Custom made spacers
- Thread starter ecarca
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AG2728
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I will do it, if it helps. I ship stuff all over the world every day anyway. Not a problem.
ecarca
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I'd say mainly looks... Some will talk about an increase in handling due to the wider track an others will answer that there will be more constraints on the mechanical parts since the car was not factory designed for this...
In my case, I do it for both these reasons
I consider that a reasonable thickness spacer will not have any negative influence, this is only my biased opinion.
And I'll go 275 instead of 265 when I'm changing back tires and 245 front instead of 235 as well, this for handling and traction.
For information, Porsche has 5 and 17mm spacers factory options. I believe the main purpose is to fit wider factory wheels on the complete range.
In my case, I do it for both these reasons
I consider that a reasonable thickness spacer will not have any negative influence, this is only my biased opinion.
And I'll go 275 instead of 265 when I'm changing back tires and 245 front instead of 235 as well, this for handling and traction.
For information, Porsche has 5 and 17mm spacers factory options. I believe the main purpose is to fit wider factory wheels on the complete range.
CatmanV2
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CatmanV2
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mjheathcote
Centenary Club
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I don't want to be a sourpuss, but I would want to know a bit about the company who are machining the spacers and making the wheel bolts.
Anything can be made to a price point, and a quality level, both in the UK and China alike so I am not discriminating either country of origin.
The spacers have to be absolutely square and true, naturally, and the wheel bolts made from correct grade materials and again machined correctly.
You don't want any wheel wobble or a wheel bolt failing, with the resulting consequences, for the sake of saving a few £'s over maybe quality.
Anything can be made to a price point, and a quality level, both in the UK and China alike so I am not discriminating either country of origin.
The spacers have to be absolutely square and true, naturally, and the wheel bolts made from correct grade materials and again machined correctly.
You don't want any wheel wobble or a wheel bolt failing, with the resulting consequences, for the sake of saving a few £'s over maybe quality.
mjheathcote
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The bolts I would not take any chance with to be honest!
maverick
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Being a engineer and working in a engineering work shop all my life , I would say the Chinese have come along in resent years and as long as you do your research there quality is as good as anyone's , but you can get good or bad anywhere in the world even in the uk . You only need a operator to have a off day or be under pressure = cr*p and on the note of material quality I hate to disillusion you folks but most of it comes out of Italy and china .For me I would be willing to take a punt for £100 as I have the aquipment to check them for accuracy etc , the alternative from the guys that are mentioned would be aprox four times the amount . Personaly I would go with steel bolts plated not st/ steel because of tensile and sheer strengths not unless there are the correct grade and heat treated . Of course this is just my opinion
Chrisbassett
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For £100 I'll take a punt with the spacers, but will order bolts from sprogs as he has a good rep and the std size ones I have are excellent. Also MAF has been the guinea pig for the longer versions and seems happy and still alive.
ecarca
Junior Member
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You are right Mike and I don't vouch for the products in anyway. I am just giving the forum the same opportunities I have access to. I did sourcing as a job for 7 years, so I am well aware of the challenges, advantages and inconvenience, but in this case I am a private customer. I will not go there, will do no quality control, unless someone pays for this and this will not happen.
If you want to have an idea about what the factory looks like, go to my exhaust thread and click the link. In the case of the spacers it is a factory in Guangdong but it will look plus or minus the same: they will have machines, a messy floor full of left overs and it will not be clean as a German factory would be to say the least.
I am ordering these in China simply because for that type of products, everything is made in China. I have many Chinese parts on my other car including wheels, intercooler, bolts, limited slip differential, exhaust, etc... Some part are imported from the USA: rods, pistons, ... or Taïwan. Everything works very well.
Where do you think the steel of the few made in UK parts is coming? You got it: Baosteel. Where do you think Quaife manufactures their differentials? Where are engines, gear boxes, etc... manufactured? It reminds me of this recent case of Aston Martin having to recall cars because a Chinese supplier used substandard plastic on a part of their throttle pedal assembly LOL
Let me tell you that if we on the forum can get a set in UK for about 100 GBP, it will be the exact same one they sell for 300 and more retail, they have to pay for shipping, taxes, make a living, etc.
