Can am commander wheel spacers

New here and did search but can't really find any input on issues with a 1.5 or 2 inch wheel spacer. How bad will it tear up bearing or anything else?

New here and did search but can't really find any input on issues with a 1.5 or 2 inch wheel spacer. How bad will it tear up bearing or anything else?

Not sure how to answer your request. ?
There is a definate group on the side of "Tearingup all your stuff"
and another on the side of "What Problem?"
I have run 2" rear, 1-1/2" front for over 7,000 miles with out any noticable issues to date.
We run a lot of graded and un graded Gravel, rocky trails in the Mexican Baja, big ruts and washouts, hard pack to silt like conditions, but really no mud, (we wait a day till it drys out in the sun and then ride, LOL)
Recently went aftermarket wheels with more ofset than OEM and after 2,000 on them still no issues except needed to widen trailer a bit.
so I would say go with your Gut.

Not to make a physics lesson out of it but it's a fact that the forces will increase as added leverage is added and your components will have somewhat of a shorter life so ask yourself this why am I considering the spacers? Is it you just want to sling more stuff up on and in your machine OR is it stability you seek?? My bet it's the later check into all the results and comments from people who have went to the RT spring setup and you have all the info you need on stability. This forum has vast amounts of info on all subjects relating to these commanders and most of it has ended up here after it's been proven or experimented by others and thanx to those folks I say again

And by the way welcome to the forum, just a thought when you put your year and model machine in signature it's a great help for others to help out. Happy Trails

Thanks everyone. Sorry I have a 14 xt

I kinda agree with Bollax. I put 1 inch (vs-2 inch) on the front to minimize bump steer. (but then added EZ steer which eliminated bump steer altogether). And added 1 1/2 inch on the rear. This did increase stability noticeably. After that, RT springs and relocation kit were added which made a HUGE improvement. I have over 5000 miles with no noticeable problems caused by increased leverage on suspension etc.

I have MSA Wheels and 1" spacers and no problems - ran same setup on the 2013 Commander before the 2015. I understand the logic in saying more leverage will increase bearing wear but I think it would be so minimal you won't notice. To me it's worth it to run them for the extra stability (and the stance looks a lot better also)
I ran 2" spacers on a Rhino and the wheel bearings lasted about the same as friends Rhinos without spacers.

I ran 2" all the way around and had no issues for the two years I ran them. I ride mostly rocky trails with washouts and creek beds. I just recently took mine off and most likely won't be needing them anymore due to an increase in width lol. I got them for a stability reason but after being on this site for a while I found that actually better springs would have a better effect than the spacers. My two cents

Finally!!!

I think one deciding factor that never gets mentioned is the size of the contact patch.
Looking at some of the Mud oriented tread designs I dounbt those treads have more than a cou[le square inches of contact on hard firm surface.
I know letting air out etc. increases it but it is a factor.
I am not so sure that Bump steer and or SAI (KPI) come into play as much with a long arm short arm suspension, more of an issue with Mc Pherson Struts.
With our LA SA front ends whn you turn right the left wheel dives down and the right moves up.
In Mc pherson strut front ends when you turn left both sides go down same as turning right.
The end result being the more contact with the reverse surface the better handling and control.
Also note wwith LA SA you get less oposite dive with a front sway bar installed as its function is to reduce said dive.

OK...So now I'm a little confused. I don't want to hijack this thread but it does deal with wheel spacers. As I progressed to improve my ride everything I did had an improvement on their own. My spacers were added well before the RT springs and lift. Now, will I see more improvement by removing the spacers with the RT stuff installed? The spacers without RT did add improvement but with RT am I not realizing the full improvement they provide by altering suspension characteristics with spacers?

I think the gist is with the better springs you don't need the spacers, if you have both, I Think that would be even better.

If you don't have a issue with the width leave them on they are not going to hurt anything. But if you would have bought the springs before buying the spacers you wouldn't have bought them. I too started with spacers and after the springs removed them and noticed no difference at all. The spacers are a band aid to the true issue and that is junk factory springs. Spacers are kinda like bracket lift kits. They are a cheap solution to a bigger issue. Because there is no doubt that a true suspension lift is better at everything it does than a bracket lift. But again it's cheap 250$ for 2" brackets or 3000$ for a true lift. I can say this it works the same for spacers and off set wheels . They are cheap compared to a long travel kit which I have done also. And again no comparison. I now run RT springs no lift and no spacers. And I do not miss the width at all. It has stop many hard bone jarring hits to the right side of my machine. Distance is judged by knowing where your wheels are. And the farther the wheel sticks out fro the finder the harder it is to judge at high speed. I have had my machine in places I would have never thought it would have gone through without flopping and spacers or no spacers it still made it through . In my book they are a conference builder and nothing more. You put 4" of spacers on and it only make it 2" farther before you flop. If your running spacers you are adding leverage to the suspension so in turn if your factory springs are already weak adding 2" of leverage only makes them weaker not more stable. I learned this from going to spacers and then to a +3 LT kit with spacer to just the +3 and back to stock. You fix the spring issue you fix the problem .

I think one deciding factor that never gets mentioned is the size of the contact patch.
Looking at some of the Mud oriented tread designs I dounbt those treads have more than a cou[le square inches of contact on hard firm surface.
I know letting air out etc. increases it but it is a factor.
I am not so sure that Bump steer and or SAI (KPI) come into play as much with a long arm short arm suspension, more of an issue with Mc Pherson Struts.
With our LA SA front ends whn you turn right the left wheel dives down and the right moves up.
In Mc pherson strut front ends when you turn left both sides go down same as turning right.
The end result being the more contact with the reverse surface the better handling and control.
Also note wwith LA SA you get less oposite dive with a front sway bar installed as its function is to reduce said dive.

And yes Ed contact patch is way over looked. That was why I went to the flat tread patch of the dirt commander. More tread on the ground longer. More tread on the ground more traction. Better handling.

After adding real springs I took the 2" spacers off and there is no difference in handling. I also thought the wider stance would help but the springs did everything I was looking for. Spacers in I was running at 64" wide and was tight on narrow trails but it is easier to drive at higher speeds with them off and the correct springs installed.
Hands down ! Just have to get it out since its been parked since September. I thinks its time ....

Ron bring it on down to the roundup.

It really would be a blast I'm sure but I'm selling most things
here and I need to be available.
Thanks for the invite though.

It really would be a blast I'm sure but I'm selling most things
here and I need to be available.
Thanks for the invite though.

Selling out and on your way to retirement ??

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