PSA - Don't buy cheap wheel spacers

[HeavyUser]

I am guessing folks run this to prevent rubbing of the tire and wheel well? I used the Spider Trax on the TJ not for spacing but to change the bolt patter to fit a JK Recon / JL wheel that I really liked. Not had any issues.

That's exactly why I run mine, the look is an added benefit

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[plex]

Don't buy anything cheap for you $60k rubicon, unless it is purely for appearance and your life will not depend on it, say an antenna or stickers.

 

[Spearmin]

I almost bought spacers a few weeks ago, and at the last minute decided to do it right and bought a set of wheels instead. I got the wheels at $108 each. So price was about the same as doing spacers. Everywhere I went the shops were advising me against them (spacers). Now I see why. So glad I opted out. Thanks for your post.

 

[Spearmin]

I use Amazon a lot and am a fan but I’ve noticed you have to beware of some of their stuff. If it says “Amazon’s Choice” then it’s probably something they got or get real cheap from a Chinese wholesaler.
I was annoyed in March when I ordered “Amazon’s Choice” cloth style masks. I received an email saying they were held up in customs. Then when they get here the packaging is in Chinese, they have a little patch on them that say “weehan” which for me is too close to Wuhan (where this crap started). Ugh!

I hope you burned them.

 

[plex]

I use Amazon a lot and am a fan but I’ve noticed you have to beware of some of their stuff. If it says “Amazon’s Choice” then it’s probably something they got or get real cheap from a Chinese wholesaler.
I was annoyed in March when I ordered “Amazon’s Choice” cloth style masks. I received an email saying they were held up in customs. Then when they get here the packaging is in Chinese, they have a little patch on them that say “weehan” which for me is too close to Wuhan (where this crap started). Ugh!

Amazon's choice means nothing, it is basically a term by Amazon based on how many people bought whenever you search something. For every one people buying the legit thing, there will be ten El Cheapo, so the low price craps always end up higher in Amazon choice.

 

[LowBama]

I almost bought spacers a few weeks ago, and at the last minute decided to do it right and bought a set of wheels instead. I got the wheels at $108 each. So price was about the same as doing spacers. Everywhere I went the shops were advising me against them (spacers). Now I see why. So glad I opted out. Thanks for your post.

What brand and model are those wheels? Can you post a pic from front showing how far they stick out? I have been looking at similar wheels by Quadra Tech.

 

[Spearmin]

What brand and model are those wheels? Can you post a pic from front showing how far they stick out? I have been looking at similar wheels by Quadra Tech.

ProComp 69 17x9 -6 offset. They stick out about 1.5 inches past the fenders. They look even better in person. I cant get people to leave me alone when I'm out and about now. They see the jeep and forget all about social distancing and just have to come over to ask me questions. Got them from 4WD.com. Just make sure you do some searching for coupon codes before pulling the trigger. They are dry powder coated (no shine) just an fyi. I also looked at the the Quadrateck equivalents but they cost more, and for no particular reason. I am 100% happy with these I must say.

 

[Spearmin]

Here is another Pic

 

[Spearmin]

And a few more.

 

[AZRockCrawlnJL]

I picked up these wheel spacers based on price while thinking "Hey, T6 Aluminum is T6 Aluminum. And how can they screw up pressing a lug bolt into a block of aluminum?"

Well... I was wrong. While driving home today, I noticed a vibration while turning left. A pretty strong one. I was close to home, so I slowed down and limped home. Did a quick look-around at the Jeep and found 3 LUGS had sheered off on the rear passenger side!!!

I will add another PSA to this, particularly if you are using 2 piece wheel adapters (essentially, a spacer). So I am running a 5x5 to 8x6.5 adapter because I am going to be switching to 1-ton axles soon, and I needed to get new tires/wheels on. (Couldn't wait for the tons before I did my tires). The stock wheels (18JLUR) I was running wouldn't support the 40x13.5 so I had to get new wheels. I didn't want to buy wheels twice, so I bought 8 lug wheels and the adapters for now. That's the explanation of why I'm running them.

Now the additional PSA. These type of adapters are two piece because of the lug patterns not matching up (too many holes) that is the only option. So you put on what is about a 1" thick piece that bolts up to your 5x5, then you put the second 1" section on top of it, and bolt it in with 1/2" flathead carriage bolts (beefy). But the key is USE LOCKTITE ON THOSE bolts holding the two pieces together!!! I didn't have locktite on a single tire because I was just going to take it off a day later as I wanted to swap out one of the lugs that go on the 5x5 section. I had less than 20 miles on it, when the carriage bolts walked out on me as I was driving. I dropped down to my rotor and the tire went flying past me. Thankfully I had a spot to pull over right away, and the oncoming traffic was going slow and swerved out of the way so the tire could go flying off into the corn field across the street. Very scary moment. I was just terrified it was going to fly through someones windshield. Obviously those bolts were messed up, so I had a friend bring me my old wheel and 37s and drove home on that. Scary moment, but no injuries or property damage, minus a few stalks of corn, 8 rows in to be exact.

 

[Sheepjeep]

I picked up these wheel spacers based on price while thinking "Hey, T6 Aluminum is T6 Aluminum. And how can they screw up pressing a lug bolt into a block of aluminum?"

Well... I was wrong. While driving home today, I noticed a vibration while turning left. A pretty strong one. I was close to home, so I slowed down and limped home. Did a quick look-around at the Jeep and found 3 LUGS had sheered off on the rear passenger side!!!

hard to really tell in that photo but it looks like the axle side studs stick out past the wheel spacer. you have to trim the axle studs down so they are flush if not short than the wheel spacer

 

[Rubidozer]

Cheap Chinese garbage. And No that’s not racist because Chinese is a reference to nationality. After all, THERE IS NO OTHER RACE ON EARTH BUT HUMAN....and the lizard people! Haha

 

[rustyshakelford]

For these jeeps, I love spacers. They have a place for sure, wheels with the correct backspacing are ideal, but when installed correctly and using a quality product has allowed us to have terrific experiences with them.

As sheepjeep mentioned, and it might be the angle of the photo but if the factory studs are extended past the face of the spacer AT ALL that’s going to lead to issues guaranteed.

For everyone considering buying spacers, we use synergy and spidertrax only. On the early synergy 1 5/8” spacers, you had to grind the studs down. On the newer style 1 3/4” you no longer have to but still is good practice to double check.

Brett

 

[D60]

For these jeeps, I love spacers. They have a place for sure, wheels with the correct backspacing are ideal, but when installed correctly and using a quality product has allowed us to have terrific experiences with them.

As sheepjeep mentioned, and it might be the angle of the photo but if the factory studs are extended past the face of the spacer AT ALL that’s going to lead to issues guaranteed.

For everyone considering buying spacers, we use synergy and spidertrax only. On the early synergy 1 5/8” spacers, you had to grind the studs down. On the newer style 1 3/4” you no longer have to but still is good practice to double check.

Brett

Actually the OEM alloys have counterbores (or really just cast recesses) where the OEM studs will still clear even if not trimmed. But for other wheels, all bets are off.

I'm not sure why everyone is blaming the spacers here? The issue looks to be poor metallurgy on the studs themselves?

If you put the same studs on the factory WMS you'd be at risk of similar results I'd think....but I'll stop making sense now

 

[Bee-Rad]

hard to really tell in that photo but it looks like the axle side studs stick out past the wheel spacer. you have to trim the axle studs down so they are flush if not short than the wheel spacer

They do stick out slightly, but the stock steel wheels have pockets so they don't come anywhere near contacting the wheels. If using aftermarket wheels, they would need to be trimmed for sure.

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