ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Model Specific Suzuki Forum => Suzuki Grand Vitara, Vitara, Chevy Tracker (Gen. 2 Platform) 1999-2005 => Topic started by: atc_gv on October 18, 2006, 07:45:51 PM
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Well I was driving to Colorado from California today and on the freeway two wheel studs broke clean and the remaining three stripped. It was the drivers side rear. I think that the wheel spacers where not torqued tight enough creating a couple of millimeters of give. The torque from the rear wheels during stopping and going was enough to break the studs off. Right now I'm stuck at Lake Havasu and should get out of here tomorrow. The rear shock mount got grinded down from skidding on it so a shop is fabbing up a new mount and putting in new studs. Just be careful with these wheel spacers guys. I guess they are not DOT approved for a reason. Lesson learned :'(
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woa man... glad you are OK.
I guess this is confirmation for those that say they aren't safe.... good to know because I contemplated ordering some. I don't think I'd want to explain to my wife and kid that our wheels flew off because I'd been screwing around with wheel spacers !
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Please tell me these were not Spidertrax spacers. I somehow doubt they were. Spidertrax uses 6061 T6 aluminum and have their own studs. Much better and safer than the cheap ones that merely shorten the length of your factory studs and create a hazard. Not to mention they run them on trucks that are literally going over boulders and stuff. Where did you get 'em??
Thanks.
Dave
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No they are not spidertrax. Those are the best and built the strongest out of them all. They were
from ezaccesories.com or something like that. I was looking at the spidertrax ones last night and notice they come with locktite. I did not use lock tight on mine and think that might be the culprit.
I read some where else that the lug nuts can get loose. So if you do have to use spacers make sure to use shank lug nuts with plenty of locktite.
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did the spacers have their own studs? or were they litterally spacers with the wheel itself mounted to the stock studs?
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I'm tempted |removethispart|@ this point to do the following:
get some 1/4" or thicker wheel spacers (the boltless washer kinds)
and get some longer lug nuts
I think this is the safest way to go
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Ngrover brought up a very important rule in regards to wheel spacers & wheels
They are hub centric
So, I asked a mechanic buddy of mine his opinion, and he said that you should "find" wheels that have either the "perfect" bore size or a if a larger bore, to ensure it comes with shims to allow the hub to be snug
the weight of the vehcile should not rely on ly on stud bolts
So using wheel spacers, not only puts that much more force on the stock bolts, you add an extra point of failure and as well the wheel will not be putting any force on the "hub"
So... at this point I am not sure where to get the "perfect" wheels for us
I'm tempted to say Rocky Road's deal w/ US wheel i.e. their 84 wheel w/ the custom backspacing might just be right as long as the center bore is perfect
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The spacers had thier own studs, but the thickness of the spacer where you bolt on is thicker than a normal wheel. Lug nuts with a 1/4" shank should do the trick and make me feel safe again.
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Seen this happen.
Tip. clean ur drums perfect bare metal. then apply a light coat of antize and then put the spacer on. Take all the nuts put loctite on them and turn them all by hand and use the nuts to center them. then torque them to 15ftlbs then 30 then i think its what 55 ft lbs i forget. Biggest prob with spacers is tehre is no hubcentric ring in them so they do not align. never use a impact.
Shit man glad u are ok.
I have spider strax on mine i was gonna upgrade to 1.5" for the rear but i dunno now. Any pics?
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I've been in contact with a guy on ebay who makes custom machined wheel spacers from 6061T6 billet aluminum. He said he would make me four 1.25 inch spacers that are hub centric both in terms of how the spacers fit on the vehicle and in terms of how the wheel fits onto the spacer. He quoted me $240 for four spacers and $45 for shipping to Canada. I think I might take him up on it. His ebay handle is "gotdubs20" .. and here is one of his listings: http://tinyurl.com/ympvpo
A bit spendy but once I learned that the RRO wheels are not hub-centric I kinda lost my enthusiasm over paying $600+ CAD to my door when they weren't a perfect solution. That ebay dude also has a pretty good reputation from what I can tell so I think he would make a good a product as can be.
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All spacers man use the lug nuts to center it. Its hard to do jack the car up and use a socket and ur hand then tighten them up by hand make sure they all seat then torque them. Same thing for the wheel.
Ive had min on my GV for 2 years over 45,000 km not one prob.
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incorrect, you can buy spacers that are hub centric to the wheel and the hub. In fact I'm having some custom made. have a look at the spacers on this link, they are hub centric to the hub and the wheel.... that's what i want.
http://bernardembden.com/xjs/hubcentric/index.htm
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yes i know that but from the spacer to the wheel tho
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Nice just looked at there site. Well see if he can do them in that large of a bore and allow clearence for the hub locks thats the hard part.
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So how much for those custom spacers and where are you getting them?
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So how much for those custom spacers and where are you getting them?
the guy is on ebay and i posted a link a few posts up to one of his listings. he has been making custom machined wheel spacers for over 20 years and said it would be no problem to make them so long as there is no more than an inch from the wheel mounting surface to the outer edge of the hub... that is what i'm waiting to measure on the weekend (it's dark when i get home). like i said in previous post he wants $240 US for four 1.25 inch spacers.
