wheel spacer issues

Elliott

Elliott

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
San Diego, CA
So i've been running these wheel spacers that plenty of people have run successfully but mine keep wearing out. The problem is I will tighten everything down with an impact AND loctite yet they still manage to come loose. The holes are now ovaled out and completley useless. I check the condition of them everytime before I drive the jeep and it is annoying.

I am running a mini spool in the rear so i'm sure there is alot of pressue on them but they shouldn't be ovaling out and getting completley destroyed. Does anyone make steel spacers? Or are there any other options to widening an axle?
 
using a torque wrench? tighten in cross pattern? how many ft-lbs?
 
yeah i think you overtightened. tighten to man. spec w/ torque wrench, red loctite. i've had mine for a year w/ no problems
 
Same here. Installed and torqued spacers and then rims to spec. Wheeled hard a couple of times. Retorqued spacers with red loctite, retorqued rims. No problems since.
 
As said, you should go with a torque wrench instead of an impact. The impact is inconsistent and varies with pressure too. However, if they are distorted now, you can't really fix it.
 
and, depending on which company's instructions your reading...you may not want to use loctite...

mine specifically said not to use it...but I know some others actually supply it with their spacers...

to me, using loctite and tightening up against softer aluminum spacers, you're possibly not getting a true torque reading, so instead of being too tight, yours actually aren't tight enough...

I've run mine for almost a year now, without a drop of loctite...and wheeled it plenty...

that make sense?

Greg
 
these didn't come with any directions so I'm not sure how much to tighten them down. They are trashed now anyway so I'm going to have to get new ones either way. Any reccomendations on a brand?
 
you really need to torque them all to the correct spec. call the manufacturer and they should be able to tell you. just tightening with an impact isn't good enough. if you torque all of them the same, you equal out the load and pressure at each lug. then you won't have warping/ovaling out because one or two lugs were looser and the other side was too tight.
 
I wish I had more free time, I would offer to make you some steel ones for not too much $. I made some aluminum ones that worked great for 10's of thousands of miles.
 
Elliott said:
these didn't come with any directions so I'm not sure how much to tighten them down. They are trashed now anyway so I'm going to have to get new ones either way. Any reccomendations on a brand?
Click to expand...


I run some Trail Sport ones off Ebay...and know many people running them, and (to this date) have not heard a negative comment on them...

MUCH less expensive than Spidertrax, etc...I think I paid $118/shipped for all four including lugs...

users name is sscramblin:

http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZsscramblin

Greg
 
I'm running the same Trail Sports as Greg. No problems to report. Seem to be a good product so far.
 
I ran the trail sports also..................

No Loctite and no problems....

Used the tourqe wrench for tightening, star pattern, and they were fine.
 
Trail Sports here too! No locktite, running 42s and a 2" spacer and just hit em with the impact, no torque wrench. Retorqued after about 50 miles and had zero problems. But I am a pro and know how to wield a impact properly....you may want to torque them down.
 
Hell, they're all made by the same company anyway.. $53 a pair is a great deal though.
 
well WTF are wrong with mine? I have the same ones. I guess I'll order another set and torque them down properly and check them at every other stop light. :flipoff2:
 
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