Or is it up to preference? As in only spacing out the drive wheels in the back etc. Is there any negative affect to only installing spacers on 2 wheels as opposed to all 4?
If you are wanting to use wheel spacers I would recommend you stay far away from them, unless you really know what your doing. I have heard a few horror stories about those things. Seeing as you are asking here you probably don't know much about it and ether do I, so I don't know about you but I would not use them. Not trying be mean here by the way just stating they could be dangerous.
You wantHub-Centric" spacers, and notLug-Centric" - Hub-Centric ones carry the weight of the wheel, and the stresses, by engaging into the centre-bore of the wheel - it's a subtle difference, but when you have had 3 out of 4 wheel-studs shear-off, when you were doing 80, you will realise how vital it is! I'd say I have fitted narrower spacers at the front (2 at 10mm/side) which haven't adversely affected steering, and I've had 2 at 30mm/side at the rear - the handling was just EPIC, and I recommend it. Space the front too much, it will under-steer and seem lazy to turn-in. Space the rear, and it's really all-good, you reduce the tendency of the tail to snake-out, so you can get on the power sooner, and harder, coming out of a bend.
Wheel spacers can be usd on 2 wheels or all 4 wheels. We used wheel spacers on my dad's firebird. He wanted to put 2000 trans am wheels on his 1982 firebird. The 2000 wheels have much deeper backspacing and will not fit on his car, so we needed a 2.25" thick wheels spacer on each wheel to space the wheels out right.
Wheel spacers can be used for a variety of reasons. Spacers mount between the hub and the wheel, locating the wheel further from the suspension. Handling Wheel spacers widen the track of a vehicle, and can increase grip during cornering. It should be noted that wheel spacers can also result in heavier steering. Aesthetics Another reason that wheel spacers are used is to improve the appearance of a car. By pushing the wheels further away from the body, a better stance (the way the car sits) and more aggressive look is achieved. Added clearance Wheel spacers might also be used to provide additional clearance between the wheel and the suspension or bodywork. For instance, if wider tires are installed, and one rubs on a suspension piece without a wheel spacer, adding a spacer may solve the problem by locating the wheel further away from the part that it is coming into contact with. Problems with wheel spacers In addition to the aforementioned possibility of increased steering effort, wheel spacers can also add extra strain to axles, suspension spindles and wheel bearings, possibly resulting in premature failure. Cheap spacer have also been known to crack.
