Most Trustworthy Wheel Adapters?

[DAA]

I've had Spidertrax and currently running BORA. They (BORA) made some for me not listed on their site at no extra charge (I wanted the thinnest ones they could make). If they don't have 1.5" as a stock item, I bet they will make them for you if you contact them.

BORA

- DAA

 

[bryson]

I have BORA spacers as well, and no issues or complaints at all after many years and many daily miles.

 

[UNSTUCK]

I’m just curious if anyone has seen a spacer/adapter fail? And if so, were they able to determine a cause of the failure.

They need to be treated like a wheel. Torque them to the right spec. Run them for 50 or so miles and retorque. Yes, that means removing your wheels to do so. Retorque and then put your wheels back on, also torqued to the correct value. Then in another 50 miles retorque the wheels again. Every time you remove a wheel check the torque on the spacer. I have many thousands of miles on cheap Amazon adapters with no issues. That does not mean I have stopped thinking about them. I look forward to new, wider axles that remove the need for them. They most certainly will not fail if they’re not there. 😂

 

[Mouse]

I had a shop in ruin a set of spacers, but I really don't consider it a spacer failure. The shop drilled out a set of Poly Performance spacers to move up to 5/8" wheel studs. They used some sort of RTV to get the studs to stay put (highly not recommended) because they hogged out the holes too much for the knurling to hold them.

I bought some custom made spacers (place in Texas), and they've been perfect (with 5/8 studs).

 

[STAG]

I've had Spidertrax and currently running BORA. They (BORA) made some for me not listed on their site at no extra charge (I wanted the thinnest ones they could make). If they don't have 1.5" as a stock item, I bet they will make them for you if you contact them.

BORA

- DAA

My dad put on some 1.25’s on his F250 and because they were so narrow we had to cut the factory studs down a bit so they didn’t stick out past the adapter face

 

[DAA]

I ended up with 3/4" if I remember right and they work because my wheels have pockets on the backside conveniently located for the studs to fit into without any trimming. BORA talked to me, warned me about that before they made them for me.

- DAA

 

[Spork]

I’m just curious if anyone has seen a spacer/adapter fail? And if so, were they able to determine a cause of the failure.

They need to be treated like a wheel. Torque them to the right spec. Run them for 50 or so miles and retorque. Yes, that means removing your wheels to do so. Retorque and then put your wheels back on, also torqued to the correct value. Then in another 50 miles retorque the wheels again. Every time you remove a wheel check the torque on the spacer. I have many thousands of miles on cheap Amazon adapters with no issues. That does not mean I have stopped thinking about them. I look forward to new, wider axles that remove the need for them. They most certainly will not fail if they’re not there. 😂

My sister lost a 37" wheel/tire on her JK on Hwy 6 coming back from Moab... Not sure what brand of spacer she was using but they were constantly tightening the lug nuts down on them.

I run a set of spacers on my Tacoma and locktite the inner lugs along with the different lug nuts that are supposed to help keep everything happy... This set --> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D755775/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[Agility Customs]

We red loc tite every wheel spacer that we install and inform customer that we do so, So far so good!

 

[DAA]

I'm wanting to say both the ones I've used came with red loctite.

- DAA

 

[bryson]

Yes to Loctite on the factory studs that secure the adapter. My Bora spacers came with the following instructions (very paraphrased here...):

CLEAN the mounting surface and all studs.
No grease or anti-seize on the factory studs. (I'd clean them with brake-clean)
Apply red Loctite to factory studs.
Install spacer and torque to 130 lb/ft. (that torque value was for 14mm Toyota studs).
Install wheel and torque to factory specs.
After some (I don't recall the number - maybe 100?) miles, remove the wheel and check torque on spacer to 120 lb/ft.

The important part to notice is that when you're checking torque of the spacer, always check a slightly lower value than you torqued them to initially - because as soon as you turn that lug nut, you break the Loctite and need to start the process over.

Torque values will obviously be different for different applications/stud sizes - the specs I gave were just an example.

 

[Hickey]

Yes to Loctite on the factory studs that secure the adapter. My Bora spacers came with the following instructions (very paraphrased here...):

CLEAN the mounting surface and all studs.
No grease or anti-seize on the factory studs. (I'd clean them with brake-clean)
Apply red Loctite to factory studs.
Install spacer and torque to 130 lb/ft. (that torque value was for 14mm Toyota studs).
Install wheel and torque to factory specs.
After some (I don't recall the number - maybe 100?) miles, remove the wheel and check torque on spacer to 120 lb/ft.

The important part to notice is that when you're checking torque of the spacer, always check a slightly lower value than you torqued them to initially - because as soon as you turn that lug nut, you break the Loctite and need to start the process over.

Torque values will obviously be different for different applications/stud sizes - the specs I gave were just an example.

This^

My torque values on the Spidertrax adapters I ran were a little lower. 90 lb/ft and 80 for the check. Exact same process, though.