H&R Wheel Spacers

11th December 2018 | By Patrick Crow
H&R Wheel Spacers


It's often the small things that make a big difference. For instance, you wouldn't think that spacing out the wheels on your car by 5, 10 or 20 millimetres would really change the way it looks or handles. You would be wrong!

Wheel spacers can make the difference between "so-so" and "spot-on". By reducing the arch-gap, spacers instantly create a more aggressive, attractive look whilst also widening the vehicle's overall track therefore improving handling.

Hopefully you are now thinking that you might need some wheel spacers, but where do you begin? Be warned, not all spacers are created equal! To start with you've got Universal Spacers that we would only recommend in circumstances where a vehicle-specific spacer is unavailable. There are also plenty of cheap spacers available on eBay, but you get what you pay for and they are unlikely to come with the quality approvals that prove that they have been tried and tested. Wheel spacers are a safety-critical product; we would always recommend you go with the best, and the best in our view, is H&R.

H&R are a German company that was founded in the 1970s. They are suspension specialists that supply to motorsport teams including DTM, GT, Touring Cars, Monoposto Racing and Formula 1. They also manufacturer original equipment suspension parts for top-end road vehicles for manufacturers such as Mercedes, Porsche and Volkswagen. In short, H&R develop exceptional products at the very highest level of vehicle manufacturing and motorsport, and they use this expertise to create aftermarket products designed to enhance and improve your car.

The wheel spacers that H&R offer are made from a high strength, lightweight aluminium and magnesium alloy. They are then "hard-anodised" for greater surface hardness and corrosion resistance. All H&R spacers are machined to precise specifications using CNC technology. They meet ISO 9001 Quality Assurance Standards, and have German TUV Approval, meaning that they have been tested and approved for the specific vehicle they are designed for.

What sizes are available?

H&R Wheel Spacers are available in a large range of size from 3mm all the way up to 65mm. However, not all sizes are available for all cars. To find out the range of sizes that are available for your car, please take a look at our products listings and select your vehicle - click here.

H&R Spacer Systems Explained

As the size of the spacer increases different "systems" are used to ensure that the wheel spacer is fitted safely and securely to the vehicle it is intended for. You can find out more about the H&R spacer systems below...


DR System spacers

DR System spacers tend to be used for wheel spacers up to around 20mm in width, and for vehicles that use bolts rather than nuts. The spacer simply fits between the vehicle's hub and wheel. These spacers require new, longer bolts that will go through the wheel and the spacer, and into the vehicle's hub. The bolts therefore need to be the length of the original equipment bolts plus the width of the wheel spacer.

Longer bolts are not included as standard with DR spacers, but unlike most other retailers we can offer genuine H&R bolts as a complete package with your spacers. You can simply add these to your order by selecting them from the dropdown menu on the product page. In addition to longer bolts we can also offer bolt sets that include locking wheel bolts, again these are official H&R bolts designed and manufactured in Germany.

It is important that the bolts supplied with your spacers are the correct specification - that's why we ask you to tell us whether you have original equipment or aftermarket wheels on your car. Aftermarket wheels will often require a bolt that has a different seating; in other words the profile of the bolt head is slightly different. We will always ensure that the correct bolts are supplied with your H&R Spacers.


DRS System spacers

DRS System spacers are also used for wheel spacers up to about 20mm in width, however these spacers are designed for cars that use nuts (i.e the vehicle has studs sticking out of it when you take the wheel off the car). The spacer sits between the wheel and the hub just like it does with the DR System. DRS System spacers are supplied with new longer studs. In order to use these H&R spacers you need to remove the original studs from your car and replace them with the new longer studs supplied. You can then use your original equipment wheel nuts to fix the wheel to the car.


DRA System spacers

DRA System spacers are often referred to as "bolt-on" spacers. They are available in sizes 20mm to 45mm in width. The spacers are fitted to the vehicle's hub using special shallow-head fastening bolts that are included with the kit. In most cases the wheels can then be fitted to the spacer using your original equipment bolts, however occasionally you will need to use slightly shorter bolts than the original equipment - we therefore recommend that before fitting DRA System Spacers you remove a wheel from your car and fit a spacer to the wheel in order to check that the original equipment bolts don't poke out of the back of the spacer.


DRM System spacers

DRM System spacers are available in sizes from 15mm to 65mm. They are similar to the DRA System spacers, but they are designed for cars that are on studs. A DRM System H&R Spacer is fitted to the car's hub using the original studs and special fastening nuts that are included with the kit. The spacer has new studs sticking out of it - the wheel should then be put into position on these studs and secured to the spacer using the original equipment wheel nuts.

Black Wheel Spacers

With the increasing popularity of black alloy wheels over the last few years, H&R have now launched their "Black Line" range of wheel spacers. Many popular applications are now available in a black anodised finish. If you require a DR System spacer we can also offer black bolts and black locking wheel bolts to go with your black H&R spacers. To view the range of H&R Black Line Wheel Spacers please click here.

 

What size H&R Wheel Spacers do you need?

Once you have viewed our product listings and taken a look at the spacers available for your car, you will notice that there is often quite a wide range of widths available. Everyone's setup is unique and different people are trying to achieve different things. You might be fitting a wide body kit that requires some 50mm spacers, or you might just be looking to bring the rear wheels out by another 5mm. It's impossible for us to say what the perfect size will be for your car - when customer's ask us what size we would recommend we always suggest the following: take a straight edge and place it against the arch of your car, then measure from the face of your wheel / tyre to the straight edge to see how much space you have available. Do this on the front and rear axle and you'll soon get a feel for the size of wheel spacer you require.

Things to Look Out For

  • We always supply wheel spacers in pairs. The listings on our website are per pair. Occasionally people get confused and think they are buying a set of 4
  • H&R spacers are all "hubcentric" this means that the hole in the centre of the spacer is designed to fit the vehicle's hub exactly. However, wheel spacers that are less that 10mm in width do not have a lip on them, they are flat. The reason for this is that it's nearly impossible to engineer a spacer with a lip when the width is less than 10mm. At less than 10mm the spacer should still allow enough of the vehicle's hub to remain exposed so that the wheel can locate securely on the hub.
  • Most H&R Wheel Spacers are not suitable for use with steel wheels
  • Some H&R spacers are suitable for use on the front axle of the car but not the rear, and vice versa. Please check the product notes to ensure they are suitable for the intended axle.
  • Some spacers, especially Volkswagen Group vehicles including VW Golf and Audi A3 require you to measure the depth of the vehicle's hub and also the profile of the beveled section of the hole in the back of your alloy wheel in order to determine which spacers you require. This is only the case for certain sizes of DR System spacers, and the details of the measurements needed are shown clearly on the product pages

So, there you go. H&R Wheel Spacers. A high quality, great value product that can really enhance the appearance of your car whilst also improving the handling.

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