Then they will market engineering and development (some companies, not all and I don't doubt there are serious ones like the ones mentioned above) which is exactly what I am doing now. I have it custom made, fitted, modified and I could market it and start a business
I am the cobaye, these are going on my car, it's my decision and I am the first one to take the "risk" if any. So feel free to request a batch in a year when we realize that it has done 5000 miles on a car and that there is no problem. It will be 20 GBP more by then but it will be the same in the retail. If we want to take this to a semi-pro level, someone on the forum that has testing capability could get one set and put it to stress, then we will know for sure what it is worth. It will not be that expensive to ship one set only, maybe 30 to 50 quids extra at most... Still a bargain. Then if it is satisfactory, we can do a group order and in the meantime, they will be on my car
What you can expect though is a finish that will probably not be as good as you would get for a product sold 400 because in that case they would make sure it is mirror polished. Compare the custom made exhaust I did and a Larini of Fabspeed product. Is mine mirror polished? No... Why would they bother: it works, it is under the car and they don't sell it for a huge premium so that they have to "justify" the premium with a product that has a perfect finish. Here they will just drop it on the ground (almost), then pick it up when they are ready to install.
Why are Ferrari/Maserati aftermarket parts expensive: because they know owners have deeper pockets than other brand owners, it is not only because the batches are smaller (production and development costs). I have a friend that sells carbon fiber parts, he does that for a living. The Miata parts are made in the same factory as the F430 parts, same process, same worker, same etc. A part the same size will be twice as much or more for the F430... Why? Yes, this is called marketing...
Well it is a long debate anyway but these are a few ideas
And by the way, that high quality Maserati OEM wheel bolt that sheered when I reinstalled my wheel after removing the spacer, I replaced it by the Chinese longer bolt! But I am not complaining, mine are not rusted.
If you want to have an idea about what the factory looks like, go to my exhaust thread and click the link. In the case of the spacers it is a factory in Guangdong but it will look plus or minus the same: they will have machines, a messy floor full of left overs and it will not be clean as a German factory would be to say the least.
I am ordering these in China simply because for that type of products, everything is made in China. I have many Chinese parts on my other car including wheels, intercooler, bolts, limited slip differential, exhaust, etc... Some part are imported from the USA: rods, pistons, ... or Taïwan. Everything works very well.
Where do you think the steel of the few made in UK parts is coming? You got it: Baosteel. Where do you think Quaife manufactures their differentials? Where are engines, gear boxes, etc... manufactured? It reminds me of this recent case of Aston Martin having to recall cars because a Chinese supplier used substandard plastic on a part of their throttle pedal assembly LOL
Let me tell you that if we on the forum can get a set in UK for about 100 GBP, it will be the exact same one they sell for 300 and more retail, they have to pay for shipping, taxes, make a living, etc.
Then they will market engineering and development (some companies, not all and I don't doubt there are serious ones like the ones mentioned above) which is exactly what I am doing now. I have it custom made, fitted, modified and I could market it and start a business
I am the cobaye, these are going on my car, it's my decision and I am the first one to take the "risk" if any. So feel free to request a batch in a year when we realize that it has done 5000 miles on a car and that there is no problem. It will be 20 GBP more by then but it will be the same in the retail. If we want to take this to a semi-pro level, someone on the forum that has testing capability could get one set and put it to stress, then we will know for sure what it is worth. It will not be that expensive to ship one set only, maybe 30 to 50 quids extra at most... Still a bargain. Then if it is satisfactory, we can do a group order and in the meantime, they will be on my car
What you can expect though is a finish that will probably not be as good as you would get for a product sold 400 because in that case they would make sure it is mirror polished. Compare the custom made exhaust I did and a Larini of Fabspeed product. Is mine mirror polished? No... Why would they bother: it works, it is under the car and they don't sell it for a huge premium so that they have to "justify" the premium with a product that has a perfect finish. Here they will just drop it on the ground (almost), then pick it up when they are ready to install.
Why are Ferrari/Maserati aftermarket parts expensive: because they know owners have deeper pockets than other brand owners, it is not only because the batches are smaller (production and development costs). I have a friend that sells carbon fiber parts, he does that for a living. The Miata parts are made in the same factory as the F430 parts, same process, same worker, same etc. A part the same size will be twice as much or more for the F430... Why? Yes, this is called marketing...
Well it is a long debate anyway but these are a few ideas
And by the way, that high quality Maserati OEM wheel bolt that sheered when I reinstalled my wheel after removing the spacer, I replaced it by the Chinese longer bolt! But I am not complaining, mine are not rusted.