Dangers of Strut spacers

[mattwilly]

I've got after market EFS suspension. I think its a 2 inch kit

[unruly_teapot]

A summary of what has been said though the thread. An important thing to note is that many "professional" modification shops are full of twits who have no care for your safety so even if "the guy who should know fitted it" you should know about these and check you're in the clear.

There are two types of spacer:
1. the common ebay type "strut spacer" which goes on top of your strut assembly ("the shock") and raises your vehicle's nose by just a bit more than the size of the spacer.
2. A spacer can be inserted between your coil and the the shock - these can be done really shit so make sure the person doing the work is reputable. I'm not going to comment on these in the rest of the post but for the most part they don't cause the same types of damage - I have never done anything with them in the past and can't think of a use for them that isn't a bit of a hack.

The issue with strut spacers:
By installing strut spacers you alter the effective height of the vehicle. On average your CV will now run at an angle it wasn't designed to constantly run at. This will cause additional wear and tear on this component.
On the up travel: your bump stop will no longer perform its designed duty. The force of bottoming out will be imparted on the strut in this instance. The strut is not designed for this and under sustained abuse can lead to catastrophic failure. This failure could happen the first time you drive but you'd be super unlucky. It is also bad for the strut in general. You can modify your bumpstop fairly easily but the required measurements for when doing this require a bit of easy math, you will probably not have enough thread on your bump stop to do the modification properly though.
On the downwards travel your UCA limits travel - there is a fear that it could bind but that doesn't seem to have happened to anyone yet. You can modify this with extended upper ball joints but your CV can become strained should it travel outside of its designed range. To counter this you can drop your diff but you lose clearance by doing this. The OP covers the last point on the ball joint getting damaged but I need to do a test or two before I will comment on whether it is a problem for people using the stock suspension with a spacer.

Lastly, if you haphazardly combine a couple types of lift with spacers you're probably going to mess things up.

[wainui123]

Add a drop diff kit cv's work perfect.Four years most the hard stuff NSW has to offer and not a single cv broken.

[jogal]

This has got me a little confused! Not that I don't understand what people are saying but rather the mostly negative comments on this type of lift. I currently run a 2" lift and was after another 1.5" of lift, because I do so many k,s a day and don't keep the car for long I didn't want to spend a shit load on coil overs and redo the front again.
So I popped into a suspension shop here in northern suburbs of Perth to see what they could offer me! As it turned out it was a lift with strut spaces,extended ball joints and a drop diff kit! Needless to say I bombarded them with all the questions with all the negative feedback regarding this method and was assured that its all safe and that they have done many cars with not one issue and whether or not the Colarado and the rangers have a similar setup these guys have contracts with ford and holdern over here and provide this method of lift on new cars for thier clients through the dealership so all covered under warranty up to 6" of lift.So surely u would think someone has done their homework on this.
Anyhow still not convinced I call a experienced 4x4 well known guy here in Perth that I know and has worked on a lot of my cars and questioned him! His reply was the same as long as u don't get greedy with spaces there all good.
Guys I'm so confused on this issue I canceled my lift and am going to settle with my 2" and be worry free.

[D4D luxy]

She'll b right mate don't let a very few bad experiences scare u off! Most of the people talking negatively about them have probably never even dealt with them first hand. I personally had 30mm spacers in with factory struts for 18months of fairly hard wheeling without a drama so has a coupl of the other boys I Fourbie with. Take on board the advice that some have given I.e the bump stop spacers etc and ull b fine! Like u said its a cheap way to get a bit more lift!! just my 2c not saying wat I think is right and others are wrong

[helmut79]

She'll b right mate don't let a very few bad experiences scare u off! Most of the people talking negatively about them have probably never even dealt with them first hand. I personally had 30mm spacers in with factory struts for 18months of fairly hard wheeling without a drama so has a coupl of the other boys I Fourbie with. Take on board the advice that some have given I.e the bump stop spacers etc and ull b fine! Like u said its a cheap way to get a bit more lift!! just my 2c not saying wat I think is right and others are wrong

As yu say mate, it's all about choices.

Read the pros and cons and make your own mind up but don't cry about spilt milk if if alls goes to hell.

[wakil]

She'll b right mate don't let a very few bad experiences scare u off! Most of the people talking negatively about them have probably never even dealt with them first hand. I personally had 30mm spacers in with factory struts for 18months of fairly hard wheeling without a drama so has a coupl of the other boys I Fourbie with. Take on board the advice that some have given I.e the bump stop spacers etc and ull b fine! Like u said its a cheap way to get a bit more lift!! just my 2c not saying wat I think is right and others are wrong

x2

I run the snake racing ones that give like 40mm total lift and only cost me $220 delivered and for me they were a great opiton until i could afford a real lift. Did a fair bit of wheeling and didnt space bump stop. not sure but id say they musta been horribly close to still being able to bottom out on the bump stops. Would only need one bad experience with em and my opinion woulda been very different though

haha anyone interested in buying em hahahah

[dt057]

I've just read this thread after installing a set of front and back spacers with front diff drop. While installing I did check the usual mention items in this thread for peace of mind and see no issues IMO.

My question is about the photos of failed shocks. How hard was the hilux used/abused? Did it happen on or off road? Personally I don't do heavy 4wding just light off road weekend trips and see no issue with the spacers I've installed keeping up with my demands.

To me it looks like the failed shocks have been through some hard core 4wd Ing.

Just asking the question to explain the photos.

[10 luxxxx]

I'm pretty sure I read a thread somewhere saying one of them failed from a pot hole on the bitumen.
But let us know how they hold up mate the problem is you might not plan on hardcore off road work but never know what could happen over the next hill or bog hole that could just be enough to make something pop.

[819WCE]

Very interesting and somewhat bias thread with little or no real evidence against the spring spacer other than the stock suspension.. either way I have fitted the spring spacer and leaf shackle to my 2012 double cab which I have fitted a 285*65*17 (32.7") without rubbing, but now have a problem with my front end creaking a groaning quite a lot it is disturbing. Q. has anyone else with or without front spacer had this problem? Q. how can it be rectified? for the record with the lift I now have from the ground to guard flair is; front -930mm rear- 985mm

[unruly_teapot]

Very interesting and somewhat bias thread with little or no real evidence against the spring spacer other than the stock suspension.. either way I have fitted the spring spacer and leaf shackle to my 2012 double cab which I have fitted a 285*65*17 (32.7") without rubbing, but now have a problem with my front end creaking a groaning quite a lot it is disturbing. Q. has anyone else with or without front spacer had this problem? Q. how can it be rectified? for the record with the lift I now have from the ground to guard flair is; front -930mm rear- 985mm

Do you mind putting up a photo of your set up? Spring spacers and strut spacers can mean different things to different people.

In response to the comments on negativity, burying your head in the sand over the full range of possibilities is an option but the option that's more likely to have the rest of ya buried as well. It is hard to sound positive when stating precautionary actions and I'm sure a number of people are concerned that their optimistic wording may be taken as carte blanche by a green hand. I wouldn't at all be surprised to hear "A guy with a really big hilux said it usually isn't a problem" as some kids excuse for indiscriminately installing doubled up strut spacers.

[helmut79]

Very interesting and somewhat bias thread with little or no real evidence against the spring spacer other than the stock suspension.. either way I have fitted the spring spacer and leaf shackle to my 2012 double cab which I have fitted a 285*65*17 (32.7") without rubbing, but now have a problem with my front end creaking a groaning quite a lot it is disturbing. Q. has anyone else with or without front spacer had this problem? Q. how can it be rectified? for the record with the lift I now have from the ground to guard flair is; front -930mm rear- 985mm

I really find it hard fathum people who spend close on $50K on their rig as a buy in yet lift it by the cheapest means possible.

If you limit your up travel (bump stops) a strut top spacer lift can work short term. For the dangers of it and the implicantions of insurance etc I would not touch it considering you can get a lift from Ultimate install for less then $2k

Just my 0.0002c

[Alby]

How much do the spacer lift kits cost theses days?

[hilux_bondy_007]

Around 170 for a 10mm spacer that's wat I am looking at just to level it out once put 2" lift in

[packeteer]

How much do the spacer lift kits cost theses days?

ebay starts around $100

[819WCE]

Very interesting and somewhat bias thread with little or no real evidence against the spring spacer other than the stock suspension.. either way I have fitted the spring spacer and leaf shackle to my 2012 double cab which I have fitted a 285*65*17 (32.7") without rubbing, but now have a problem with my front end creaking a groaning quite a lot it is disturbing. Q. has anyone else with or without front spacer had this problem? Q. how can it be rectified? for the record with the lift I now have from the ground to guard flair is; front -930mm rear- 985mm

I really find it hard fathum people who spend close on $50K on their rig as a buy in yet lift it by the cheapest means possible.

If you limit your up travel (bump stops) a strut top spacer lift can work short term. For the dangers of it and the implicantions of insurance etc I would not touch it considering you can get a lift from Ultimate install for less then $2k

Just my 0.0002c

I didn't pay for parts or labour, neither did I ask for an attack on my person. I asked for anyone who knows what the creaking and groaning is caused from.

[Wazza80]

^^ take the spacer out and see if the noise stops..^^^

[bazzle]

Spacer or not total length should not exceed from middle of top mount to middle of lower mount on strut of 590mm to be safe.

Bazzle

[TheGreenThing]

Strut spacer should not exceed 1.25"(thickness)
& should only be use for paved roads or light off roads

[Chris0]

Ok lads well I'm at the beach as we speak in the car park waiting for a tow truck. I fitted 2" strut spacers on the lux and didn't adjust my stops to suit.

I was doing some beach driving (fairly mild) and went over a few whooppeees on the beach doing probably around 30-40ks an hour when it collapsed. I was lucky as I was just about back to the car park and out of the sand so I only had about 50 meters of sand driving to get me to a safe place.

Will post some pics when I figure out how to on this phone.