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Finding Space - Borne Off-Road Wheel Spacers

Posted: January 13, 2022

Categories: Wheel Spacers

No matter if you use your truck or jeep for commuting, hauling, or venturing through the unknown wilderness, all of these vehicles are a particular blend of form and function. They're built to look tough, aggressive, and utilitarian, and they act the part. The same could be said for our Borne Off-Road wheel spacers, which any of these vehicles would benefit from.

Wheel spacers might not seem like the obvious place to go for the perfect combo of form and function. Still, the benefits of their addition are a solid investment to any rig, whether you're just starting your build or working on the finishing touches. Wheel spacers have one purpose: to move the wheel further from the vehicle's hub. They're a solid plate that mounts in between the wheel and the vehicle's hub, creating some space.

The result of this added offset to your wheels with a set of properly installed spacers ends up resulting in benefits for your vehicle both aesthetically and in terms of performance both on and off the road. When it comes to your vehicle's visuals, moving the wheel further from the hub gives the car a much more aggressive look. The addition of wheel spacers is ideal for those chasing the perfect stance and positioning your wheel perfectly.

Wheel spacers are ideal for expanding your choice in wheel and tire setups, which can also benefit off-road performance. The right tires are crucial for tackling challenging trails, but the size of proper off-roading tires becomes problematic in the wheel well. Taller sidewalls and wider profiles can lead to a shorter turning radius and rubbing away at fender liners. However, repositioning the wheel and tire setups with spacers mitigates these issues turns your truck into a trailblazer and comfy cruiser. The increased clearance from the hub also clears the way for larger brake setups to control your vehicle better. Finally, the wider track width from your outward bound wheels serves up handling enhancements for a more planted ride.

For reference, here is the difference in wheel positioning with our 1" and 2" spacers installed on our Bronco 2.3L Base.

Everything in the automotive world comes with some sort of compromise, however, and as beneficial as wheel spacers can be, we'd be doing you a disservice by not letting you know about the drawbacks. Specifically, the two main side effects to your spacers are increased steering input, along with shortening the maintenance schedule on some suspension components along with wheel bearings. It's also important to keep in mind that these side effects increase as your spacer size grows and can be caused by fitting too big of spacers. These effects are also dependent on the vehicle.

Slide on Over

Enhancing your rig's form and function is paramount here at Borne Off-Road, so it was a no-brainer to create our own line of form-fitting spacer setups for your vehicles.

Since these spacers are a structural component of your vehicle, we needed them to be tough and not add too much weight. The perfect balance is truck with our 6061-T6 Aluminum construction, ensuring a secure and durable connection for your wheels while not adding to the rotational mass. To further the strength of our design, we also forged the aluminum for these spacers making them even more resistant to stress and fatigue over time. In addition, our installed wheel studs feature 12.9-grade steel construction complete with application-specific lug nuts to secure our spacer design further.

Felling in the dark about the advantages of forging over other methods of metal manufacturing? That's ok! We whipped up some visuals to show you the difference between casting, machined only, and forging:

The main difference boils down to the way in which the metal grain aligns in the final product. Cast pieces are the most cost effect and easier to manufacture, but the process is not conducive for any sort of molecule organization. While still tough, this method is more brittle than the others. Casting might not be ideal for wheel spacers, but it's perfect for unique shapes like intercooler end tanks.

During the machining process, the metal grain will follow the path of the tool used. While there is a means of molecular alignment, the grain is directional making the piece easier to flex.

Think of the forging process like a blacksmith. In fact, a blacksmith is performing a forging process on the metal pieces they hammer. By shaping the metal with pressure, the metal grain aligns in the shape of the finished product. By following the contours of the piece, the forging produces the strongest

Fitment is paramount when it comes to your wheels. Any sort of imbalance will seriously deteriorate your car's ride quality, which is exactly what we're aiming to prevent. So all our wheel spacers are manufactured as hub-centric units with application-specific center bores and bolt patterns to ensure a proper fit and smooth ride. To top things off, our spacers are anodized in either a sleek black or Borne blue and available in multiple widths to best suit your fitment.

Form and function are intertwined in the truck and jeep world. When it comes to our wheel spacers, we wanted to give them and your vehicles the same treatment. So make sure you grab yours today: