Problems with wheel spacers?

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:39 am

as most of you kno i did the t-bar tweak w/ 30;s, and 1.25" spacers.

yesterday morning driving to school my rear drivers side wheel fell off as i was doing 15mph

. the way it happened the lug studs on the rotor broke and my truck was blocking a lane of a major road. 4 of the 5 lugs broke off

Damage:
bottom corner of bed bent to hell
busted fender flare
trashd rotor from it grinding on the pavement
And the shop said the fall might of bent my axle and frame possibly

so im waiting on the insurance company to tell me if theyll fix it or total it, but the good news is if they fix it i only hve a $50 deductable

is it possible that the spacers caused the lugs to break?

Post by **HenryJ** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:29 am

If the lugs were loose any wheel or adapter can break studs.
Wheel adapters themselves only change the wheel rearspacing. Properly tightened they are no different than wheels with less rearspacing.

There should be signs of they were loose.

If not it might have been they were over torqued? Seems like a couple have broken studs that way?

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:43 am

im not sure how they broke, the last time i messed wth the tires was when the shop put on my MT's, they used an airgun so maybe they were overtightend?

Post by **HenryJ** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:26 am

If they didn't torque them , it is possible. Most shops are wise to that. If they did your tires they had no reason to mess with the adapters though. You said the axle studs broke , so it lies with who installed the adapters. They needed to be rechecked after a hundred miles or so too.

Can you get pictures? That will tell quite a bit.

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:27 am

i can try to get one off of my phone, thats what i took it with, but the last time i checked the spacers they were tight.

do you think my insuarnce will cover it or deem it totaled?

Post by **HenryJ** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:33 am

I doubt they total it. If they can find reason to fault anyone, or thing , they will try. If they think the adapter failed, or caused the failure, they may deny the claim. In that case you will be on your own.

To date I think you are the first I have heard of here that has broken wheel studs at the axle while running wheel adapters.
I think one broke wheel studs and had no adapters and another broke adapter studs.

fallvitals · Post by **fallvitals** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:15 pm

man, that sucks... where did you get your adapters from? glad your okay.

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:16 pm

Uh yea, I was the one who broke 3 of 5 wheel studs on my stock hub, this was as I added the spacers but did not realize how LITTLE 100lb/ft of torque is when using a 3/8 socket. I bught a torque wrench after that to solve that problem. Is it possible the shop "helped" you by hitting the lugs when they had the wheel off just to make sure they were tight?

Sorry to hear about the damage but glad you are ok. That could have been real bad at highway speeds.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:27 pm

If, you cannot install spacers yourself with the proper tools then, you should not install them. Wait, let me expand on that a little. Do not install any mod if, you cannot do it yourself!

Their are exceptions when things like welding are required but, wheel spacers need to be addressed frequently when first installed. It is some pretty basic stuff. There is no excuse not to perform the mods yourself unless, you have one deep wallet and refuse to invest in hand tools that will last long after you depart this world.

I am glad that no one was hurt.

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:59 pm

i installed them correctly, i followed the instruction sheet and even added loctite, and checked them after 150 miles. so i dont think i installed them wrong.

yeah i am glad it happened when it did, it woulda sucked at highway speeds.

well the insurance company called to have us get a quote from the shop, ill keep yall posted with the events

Post by **HenryJ** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:32 pm

Wheel studs can get cracked and or stretched from just being over torqued once. Maybe they were bad before you even bought the truck. Your torque just happened to be the one that broke their back.
That is a tough one to tell unless you have owned it from new. You can look closely for stretched threads, but like I said, that is difficult.
In drag racing the studs get replaced. No questions.
I would suggest that if this is what you suspect, replace them all with some good quality studs. They only cost $1-$1.50 each.

14x4 · Post by **14x4** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:02 pm

I'm starting to get scared about putting on my wheel adapters.

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 1:59 am

No need to be scared, this is the first catastrophic failure I can think of in all the threads on spacers and all the trucks running them that I can think of. My issue was one of a kind in that it is overly easy for me to over tighten any bolt if I don't pay attention. I would just carefully install per instructions and recheck the lug nuts after 100 miles or so. Most of us are running then and beating them off road with no issues at all.

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:47 am

Be a little scared of any thing you do whether a modification or maintenance item. Just rotating your tires could cause a problem like this, even without adapters.
It is always best to know the proper procedures and follow recommended practices. Even then , things can go wrong.
We can't live in a bubble. We can do our best to minimize the risk though.

killian96ss · Post by **killian96ss** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:21 am

Pictures would help, but from what you have said so far I would bet that the factory studs were overtightened somehow when the spacers were put on.
With the studs slightly stretched a few good bumps in the road could have easily overloaded them causing them to break.
About 9 years ago a friend of mine lost the rear wheel on his 68 Chevelle while going 70 mph on the freeway.

All 5 studs were snapped off, most likely from overtightening them.
I harassed him for years over that incident.

It is also very possible like Brule said that the previous owner or a shop had already overtightened the studs before which just set you up for disaster.

Get some pictures for us!

Steve

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:59 am

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o387 ... 090719.jpg

well here it is im too lazy to resize so ill link it later if i have too.
the damamge doesnt look bad but the rotor is all bend to hell, but im worried incase the axle or frame is bent

in the pic you can see that 3 of the 2 lugs broke off, and the 2 that were left were bent bad

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 1:01 pm

Pretty far to tell. but it looks like they broke off flush like they could have been over torqued.

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:12 pm

yeah the 3 that broke off were broken flush agiasnt the rotor. the other 2 r bent bad.

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:57 pm

I would buy a torque wrench and replace all the studs. If those were cracked, the others may be also.
There is a thread on replacing wheel studs.

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:07 pm

well the shop is going to do that when they fix it, if they do fix it

DLP · Post by **DLP** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 6:51 pm

Were the holes in the rim wobbled out?

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 7:19 pm

1 hole on the spacer had a sallow thread inprint, maybe they were overtighened AND when the one nut came loose they broke?

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 7:35 pm

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o387 ... wheel2.jpg
these are the scrapes the broken studs put on the spacer

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o387 ... /wheel.jpg

its hard to see but this the hole with the threads inprinted in them

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 12:10 pm

If I had to make a judgment call based on the pics you've posted I'd have to say it looks like the wheel studs holding the spacer to the rotor were/came loose as that's what thread marks imprinted on the wheel or spacer usually indicate. This would give the wheel leverage to then damage/break the other studs. JMO I am currently and have been for a while running spacers of the same design on the rear of my CC with no problems. (knock on wood) All my driving is pretty rough with the truck so I keep a close eye on the wheels and spacers.

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 12:37 pm

yeah i learned my lesson, when i checked the lug nuts after 150 miles they were still tight. they obviously came loose tho

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 1:28 pm

It's also a very good idea to make sure the spacer to rotor and spacer to wheel area is clean and free of any debris and or rust any time either is removed and re-installed. I have been surprised how quickly dirt, corrosion, or rust accumulates on mine. I also try to keep those contact areas lubed with hi-temp silicone grease any time they are disturbed. Perhaps not necessary but it's working for me.

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 3:32 pm

well i cleaned the rotor surface before i installed them, but i didnt take them off since

paintballrocker · Post by **paintballrocker** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:31 pm

update:

my truck will be fixed by wedensday

costing my insurance company $2900

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 2:46 pm

paintballrocker wrote:...costing my insurance company $2900

You laugh now. Your premiums will reflect the damages I'm sure , as well as those who share your insurance pool.
Glad you will get it all fixed though.