Ichiba USA wheel spacer install DIY

So Micah and I finally got around to installing my Ichiba wheel spacers today. 15mm front and 20mm rear. I decided to take a few pictures during the process and I’ll tell ya how we did it. Note, I don’t think I got pictures of everything, but I’ll try my best to describe it!



Some before shots of the crazy sunken in Enkei’s I got. 18x7.5 with a +48mm offset… yikes!!!

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/01.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/01.jpg) http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/02.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/02.jpg)



First jack the car up and take off your wheels. Don’t forget your emergency brake!-

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/03.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/03.jpg)



Next, take off your front caliper and set it on a bucket or something (stretching the rubber hose is bad!) There are 2 bolts on the backside of the caliper that need to come off. IIRC they’re 18mm bolts. I do remember them being a complete pain in the butt to un-torque though!

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/04.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/04.jpg) http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/05.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/05.jpg)



Next it’s time to remove the rotor. Take a large mallet and bash the rotor towards the center of the car to get it to come loose. We used a 5lb plastic mallet w/ little bean bag stuff in the center. You’ll be left with something that looks a little like this-

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/06.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/06.jpg)



Take some penetrating fluid to the studs so they that can be taken out more easily. We used PB Blaster. After you let the fluid soak for a little bit, it’s time to take the studs out. If you look at the above picture, the area where the brake dust shield ends is where you want to line the studs up one by one to take them out. Unfortunately I didn’t grab a picture, but there’s a little half circle cut out of the dust shield towards the front of the car that the studs can come out through. Once you look at it, you’ll see what I’m talking about. We put the car in gear to keep the hub from spinning while removing the studs. To remove, a couple good blows with a hammer will knock them out. Just in case anyone is confused, you’re going to be knocking the studs in towards the center of the car.

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/07.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/07.jpg) http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/08.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/08.jpg)



Go find a loaner 12x1.5 open ended lug nut to use for a bit. xB’s just happen to be good loaner vehicles for this task……

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/09.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/09.jpg)



Stick the new longer studs included with the Ichiba spacers through the holes where the stock studs once were. Now thread the lug nut onto the stud and tighten it down until the new stud is completely seated. Look on the back side of the hub at the back end of the stud. Lots of tightening is needed to get these studs seated correctly guys….. Please note that in the first picture below, look at the lugnut we used. You want to thread it the opposite way that it is seen in the picture. Instead of having the beveled end towards the hub, turn it around and have the flat end towards the hub. We killed this lugnut by not doing this.

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/10.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/10.jpg) http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/11.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/11.jpg)



Now that all the studs are seated it’s time to reinstall the rotor and put on the new spacer. After the new studs are done, put the rotor back on. Put the spacer on next. You do NOT want to do what we did. Again, rotor reinstalled first, then spacer… NOT the other way around like we did (we were tired from working in the sun all day!) a picture of us trying to redeem ourselves by removing the spacer we installed incorrectly…

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/12.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/12.jpg)



Now it’s time for the rear. Here’s what you start with after you get the caliper off (again 2 18mm bolts on the backside of the caliper)-

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/13.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/13.jpg)



Alright, I failed you on this section of the DIY…. So you’re going to have to semi-wing it here because I have no pictures. Bash the rotor like you did the front to get to come loose. Parking brake needs to be off to do this…. Now that the rotor is off, you’re going to see that the parking brake assembly prevents you from knocking the studs out. We need to improvise. Look on the backside of the hub. First unclip the electrical connector looking thingy from the hub. Next, find 4 12mm bolts that hold the hub on. Take them off. The hub assembly should pull towards you now and be able to be removed completely. Now it’s time to take the studs out. Hold the hub up against something and bash the studs out with a hammer.

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/14.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/14.jpg)



Now it’s time to seat the new studs. Use a vicegrip + ratchet + lugnut to partially seat the new studs like so-

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/15.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/15.jpg)

Now that the studs are somewhat seated, and it has become rather difficult to tighten the lugnut more… it’s time to do a little reassembly work. First take off the lugnut. Stick the hub + partially seated studs back into the brake assembly, and fasten it in by rebolting those 4 12mm bolts. Reclip the electrical connector too. Now put the rotor back on and engage the parking brake. Voila! The hub can’t spin anymore! Stick your lug nut onto the studs and tighten it up against the rotor until the stud fully seats. We’re almost done!

Now that the studs are seated and the rotor is reinstalled, merely put the spacer on and bolt your wheels down.



