Spacers/Adaptors Source to fit wheels to W123 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

mholbrook · #1 03-13-2003, 03:13 PM

I recently had a set of spacers/adaptors made for my 1983 W123 300TD-T made. Since there does not seem to be much support for wheels for the earlier models, it seemed that the spacer/adaptors was the only way to go.

They are about 1" aircraft aluminum and bolt to the hub with the original wheel bolts. The have press in studs and new lug nuts provided. They allow me to run 2001 Mercedes S-Class 16" wheels with 205/55/16" tires on my 83 wagon. There are no clearance problems with the tie rod ends. The only thing is the front spacers are not hub centric because of the large register. Rears are hub centric.

Source:

Motorsport Technology 21800 Barton Rd. Ste. 101, Grand Terrace , CA 92313
Ph: 909-514-0091 & Fax: 909-514-0092

Please tell them Mike Holbrook sent you and that you want the spacer set for the older 123 series Merc.

As 16" and 17" wheels are pretty ez to come by ( I paid $325 for wheels and tires), I think this is a good upgrade if you can get wheels cheap.

DieselHead · #2 03-13-2003, 05:08 PM

Thanks for the info. How much did you pay for them? H&R also sells spacers for the W123.

Alex

#3 03-13-2003, 06:18 PM

I feel your pain regarding the dismal selection of wheels for older benzes. However stay away from spacers, particularly if they are not hub-centric. I just learned that lesson the hard way. I completed the front end rebuild on my w126 and took it for a drive. I heard this rhythmic growling noise which I thought was my bearings. Turned out that the spacers placed additional load on my lugbolts. One of the bolts was completely sheared off and hanging out of the wheel. All the other bolts were very difficult to remove. I was unable to extract the broken bolt and had to replace the hub itself. I use a torque wrench to tighten the bolts so I really doubt that this was caused by me. Choose safety over looks. They sell monoblock II's at the Tire Rack or on e-bay that have the correct 25mm offset, not sure if they're your style though.

good luck!

DieselHead · #4 03-13-2003, 06:32 PM

I agree with the safety thing. What size spacers did you use? Just out of curiousity. I'm think about going with 5mm ones.

Alex

mholbrook · #5 03-13-2003, 08:56 PM

First, I paid $220 for the spacers, set of 4.

These are not just spacers with longer lug bolts. You cannot safely put 1" (25mm) spacers on a car with longer lug bolts and expect to not have trouble. These are adaptors which bolt to the hub with you stock lug bolts. They have press in studs so you use lug nuts instead of bolts after they are installed.

On the front, when you bolt them onto the hub it is important to snug up the lug bolts a little bit each at a time. Then work around skipping one bolt to tighten the next until you hit your torque spec on all bolts. Same process when putting the wheel onto the adaptor. In the rear, which are hubcentric, there is no problem with being that careful. I do not have any trouble with vibration etc.

Basically, I paid $550 for the spacers, S-class wheels and Yokohama RE-92 205/55/16 tires with 85% tread. Seems like a good deal to me and I have checked my lug bolts and lug nut torques to be sure I do not have any loosening problems. Checking the lug bolt torques requires removal of the wheels and reinstallation of the wheels. After checking these and finding them correctly torqued after 150 miles, I feel comfortable they are ok. I have checked the torque on the wheels several times since install and reinstall and have experienced no problems with any torque change.

http://www.motorsport-tech.com/

Hope this clears up some things.