Originally Posted by planman

Wheel spacers that are not hubcentric can lead to wobbles if not properly seated.

The hubcentric Spidertrax wheel spacers do not have that problem.

The primary issue with wheel spacers is that if the inside lugnuts back off, you won't see it. So, they require periodic maintenance (re-torquing).

Brand new lugs stretch a little bit--whether it is a new lug you put in your rear axle shafts or on a new spacer. As a result, it needs to be re-torqued after about 50 miles because the torque specs can loosen up as the lug stretches.

Also, new wheels or new spacers can settle a little bit where the lugnut pushes up against the spacer or the wheel. This is why it is always recommended to re-torque your lugnuts after installing brand new wheels or wheel spacers.

If the lugnuts are not properly torqued, they can back off. If they back off, the looseness allows for leverage on the lugs as you are driving. Leverage on the lugs from loose lugnuts can lead to weakened or broken lugs. If this happens, your wheel can fall off--usually at the stress of higher speeds.

So, to properly use wheel spacers, you religiously follow the instructions:

• remove the stock lug retaining clips
• install the spacers
• apply red loctite to the stock lugs, then install the spacer lugnuts
• properly torque the lugnuts
• install the wheels and properly torque the lugnuts
• pull the wheels and re-torque the spacer lugnuts after 50 miles
• rotate the wheels/tires with every oil change and re-torque the spacer lugnuts

Additionally, there are wheel spacers out there that are designed differently than the Spidertrax wheel spacers. They might be 1/8" or 1/2" plates you put behind your wheels. These types of spacers are a bad idea. They increase the leverage on the stock lugs due to the increased difference between the seated lug end and the lugnut.

As a result, most tire shops will not touch wheel spacers. Most of them are not aware of quality hubcentric spacers like Spidertrax and are only aware of low-buck, non-hubcentric spacers that are more prone to wobbles or the plate kind of spacers that can overleverage the lugs.

Even if the tire shop is aware of the high quality spacers, they know that if the spacer lugnuts are not re-torqued at 50 miles and at every oil change interval, the results could be disasterous. So, for liability reasons they won't touch them.

If you buy Spidertrax or similar quality hubcentric wheel spacers and religiously follow the instructions and recommended maintainer, they are completely safe and work very well.

If you buy lesser quality, poor design, or do not follow instructions and maintenance, then they are evil.

I have used Spidertrax wheel spacers on our 04 TJ for years and they have worked flawlessly.

Originally Posted by jessmcquaid

I was using a set of Spidertrax spacers for about a year before I could afford new wheels and last weekend when it was time to take them off it was not easy. A buddy brought a cheater bar named "the condor" which is a 6 ft pipe and we used that to break the lugs free. If you install them per the directions with the thread adhesive I would not worry for a second them coming off.