The finished product-
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/16.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/16.jpg) http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/17.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/17.jpg) http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/thumbs/18.jpg (http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/wheelspacers_ichiba/18.jpg)


All in all, this was our first time doing this, and I won’t lie, it took us like 5 hours to do. 4 hours to do the first side, and then 1 hour to do the second side.

Note: when your calipers aren’t against a rotor, don’t press the brakes. All it does is cause you to have to compress the calipers which is nothing but time wasted.


Any questions? I’d be glad to help you out as much as I can :)

Did the spacers knock some negative camber into your alignment? From the pictures it looks like so.

Yea seriously.

nice write up! car looks great

Wow I had no Idea buckets are that strong! ____ if I new that, I shouldn't have bought jack stands! lol

looks good mang!

those buckets are crazy strong :P

but yeah, after all this I did end up getting some rubbing on bumps. Pulled over to a gas station and found the culprit.... my connectors for my front bra! They stuck down towards the wheel. I unscrewed them and voila, no more rubbing :)

Nice DIY! :clap:

how much were the spacers total and where did you order from, looks hot by the way man.

they were about $200 shipped.

Ichiba is a sponsor here on scionlife, i got them through him.

what spacers would you use with stock wheels in terms of 15mm or 20mm?

Really... that's a tough choice. I have full lock to lock turning without any rubbing at all, but when i go over medium to large dips and bumps it rubs against the fenderliner. Considering that the stock wheels have even less of an offset (aka they stick out more), i would run a 10mm instead of a 15mm spacer up front. Here lies the problem, no company so far makes a 10mm spacer for the tC. the rear i would use a 15mm. Consider that I'm slammed on stech's, so you may actually be able to run 15's up front \just fine.

I'm planning on dropping with Hotchkis springs. so thanks I think I'll go 15mm hope it does not give me any problems.

sorry im a noob when it comes to this but what is the purpose of spacers?

good stuff.
i used a sledgehammer to pound out the stock lug bolts. took me 1 hour to remove the bolts (i did just the rears), and 3 hours putting in the new ones. lol

sorry im a noob when it comes to this but what is the purpose of spacers?
In most situations they're used for appearance, to bring the wheels out further, such that they're more flush with the outside of car.

so that makes your wheels ?? +33 now? looks good but i have 17x8 +32 :D

who else makes spacers for our cars? i was thinking of going with 10mm all around?

so that makes your wheels ?? +33 now? looks good but i have 17x8 +32 :D

wish i knew my offsets.

spacer can reduce the life time of the suspension, am i right? espeacially when you have lowered car..

uhhh no. all a spacer does is effectively change the offset of the wheel. it wont affect the suspension at all.

duma yeah, +33 in teh front, +28 in teh rear ;)

i just read something about it like 2 years ago... and all i can remember is that.... spacer reduce the life time of the shocks or whatever...

from what i have remembered reading, i believe the addition of wheel spacers will affect your wheel bearings over the course of a couple of years.

my wheels are 18 x 7.5 with a 42 offset do u think if i use the same spacer size as you ill have a problem?

you might have issues with some rubbing of the fenderliner in the front and the in the rear on the fender itself. Rolling should solve th eproblems though.

from what i have remembered reading, i believe the addition of wheel spacers will affect your wheel bearings over the course of a couple of years.

any links to this reading material

So do I want a camber kit if I get spacers or what? :P
How bout 20mm all around on stock 18' wheels

i have 40 offset on my rims right now. if i get 5 mm spacers do u think i would need to change the lug bolts too or will the stock ones be fine?

bump

is this safe? any issues? Any increased wear? camber etc etc

Really well done.
Car looks great.
I vote for a sticky.

i got 5mm wheel spacers on my rear wheels and it makes the wheels look better/ more flush with the body of the car..................BTW i have 18x7.5

only issue i had/ have with spacers is that they cause vibration at certain speeds being they're most the time never perfectly center on the hub but then again, i got generic spacers so maybe its just my case...

I need just 5mm spacers to get my 18 x 7.5 rims to clear the calipers. They don't come with exended lug nuts. That means they aren't necessary at that small a thickness? Also, the rear clears the calipers fine. Is there any recommendations against only putting spacers on the front? Also, if I don't need the extended lugnuts, does the spacer just go over the rotor, or still behind it? And I just thought of this. I installed spacers on my wrangler a couple years back. For appearence purposes. Am I just crazy, or if the spacer goes behind the whole wheel/brake assembly, how do they push the rim away from the caliper? I'm just foggy since I'm not staring at a piece by piece by piece diagram.

Addirional questions: I've read about wheel bearing wear with spacers. Do they wear out more/faster the bigger the spacer? How long 'till I can expect my bearings to be shot? with 5mm spacers. And, approx. price on getting wheel bearings replaced per wheel, or if they do them in pairs.


Aftermarket is such a royal pain to go through when everything's your first time.

heh, that's what she said. . .

i got 5mm wheel spacers on my rear wheels and it makes the wheels look better/ more flush with the body of the car..................BTW i have 18x7.5

only issue i had/ have with spacers is that they cause vibration at certain speeds being they're most the time never perfectly center on the hub but then again, i got generic spacers so maybe its just my case...

Yes, you should watch out for that, its not safe since your removing the load thats on the hub and spreading it on the lug nuts instead.

I wasn't aware that you needed to replace the studs with the ichiba ones. I always thought those spacers went on like this.


http://www.rockcrawler.com/techreports/spidertrax_spacers/spacer5.jpg

With the spacer being held on by the old lugs. Anyone know what the preffered method is? The ichiba spacers have empty holes so thats what I thought they where meant for,

Check Ichiba's USA site again. Even the 5mm ones I was going to get had extended studs included.

http://www.ichibausa.com/5mmalwhsp5.html

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c122/davedavetc/flushtest4.jpg

jus tput ichiba 15mm in the front

what was you offfset before putting them on? Did you put any on the back? Where is the cheapest place to buy them and was it difficult to install the extended lugs?

offset before was +38 not close enough for me, so i went with 15mm spacers that brings it to a +23 which is perfect, i rub a lot but im rolling the fenders tomorrow.
idk how much they cost new, but i got these for a really good price.
i got rears coming tomorrow same size but they have the bolts already in them.

the ones for the front came with longer studs, total install time took me a couple hours.

http://www.rockcrawler.com/techreports/spidertrax_spacers/spacer5.jpg

what spacers are those?

http://www.rockcrawler.com/techreports/spidertrax_spacers/index.asp

I have a few question regarding the spacers......i just brought ichiba spacers 15mm for the front and 20mm for the rear, my questions are.....

1. How hard is it to install the rear?
2. What are the torq specifications?
3. Do i have to get an alignment after installing them?
4. As for the rotor do you have to mark it or something to get it back on the xact way or does it matter?

Thank you.........I am a little skeptical on doing the install myself...i dont want to f@#k anything up..............i would greatly appreciate any help or tips on the install. :bow: :bow:

1. Considering you live in CA and i cant imagine your car having as much rust as me it should be pretty easy.

2. not sure on the brakes but wheels should be done between 90-100 ish.

3. No

4. No.

Thank you

got it

you have to take off your caliper to take off the rotor

Couple problems i need help with.......
1. how to unclip the electrical connector for the e brake
2. I took the four bolts off the hub, but the hub assembly does not come off?

i cant help you there man, i couldnt get past that point either, i think you need a hub puller

davedave...did you ever get the rear spacers on?

yea i used a hub adapter with a slide hammer and just went at it

bah...more tools to buy

rent them.

didnt need em...was able to pull em off with my man strength :p

wow thats impressive, no rust? lucky

i do have an 08 and live in cali...lol

and i have 4 yrs more of man strength than you...lol

lol true... i guess... :P

Ok, so i have little experience here and could use some help. Im going to be installing the TRD lowering springs (1-1.5" drop) and I have Konig Incident rims that, after some research, I find have an offset of 45. I want to extend the wheels out and I think my only option is a spacer. So, my question is, what size spacer would you recommend?

I have a tC. :)

20 or 25mm bolt on spacers, however you need to go lower to make it look good.

Im also having a widebody kit installed in the next couple of weeks (maybe i should have mentioned that), so i think that will help give it the 'lower' look. So, if I go with a 20mm (to be safe) I should have no problems? Could you give a quick explanation of how the offset works just so i dont feel so dumb. :P


Oh, and i just looked at your car (super clean ride btw :) ). What was the color red you used with your calipers? I called TRD and they had no clue! Morons!

If you're goin wide body you need new wheels no spacer would makethose wheels look goon with a wide body plus they won't be safe

just put your wheels on inside out, you know!

then youll be at -45 offset, perfect for widebody kit, lmao!

going to need way more than a 25mm spacer to make them look good on a widebody. You need new wheels

what kind of offset should i be looking at here?

for a wide body?

oh idk somethin like 19x10 et 0

anybody have any ideas on how to get the rotor off without a mallet , I got a hammer but thats just gonna chip the rotor..... I tried kicking it ... didn't even budge

is it the same installation process for the ichiba 5mm or 10mm for the rear?