I'm glad you are okay, that must have been a scary movement!

I'm not to found of spacers myself.

Glad I bought the 2013 4runner TE wheels as these wheels have a better offset than the standard 4th gen wheels. Thus not needing any spacers.

I would recommend you doing the same get a new set of wheels from the FJ Cruiser of 5th Gen 4runner. No spacers needed!

i know i certainly can.

Here is my convertible rocking 19x9.5" front, 19x 11.5 rears Volk Racing 2piece forged wheels meant for a porsche 997


here are the spacers i currently have in stock. My personal stash at home for my own cars.


spidertrax are made hub centric and lug centric.
-spidertrax spacers need to go onto your factory hubs smoothly with no binding
-binding usually occurs at the center part like in the picture below outlined in red.
-spacers/adapters need to be torqued to min 90ft lbs, i personally do mine to 125ft lbs



-spacers/adapters need to sit flush with the brake rotor hub
-spacer/adapters need to be retorqued after 100 miles
-depending on the adapter, proper lug nuts need to be used. if its a cone seat or ball seat, the right lug needs to be used.

here is my convetible with spacers/adapters on it


or the best way to protect yourself.

Dont DIY, but the product from a retailer and have that same retailer install it for you. Get a reciept stating the work performed for your records. Something happens in the next few hundred miles, you have accountability.

might go this route. love the look of the stock wheels, and getting lost in trying to figure out a replacement. spidertrax still seem solid if properly installed.

thinking about accountability though, seems like they could dodge it by claiming the product is only intended for off-road use?

I'm still not exactly sure what happened here. Assuming that the spacer is a high-quality product and will not just "break," I don't see how the spacer/wheel combo is any more likely to come off than if only the wheel was on the stock hub.

Doesn't the spacer install onto the hub exactly as the wheel would? Why did the spacer come off? (and what would have been different about a wheel installed directly on the hub?)

This is how they will get out of any lawsuit, but if you can prove gross negligence, that generally goes out the window.

Damn, glad everyone is ok, scary stuff!

correct, spacer mounts to the HUB like how a wheel would mount. Lug centric and hub centric

On their website, there is no "offroad use only" disclaimer. There is however a authorized reseller/retailer disclaimer.


Not really, my friends shop had a similar incident that went like this
-customer brings vehicle for inspection to shop A
-shop A brings it to a sub contractor shop B
-shop B slaps stickers on the car
-shop A installs front brake pads
-shop B, part of inspection process is to write down how much brake pad is left and mark off what wheels they took of. Left front and right rear.

Customer has front RIGHT wheel fall off. causes $25k in damage and totals 2 vehicle. total cost $100k

In court customer gets $250k pain and suffering settlement
Shop B's insurnace foots the WHOLE bill since they were the ones that inspected the vehicle. There was no reciept from Shop A, cash transaction, just the stickers from shop B. They were both named in lawsuit though.

Just throw those spacers in the trash. What a waste of time. There is a reason some states ban them. I never understood why some people do them just for looks. If you really off road at least like I do in the desert the last thing you want is your wheels sticking out farther trying to get around rocks on narrow Jeep trails.

So what makes a wheel more likely to come off when a spacer is used than when a wheel is directly on the hub?

Also, what I saw on the Spidertrax site ("off-road only") was on the installation instructions that you download.

That is exactly the reason they are not DOT approved. I am not getting into the debate over whether or not they are safe, but they add a layer of complexity to something without adding additional security. You can't check the torque on the lug nuts without removing the wheel and you can't see a problem until it rolls away. Loctite is not something I would want to rely on. Buying correct fitting wheels is the better choice. I know it is cheaper to go with spacers, but you have to pay to play and taking short cuts isn't always the best choice.

My big fear in running a non DOT approved device would be getting denied by insurance or worse getting sued if there was an injury. One of those ambulance chasing attorneys would be all over something like that.

not everyone does jeep trails there pimp. Ever seen offroad racing? Wider track width more flotation in sand/dirt. Spacers arent the problem, shit installs are. I've NEVER had an issue on any spacers i've ever installed and ran 36x15.5 tires on 2" spacers and beat the piss out of the truck in Pismo. Not one backed off or loosened any. Sorry you think everyone needs to wheel a jeep trail or rock crawl to be any competent off road vehicle. Your mindset is what makes Jeep people hated.

Your attitude towards things you dont understand is disgusting.

Oh noes, spacers on all 4 corners. Ill never be able to go up a trail!



My fullsize made it everywhere my friends XJ did. Plz go with your shit logic.

EDIT: before you go on a rage about those arent 15.5s



Once again 2" spacers all around. Not ONE ball joint/hub failure either.

thats a nice rig and some valid points there @LTDSC

i noticed op was General Information

Last Activity: Today 01:53 PM
Join Date: 08-14-2013

and didnt chime in on this wonderful discussion

personally, i would not do spacers if i plann on wheeling. i would be scared. but then again i do 30mm rears on my convertible LoL

Over in So Cal I see the huge Chevy's and Ford trucks lifted to extreme levels. But it seems like those guys do not off road at all. Its just a trophy piece and they are always clean and never dirty. Only places that can fit these vehicles are the open dessert.

This seems really unusual to me... as stated above, the weight of the vehicle is supported by the hub-centric rings. I've run mine for well over a year now without issue. My hubs are in really good shape (no rust or anything), but I cleaned them really well and applied a thin film of grease just to keep them from sticking together. One thing I would definitely recommend is Vibra-Tite VC3 Vibra-Tite VC-3 Threadmate - Vibra-Tite... I think it's much better than Loc-Tite. I use 85 ft-lbs for adapter-to-hub and then 80 ft-lbs for wheel-to-adapter.

[OP]: Has anyone ever used impact wrenches on your lugs? I'm wondering if they had been abused by a tire shop or something and over torqued at some point during their lives.

At any rate... I'm so glad that you had the skill and reaction to come out of that safely!! WOW! That could've been a lot worse.

im coming up on 1 year with spidertrax 1.25 all the way around. put them on with a spacer lift, truck has been driven 10k since they went on, that includes mild offroad, commuting, towing, and 300 mile straight trips, a new set of tires, alignment, 1 tire rotation, and not a shake, wobble, or shimmy. if the OP is scaring anyone off from spacers, he had an extreme case, the cause of which is probably up in the air still. im not scared, nor should anyone running spacers be, given they installed correctly

EDIT: heres my friends XJ running 2" wheel spacers. he wheels the piss out of it, no issues.

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