you get them engineered.

and no engineer that values his framed peice of paper on the wall would ok them anyway

why would you want to anyway? theres heaps of places that can supply discs and drums in any stud pattern you want

yuk!

Beaurocrats are so homo...

ah wellz... thanks mate

& when ur wheels on adapters fall off while ur driving & u run over a little old lady out with her grandkids for the day & ur insurance says sorry ur fault.... whats the expensive way then?

slightly dramatic but paints the right picture, do it legally or dont modify anything.

what pattern are u wanting?

i just wanted ye' old vw wide 5 pattern.
Well.. not necessarily wanted by looking at opens as i have a set of wide - wide 5 rims... yet ot check if 15 inch :P

As with grannies lol, i don't intend on killing people, but do believe it is over-kill :P. At least have applicable approval on such a thing.

just a small question how do 4 x 4 drivers get them approved a mate of mine was in a minor scrap and needed insurance he had told them that he had spacers and they were ok with it ????????

spacers and adapters are 2 different things
spacers arent legal on their own unless they were factory fitted but can be engineer certified unlike adaptors

ok, heres the question, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT USING ADAPTORS??
i've used them on numerous cars and vans without any issues what so ever, i've had more standard wheels fall off cars. remember the question is YOU, not your mate, or, you know your sisters mothers boyfriends brother in khazakstan etc etc.

and hands up if you have every had a normal legal road wheel fall off a car (i've had 2) neither my fault, 1 was a car i'd just bought, the other was a car i was moving for a mate, but i was driving both cars! (i know of lots more)
lets be honest about this!

ok folks the original question has been answered so i think its time to move on.
id also like to remind everyone that the RTA and their other incarnations actually have people that are paid to browse the forums looking for people bragging about what illegal mods they have done to their cars so they can track them down and reduce the dodgy aspect out there.

Flaming deleted... LEE

I think either can be engineered.

Porsche had those 70mm spacers from the factory on some cars. I was under the impression they needed to be attached to the wheel or hub not just sandwiched in between. Still they need to be engineered to be legal.

Do the Sherman conversions not run a smaller stud pattern with an adapter plate to get the wide 5? I know the old ones of his did, and were passed by engineers.

I think if you talk to an engineer, they will explain very simply what is allowed and what is not.


The rules in Australia are tough, and sometimes, well, a lot of the time it seems overkill.

However, now living in the US, and seeing the kinds of cars that are built and put on the road with very minimal inspection makes me appreciate it a little more.

My 1966 model car had the lights checked, and passed its inspection in about 5 mins. Lucky I am a mechanic and can maintain the safety of the car... many are not and do not...

If you are in queensland i have herd if you call them wheel spacers you get away with it but queensland is a bit more leenient when it comes to the saftey checks i think and they don't have to do them every year either.

Cars in Queensland and South Australia do not get tested for roadworthy each year...

But the RTA's of those states are out every day pulling over cars

and if they are unroadworthy... putting them off the road...

I know people in these states that has happened to...

they are NOT idiots who do this job...

and the Laws are in the book...

Now, wheel spacers are available readily in the UK....
these are Just blank spacers with holes in them..
Longer bolts are used...
they used to be available in South Australia back in the 60s..

LEE

As Wheel Spacers have been illegal in most states for over 40 years... in Australia .. that i know of..

this is NOT Valid question...

Naturally none of Us have had any problems with spacers...

Lee

Without trying to sound a pain in zee bum, i knew loads of people who used wheel adaptors when i lived in the UK and nobody ever had anything go wrong with them.
But laws is laws i guess!

Hi guys. This is a good thread. There are always people who have done this and that, but I can tell you what I did on my old kingswood, and was passed in Qld and then in NSW. I built this HZ kingswood with EFI 330 c.i. stroker with supra 5 speed, so it needed an engineers report. Got that when it only had 14 inch hot wires on it. Later on I wanted to go to 18x8 wheels. The ones I wanted were only available in a commodore PCD and offset. Admittedly, the HZ and commodore PCD are so similar that the wheels do just bolt onto each other, but the commodore is metric, and the HZ imperial. I bought some 30mm spacers, that were called hub adaptors, to get the offset the same as the HZ so the commodore wheels wouldn't rub inside the guards. The engineer said they were OK as they were made of the same material as the wheels, and had a double bolt system where the spacer bolted to the disc, and had a second set of studs that the wheel bolted to. I have to admit I was surprised they were OK, but I got the OK and away I went. Later when I sold the car it went to Queanbeyan where it was all re-engineered for NSW with the same wheels and everything. So go figure????
I've attached a pic of the car. The spacers are clearly visible and I was even pulled for the odd RBT but never had a comment.
All in all I guess these grey areas are up to the inspector to decide.

hey dirtbag im seeing one common thing in your post as to the use of adaptors and thats they were spacers and you had the car engineered so it was covered. as i perviously metioned if engineered they are fine it just when they arent. hell ive even seen aftermarket seats just tek screwed to the floor of the car, just cause its secure doesnt mean that its safe and by the letter of the law

bit if the spacer is converting metric commodore wheel stud pattern/bore to imperial kingswood, is that adapting?

i will have to ask my mates dad down the coast, hes a compliance officer. next time i see him i will inquire...

talk about shades of grey!

It's grey all right. The "spacers" as I called them were actually labelled "hub adapters" when I bought them. The are an imperial bolt pattern to the disc, and then a metric PCD set of wheel studs come out from the adapter. Aparently they are available to bolt onto chev PCD to fit ford wheels and vise versa, but I've never needed them so can't comment on legality there.
Having heard all this yes and no rubbish, I think I'll just steer clear of them in future just to save myself the hassle that could be waiting just around the corner.

I remember reading into this. There was some weird caveat on adapters like they had to be attached to the hubs permanently like by using special studs pressed in. It was all a bit grey really.

This subject is something which is relevant to me as I have been trying to find the best option to put 15+" wheels on my late bay.

So far the options seem to be for me:

* Run adapters for a different PCD.

* Replace discs, rear hubs(?), and drums with different PCD.

* Use the MB Vito rims I have with longer studs and spacers.

* Have the Vito wheels' rims replaced and offset changed.

* Get a set of Ford steelies and have them re-drilled to fit.

* Hope something else compatible and affordable comes up on eBay.

* Crack open a beer, kick back on the verandah and forget the whole mess.

That's how I see it. More than one way to skin a cat. However all methods of cat skinning are really pretty unappealing except the last option. However not as much gets achieved using it.

Is it true that the lip that the wheel aligns on a beetle discs has to be machined off for aftermarket rims to fit. I read it somewhere and cant find it now.

if the discs you have have them then yah

some do some dont
they werent factory till later on but lots of bugs have had replacement discs fitted after nearly 40 years