True statement!

I run them on both of my XJ's. The blue is just a spacer to clear the huge Baer brake calipers and I run an adapter on the orange XJ for the 5x5 bolt pattern wheels. Both are Spidertrax which I highly recommend.

That being said, I have had a wheel spacer fail. Back in '02 or so I had a ZJ and Spidertrax 1.5" wheel spacers. They were the fist generation of Spidertrax spacers and there was no chamfer on the back side of the stud holes. On a ZJ's rear drum brakes there is an edge on the studs that protrudes a few mm thus my spacers were not sitting flush on the drum mounting surface. They failed driving only 30mph luckily! This is a problem that has since been corrected by Spidertrax and with proper installation spacers should be completely safe.

I DO NOT retorque my spacers. First, if you retorque your spacers you risk compromising the integrity of the loctite. Secondly a torque wrench is only calibrated during a slow smooth application of force (tightening something down) therefore "checking torque" is potentially adding additional torque to the lugs. Over time, and with enough reapplications of torque, you will overtorque the studs which can lead to failure of the stud (a common occurrence with spacers). Therefore my solution is:

I install per instructions with red loctite and torque to 90 ft-lbs. I then paint a torque mark on each stud/lug for an easy indicator to see if the lug has turned. If I do get paranoid that a lug has lost torque or backed off, I set my torque wrench to 80-85 ft-lbs and check the torque. Thats not enough to overtorque (and or break the loctite) and it is enough to see movement if the bolt is backing off. If I do see a loss of torque (either by the torque marks being broken or checking with the torque wrench at a reduced torque setting), I completely remove the spacer and start the installation over again.

Just my opinion of course.

 

I, to, have spidertrax. The instructions say to retorque once at a specified mileage (I'm not home to see it) but good to know about the re torque checks. Makes good sense the way you put it. I like your idea about painting the threads to see where it's torqued down to

 

Couldn't agree with you more. That's how I treat my spacers which are also spidertrax 1.5".

 

 

Adding wheel spacers is essentially adding leverage on the supporting components like wheel bearings and ball joints. Compounding that with a bigger and heavier tire makes that little pothole feel like a crater to these parts. This means that it's crucial to use quality parts, keep up on maintenance and perform routine inspections of these components.