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Drive your trucklet around for a while w/ the new tires and then decide...
I doubt you'd need them and it just "might" be pulling the tires and increasing the turning arc jus a bit too much w/ 1.25" spacers
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Studs will break off the vehicle if the wrong spacers are used for the vehicles hub/wheel design. Hub-centric vs. lug centric.
I can't say specifically about Gen. 2 GVs, but for instance, my sami is Lug-Centric, but my Rubicon Heep is Hub-centric. The sami has a flush face on the drum, so the wheel studs are designed to carry the vehicle weight. The Jeep on the other hand has a machined lip on the hub that fits into the wheel, this interface carries the load and NOT the lugs.
I've seen the aftermath pics of the lug-centric spacers used incorrectly on a hub-centric jeep, NOT pretty after the Jeep's wheel studs (not the spacer's studs) broke off w/o warning doing only 45mph down the road (good thing the guy had a full cage). And no, they were not Spidertrax, and yes, everything was properly torqued.
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99-05 GV's are hub-centric. They have the machined lip on the hub and the center bore on the wheels fits it exactly.
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So is everyone that runs the spidertrax satified. How is your Jeep Rubicon a heep?
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Hey ngrover did you ever measure your hubs? Just curious because I am probably going to get some from the same guy.
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So....are my Spidertrax spacers hub-centric to match the GV? I know the guys at Spidertrax said that they are a new design, compared to the original Samurai design. I remember them saying something about a lip when I ordered them...that's part of the reason it took a while to get them. They're supposed to work on both the Samurai and GV. Can someone shed some light on this? I don't really want to be driving around on unsafe spacers. I would think these things would be bombproof, but I don't really want to test the theory and crash my Zuk!! :-\
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Hey ngrover did you ever measure your hubs? Just curious because I am probably going to get some from the same guy.
not yet... man i'm procrastinating like there is no tomorrow. I'm still wanting to do so but i need to take the time and measure everything out properly... i don't want to be on the loosing end of the guinea pig stick. I also just got my lift and new tires on the other day so now I can more accurately determine what width of spacer I can run...which is important because there will be a minimum width needed to have a hub-centric spacer on the wheel side. I have Friday off work so I'll do it then. One thing I did look into was locking hubs. If I go ahead and order them I won't be able to run the Warn locking hubs up front due to their shape. But I probably would be able to run the Asin (spelling?) locking hubs as they maintain stock dimensions as far as these spacers would be concerned. I'll keep you all posted. The guys has been pretty cool to talk to and he's given me some guidance.
So....are my Spidertrax spacers hub-centric to match the GV? I know the guys at Spidertrax said that they are a new design, compared to the original Samurai design. I remember them saying something about a lip when I ordered them...that's part of the reason it took a while to get them. They're supposed to work on both the Samurai and GV. Can someone shed some light on this? I don't really want to be driving around on unsafe spacers. I would think these things would be bombproof, but I don't really want to test the theory and crash my Zuk!! :-\
they might be hub centric on the hub side but they definitely are not on the wheel side. I'm not sure which is more important... but of all the wheel spacers available for the GV to date i would say you're running as safe a spacer as any. They use OEM suzuki lugs and machine them from 6061T6 etc. Just make sure you use the locktite and torque them properly etc. In my case I"m not in a huge rush and I'd like to see if I can get completely hub-centric spacers made (for added peace of mind).
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i finally had time to look over my hub dimensions before ordering my custom made hub-centric (in terms of hub and wheel) spacers. I figured out that the minimum width the spacer can be is 1.25 inches so that the spacer clears the hub (and the tiny bolts sticking out of the hub). I could probably get them made thinner if I shaved the heads down on the hub bolts (by hub bolts I do NOT mean the studs that the wheel mounts to). The distance between the wheel mounting surface and the end of the hub (including the bolts) is a hair under 1.00 inch... meaning the wheel centric lip will have 1/4 inch to work with before protruding out from the spacer. According to the the ebay dude (who will be making the spacers) that is perfectly acceptable. So far I've concluded I need spacers made to the following specs:
- 1.25 inches thick
- must fit a 5x5.5 stud pattern
- must be hub centric and wheel centic
- must accomodate a center bore of 108mm (4.25 inches)
- must accomodate a hub that protrudes no more than 1.00" inch
The last thing I'm wondering is: what did spidertrax do to make their spacers compatible with the Grand Vitara? I noticed a very small lip (about < 1mm) on the wheels mounting surface and I'm wondering if the spacer needs a machined bevel to clear that, perhaps that is what spidertrax did?
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I run Spidertrax spacers on my 2000 GV and have had no issues whatsoever.
The spacers are hubcentric and I use locktite on the studs. I also check the spacer to rotor studs averytime I rotate the tires.
As a side note I've had wheel spacers on my Toyota trail rig for over three years now and have not had one issue either. It's been through the Rubicon a hundred times or so as well as other nasty spots.