Author Topic: Rear hubcentric wheel spacers don't fit  (Read 14616 times)

Offline kahunajb

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Re: Rear hubcentric wheel spacers don't fit
« Reply #10 on: 24 June 2012, 08:29 »
Cheapest ones he found I bet  :lipsrsealed:

Get what you pay for

Coming from Yorkshire whilst I can be a tight arse on occasions I don't think this is the issue here.  :wink:

The problem here is the depth of part of the hub/disc shown in the photo bellow. I've not measured it but it is greater than 15mm which is why it is causing problems.


This is something which others have also experienced by the look of it.
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=164743.0

Would appear to be more an issue with the design of the mk3 rear hub than the spacers. I spoke to two companies before I bought these one of them Venom who said they don't supply 10mm hubcentric for the mk3 as they have had this issue, I just thought that 15mm would give enough clearance.

I know people do run 10mm spacers on the rear, ess three I know does, therefore I am assuming these must be the flat type.
« Last Edit: 24 June 2012, 08:32 by kahunajb »
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Offline tweed

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Re: Rear hubcentric wheel spacers don't fit
« Reply #11 on: 24 June 2012, 09:12 »
Sorry I see the problem now.

Hubcentric spacers are made so that's it's easier to put the wheel on. The bolts keep the wheel central on the hub.

Send them back and just get a 15mm spacer not hubcentric.

I have 5mm each side on the rear

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Offline Ess_Three

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Re: Rear hubcentric wheel spacers don't fit
« Reply #12 on: 24 June 2012, 09:18 »
Cheapest ones he found I bet  :lipsrsealed:

Get what you pay for

Coming from Yorkshire whilst I can be a tight arse on occasions I don't think this is the issue here.  :wink:

The problem here is the depth of part of the hub/disc shown in the photo bellow. I've not measured it but it is greater than 15mm which is why it is causing problems.


This is something which others have also experienced by the look of it.
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=164743.0

Would appear to be more an issue with the design of the mk3 rear hub than the spacers. I spoke to two companies before I bought these one of them Venom who said they don't supply 10mm hubcentric for the mk3 as they have had this issue, I just thought that 15mm would give enough clearance.

I know people do run 10mm spacers on the rear, ess three I know does, therefore I am assuming these must be the flat type.


Nope, mine are hubcentric.

Rear discs vary in the amount of metal on the spigot section...some hubcentric spacers fit, some don't.
My 10mm spacers are Eibach or H&R...and neither fit these discs, but they did the last ones I had fitted.

I filed off the upstand part of the 10mm spacer, so I kept the conical spigot locator, and use the spigot on the disc to locate the wheel.
This is the case on both the H&R and Eibach 10mm spacers...actually, if you tightened the wheel up it would shear off the offending bit, I just tidied up what was left with a file!

My 15mm spacers fit no problem IIRC.

The better way to do the job is to use rear beam spacers between the stub axle and beam, as this doesn't put higher load on the bearings.
I am running 10mm rear beam spacers...and currently 10mm wheel spacers too, until I've finished playing with tyre widths etc and I will most likely go with 20mm rear beam spacers.

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Offline Ess_Three

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Re: Rear hubcentric wheel spacers don't fit
« Reply #13 on: 24 June 2012, 09:25 »
Sorry I see the problem now.

Hubcentric spacers are made so that's it's easier to put the wheel on. The bolts keep the wheel central on the hub.

Send them back and just get a 15mm spacer not hubcentric.

I have 5mm each side on the rear

The bolts take provide clamping load, the friction of the wheel to hub hold it there...but the spigot on the hub located it centrally.
So if you don't run hubcentric spacers, and aren't using the original spigot - or that of a hubcentric spacer - you run the risk of slight missalignment leading to vibration issues.

At 5mm, flat spacers are fine  - there is enough original spigot left to locate the wheel.
At 8m, it's barely enough...but if you are careful, they are usually OK.
By 10mm, I'd say you really need some form of hubcentric type to ensure no alignment issues.

It is very easy to missalign a wheel with 10mm spacers (or greater) if they aren't hubcentric.
A 5 x 100mm set up is pretty good at centring the wheel, but it's the chamfer on the bottom of the spigot that ensures the wheel is sitting central.

Reducing my Golf count by the week....
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Offline kahunajb

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Re: Rear hubcentric wheel spacers don't fit
« Reply #14 on: 24 June 2012, 09:42 »
Cheers for the advise, I will try tightening them up and see if they do shear any metal off and can then be filed.

Just got brand new discs and I am sure the spigot section is larger on these than the last ones.
Mk1 Leon Cupra TDI - Keeping
Mk5 Golf GTI - Revo Stage 1 - FOR SALE £5,250
Mk3 GTI 16v Anniversary - OEM+ - Gone :(
Mk4 GTI 2.0 - Slow - Good Riddance

Offline kahunajb

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Re: Rear hubcentric wheel spacers don't fit
« Reply #15 on: 24 June 2012, 12:05 »
Right the good news is I've tightened the wheel up and they are now flush............the bad news is the wheel spacer hub spigot/hub locating ring has sheared off!  :laugh:

To be honest I don't think machining the internal 57.1 part deeper would have worked either. Difficult to explain but as both the internal and external spigot part are 57.1 there is not a lot of metal to go at....either that or cheap crap after all.

Going to have to get some 20mm ones and hope they don't rub the arches.
Mk1 Leon Cupra TDI - Keeping
Mk5 Golf GTI - Revo Stage 1 - FOR SALE £5,250
Mk3 GTI 16v Anniversary - OEM+ - Gone :(
Mk4 GTI 2.0 - Slow - Good Riddance

Offline thai-wronghorse

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Re: Rear hubcentric wheel spacers don't fit
« Reply #16 on: 11 December 2012, 15:45 »
I've just come up against the same problem.   :angry:

Offline tweed

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Re: Rear hubcentric wheel spacers don't fit
« Reply #17 on: 11 December 2012, 20:35 »
I've just come up against the same problem.   :angry:

Don't listen to me  :grin:

I've got 14mm hubcentric on the front and 5mm on the rear.

But on both 14mm hubcentric and 5mm spacer they have been machined on the inside.

Are yours not machined at all?

Untitled by tweedub, on Flickr

Offline tweed

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Re: Rear hubcentric wheel spacers don't fit
« Reply #18 on: 11 December 2012, 20:43 »
Machined like this. Not mine but mine are the same.


Untitled by tweedub, on Flickr



Untitled by tweedub, on Flickr

Untitled by tweedub, on Flickr

Offline thai-wronghorse

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Re: Rear hubcentric wheel spacers don't fit
« Reply #19 on: 11 December 2012, 20:45 »
Its exactly the same issue as Kahuna had,  I've just bought a pair of 15mm hubcentric spacers to go on the rear and the spigot on the disc is too deep meaning the spacer doesnt sit right back against the face. Im thinking maybe putting some 3/5mm flat spacers behind them to pack out the unwanted tolerence.