I can understand where you are coming from, but my local America Tires (Different from American Tires Company) touches my car, and I am from Orange County too. Some folks love the look of OEM wheels better than aftermarket, but of course they do not come with the wider stance. So sometimes it is not a money issue. I've used spacers/wheel adapters for years before owning my 4Runner. I've never ran into any problems. And now I have them on my 4Runner, because I LOVE the look of the 2014+ Trail Edition wheels on mine, again, this is all opinions. Me personally, I rotate my tires every oil change, 4-5K. That is the perfect time to re-check my torque. If at any point the lug nuts move, I will re-check after 100 miles. If not, I will re-check on my next oil change. If spacers were so bad, why does multiple companies make them and keep selling them? 99.9% of the time it fails, it is because of installation error, which was stated by the OG thread starter.
BE CAREFUL if you install wheel spacers
- Thread starter typehxr1
- Start date
I can understand where you are coming from, but my local America Tires (Different from American Tires Company) touches my car, and I am from Orange County too. Some folks love the look of OEM wheels better than aftermarket, but of course they do not come with the wider stance. So sometimes it is not a money issue. I've used spacers/wheel adapters for years before owning my 4Runner. I've never ran into any problems. And now I have them on my 4Runner, because I LOVE the look of the 2014+ Trail Edition wheels on mine, again, this is all opinions. Me personally, I rotate my tires every oil change, 4-5K. That is the perfect time to re-check my torque. If at any point the lug nuts move, I will re-check after 100 miles. If not, I will re-check on my next oil change. If spacers were so bad, why does multiple companies make them and keep selling them? 99.9% of the time it fails, it is because of installation error, which was stated by the OG thread starter.
07V8
Member
If you have a spacer failure and your tire hits another car, I guarantee it's a lawsuit you lose. Even if it's the bolts that shear off, you have no ground to stand on.
LTDSC
New member
I prefer to not live in fear. Any suspension mods can snap and send you off a cliff into a protected bird and be sued. Get over it. Don't install like a POS. Mine haven't even budged.
BackOff
New member
:behindsofa:Ran 3/4" wheel spacers for over 4 years without any issues.
Hell BlackWorksInc ran one of mine on his front that was WAY out of whack, trying to pull him off the road, for close to 15 miles.
Spacer is fine.:blabla: No snapping. They are fairly tough, I would lean towards the "over torque" idea.
Not to sure if I have ever even had the air pressure the same from the tire shop.
Hell BlackWorksInc ran one of mine on his front that was WAY out of whack, trying to pull him off the road, for close to 15 miles.
Spacer is fine.:blabla: No snapping. They are fairly tough, I would lean towards the "over torque" idea.
Not to sure if I have ever even had the air pressure the same from the tire shop.
4thgenblake
New member
I didn't even look to be honest, he just showed me a picture of his wheel almost separated from his truck. I would say it was held on by a string but that would make no sense, so I'm going to say the studs sheared because it was hanging by what looked like his brake lines and some imaginary strings
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Sean K.
New member
My local Discounts use a click style torque wrench...JFYI.
Sean K.
New member
Sometimes, you don't have any other options if you're trying to match widths from wider axles....short of building a custom housing.
Fear mongering helps no one though....fact is: spacers are safe if you install quality components properly.
Sean K.
New member
And if your factory wheel comes off b/c it wasn't properly torqued down, you'd be liable for that too....meaning: your point is moot.
Lolrax
New member
I used the loctite that came with the kit as well, been running for over a year no issues.
07V8
Member
Find a lawyer who could prove it. Spacers are easy to identify as a failure point. Tracking down the shop who put your tires on with an impact for the average person who knows jack shit would be impossible.
So it's not a moot point.
Sean K.
New member
Uh....Liability is determined by negligence....be that intentional or unintentional. No one is going to argue that a tire coming off was 'on purpose'. If your vehicle causes an accident....YOU'RE the one that will be found negligent, regardless of mechanical failure, distracted driving or "wheel spacers", LOL.
toku58
New member
I've ran wheel spacers on many of my vehicles. The key is, proper torque.
They essentially mount as if you have a different offset rims. No difference!
This I would guess was a case of improper torque. I normally torque my lugs to 80-85 ft/lbs. (Never had any issue)
Using Loctite or any other viscus fluid will change the torque value, as compared to dry torque.
I believe 80-85 ft/lbs. is dry torque recommendations.
So with Loctite it would be lower. But still ok to go to that value.
100ft/lbs torque seems a bit high using loctite.
The bolts may have already been at the point of yelding. So just a modest bump could cause them all to fail. (Which seems to be the case)
What ever the reason? I doubt it was the cause of the spacers.
Here in Hawaii I see some pretty F'd up wide ass rims, which put way more stress on the hubs and lugs.
Much more than any Spidertrax spacers.
1.25" spacers on the stock rims make them equal to a rim with 4.25" BS. (Which really isn't that bad)
Just be careful about the amount you torque the studs to, and you should be fine!
They essentially mount as if you have a different offset rims. No difference!
This I would guess was a case of improper torque. I normally torque my lugs to 80-85 ft/lbs. (Never had any issue)
Using Loctite or any other viscus fluid will change the torque value, as compared to dry torque.
I believe 80-85 ft/lbs. is dry torque recommendations.
So with Loctite it would be lower. But still ok to go to that value.
100ft/lbs torque seems a bit high using loctite.
The bolts may have already been at the point of yelding. So just a modest bump could cause them all to fail. (Which seems to be the case)
What ever the reason? I doubt it was the cause of the spacers.
Here in Hawaii I see some pretty F'd up wide ass rims, which put way more stress on the hubs and lugs.
Much more than any Spidertrax spacers.
1.25" spacers on the stock rims make them equal to a rim with 4.25" BS. (Which really isn't that bad)
Just be careful about the amount you torque the studs to, and you should be fine!
Was doing some research on wheel studs and ran across this old thread.
Just wanted to add my experiences, I've ran spidertrax spacers on my:
2000 Tacoma
2004 Tacoma
2011 Tacoma
2012 Tacoma
2013 Tacoma
2016 Tacoma
Installed them myself, followed directions properly, used a torque wrench that's alway put back into its case after using.
ZERO issues, great product !
Just wanted to add my experiences, I've ran spidertrax spacers on my:
2000 Tacoma
2004 Tacoma
2011 Tacoma
2012 Tacoma
2013 Tacoma
2016 Tacoma
Installed them myself, followed directions properly, used a torque wrench that's alway put back into its case after using.
ZERO issues, great product !
green_manalishi
New member
Exactly. Stock 4th gen wheels have an offset of +30mm (+1.18"). Add a 1.25" spacer and you're left with -1.75mm (0.07") offset. Very close to the 0" offset FN FX Pro wheels which are very popular on this forum. TRD Pro wheels only have a +4mm offset. I have to believe that the scrub radius difference between these three setups is negligible.
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How did you get to these numbers? Not following, please clarify. Thanks!
Also, isn't the offset positive on the 4th gens (30mm) and 15mm on the 5th gen?
green_manalishi
New member
Oops, you're right. Had my positive and negative backwards. The math still holds up, though. Think of the wheel spacer as part of the wheel, rather than part of the hub.
What is wheel offset?
5th gen wheel offsets
More 5th gen wheel info
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oljedi11950
New member
Much ado about nothing ! If properly installed
