Wheel Spacer/Adapter Fiasco

[DooDooBrown]

Well, had a little problem today. Last night, I put 4 38x12.50 swamper sx's on H1 wheels on my m1009. I used 2" adapters/spacers to get the backspacing right on the truck. Last night, testing it out, I got a little death wobble. Nothing too bad though. Today, driving around by my house about 35 mph, my truck s driver front side nosedives into the asphalt. I watch my front tire pass me on the road and jump into the wood-line as I skid to a stop on my brake rotor. The adapter came off the hub. All the threads appear to be OK. The adapter is a little scratched but otherwise solid. I put on a spare and limped back home.

I am not sure how this chain of events happened. A buddy put that one on. I saw him tighten it down. We did not use a torque wrench on any of the adapters. I am going to pull them all off tomorrow, check them, and locktight them with a torque wrench.

Do you think they could have all just backed off like that? It is odd as I watched him tighten them and it appeared he put his back into it. He is a big fellow. I don't know but it was scary

 

[OPCOM]

2 adapters? seems unafe, asking for trouble..

 

[DooDooBrown]

fixed it, 2" adapters

Many people use adapters/spacers. Heck, some auto manufacturers ship vehicles from the factoy with them.

 

[builder77]

Could you please post pics of these spacers, price and your source. I gave up looking for a set a while back that would change 6 to 8 lug. Thanks

 

[DooDooBrown]

Link to page. OffRoad Overstock-139 a Pair

OffRoadOverstock.com

 

[M1075]

DooDoo-

Do you have a M1008 or M1009? I can't see how those adapters would work on a 6 lug M1009. You must have a M1008, because I don't think you would go with 38" tires with the M1009 gearing.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

I see two problems here...the spacers and the lack of a torque wrench.

Spacers seem to work okay under little vehicles driving down the road but I wouldn't put them under a big heavy truck with big tires. In my nearly 10 years of offroading and "living" in that community I don't think I've ran across anyone with a serious offroad truck that used spacers. What happened to you is exactly why they're considered bad juju. There's all kinds of stresses on a wheel/hub assembly and spacers add more and change what's already going on there. The owner of www.ColoradoK5.com used some on his K5's rear axle years ago to make it's track width match the front...that lasted less than a year after they fell off once or twice.

That's my two cents. Get the wheels recentered and call it good. Safer and cheaper in the long run.




Oh yeah, why is this thread so wide on screen?

 

[Elwenil]

I can't understand why you wouldn't torque the lug nuts down on both the adaptor and wheel, especially on such a risky set up. And at $139 a piece, I think you could have just gotten the wheels re-centered. Also, I am unaware of any factor vehicle with a lug adaptor on it, but I would be interested in knowing of an example.

 

[DooDooBrown]

Typo M1008..late night

Well I had an AAR with my friends. We had the Impact Wrench out there that night and it was put on that adapter as well as all the others. I was going to check and retighten them but was going to wait
a couple days. I found on ColoradoK5 similar incidents with people who torqued and used locktight. I am going to get the H1 rims recentered or just get a new set.

When I have time to search, I will find you the link to the vehicle that had spacers. I think it even had a pick of the setup.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

It always surprises me when I'm rotating tires how much more I need to do with the torque wrench after "sinking down" the lug nuts with the impact.

Spacers are just bad juju. Save them for the "Civic with a 4' tall spoiler" crowd.

 

[jimk]

Not tightened at all or not enough.

Nuts stretch studs. That is how things stay tight. You have to retorque an assy like that,maybe twice. U may need more T than called for with spacers.A little may be OK but too much may be unsafe for the stud size U have.


Autos will have a retorqu spec for alloy wheels.
I had a 70 Pontiac GP (bought for the 12 bolt 3.07 rear) .Ran 4 studs with no problems. Then one broke. Later the wheel got loose. I tried to tighten the 3 even more and broke another. Two would not cut it. They would loosen(and back off half way) in less that 1 mile.JimK

 

[jimk]

Torque wrenchs need to be calibrated. A pal was having trouble with his 427chevy rebuild . Main bolts would strerch like puddy. My Beam T wrench showed his Snap-On clicker was ~100lb too high

Not a spacer fan.U might pass for a light duty appl. Problems are things move...Wheels bear on a stud w/longer moment arm...

If you are having problems using correct torque you are going past a desigh threshold (bad).Nothing will fix it. U need to redesign(bigger studs,more studs,better wheels...)JimK

 

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

Freinds can be like sons, I know I had a wheel fall off one of my trailers when I was working with him. He got distracted and did not put on the lug nuts and I did not check his work. I know it is my fault but off I go and off it goes too up into a guys yard and I left a nice gouge in the pavement. Drum brakes were kind to me cause I jacked it up put the wheel back on and didty mouwed back home. I always check nuts even at the tire dealership now just to make sure they did not leave the lug nuts sittin on the running board

 

[rizzo]

I thinkk this thread is wide because of the url address

 

[Elwenil]

Yeah, if someone will edit the post and use the URL tags for the BB code they can substitute a word for the whole address and shorten it down.

 

[1956_4x4]

It always surprises me when I'm rotating tires how much more I need to do with the torque wrench after "sinking down" the lug nuts with the impact.

Spacers are just bad juju. Save them for the "Civic with a 4' tall spoiler" crowd.

Sounds like you need a better impact! I always torque my lug nuts with a good torque wrench because I'm afraid of over torquing with the impact. Once you over torque, there's no going back.

Smitty

 

[acetomatoco]

I just leave all my stuff stock... ACE

 

[Recovry4x4]

How does that work for you ACE? I tend to do the same except for repowering these silent gassers. Even that is not engineering something, just swapping military parts. I do admit though, the Devilman/Acme 9000 Oil FIlter Kit has piqued my interest.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Sounds like you need a better impact! I always torque my lug nuts with a good torque wrench because I'm afraid of over torquing with the impact. Once you over torque, there's no going back.

Smitty

I REALLY try not to tighten them much with the impact. Too much of a chance of warping a rotor or snapping/stripping a stud. In fact one my DD Tracker has a stud hole that is completely stripped because of the last owner. I still haven't figured out what I want to do to fix it. You can take a standard size stud and literally spin it in the hole.
I only use the gun to sink the lug nut down all the way and then let the torque wrench do the rest.

I just leave all my stuff stock... ACE

Wow...no offense...but what a useful post. You mention that in about every post that someone has about modifying their vehicle. Great, you like stuff stock...the rest of us don't. Excuse me if I start calling you dad because that's who you remind me of.

What should I do when the frame cracks around the steering box on my CUCV? Common problem even in bone stock form...the aftermarket has some great fixes for it...

 

[DMgunn]

I've run spacers for a couple years on an F-250 to match front/rear track widths. As long as they are torqued correctly initially, and then checked again (very important) after a few miles, you are unlikely to have problems. I am running 35x14.50s. I agree that spacers are far from ideal, but if you want a matching track width, without losing the ability to rotate your tires (also very important for mud tire life), options are quite limited. I personally will never run any spacers on the front........well except for my 5-ton, which came with them stock.