H&R Spacer... Lip shaved/broke off?!

spearfish25

Any chance you guys who experienced broken spacers might have removed/loosened your lugs before jacking up the car?

Today I was swapping brake pads and was loosening the fifth lug on my rear wheel when I realized the car wasn't jacked up yet. I started to see the car settle lower and about had a heart attack when I realized the weight of the car would be sitting on the spacer lip. Fortunately I caught it in time and jacked the car up before fully removing the last lug. I could definitely see this sheering off the spacer lip though.

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

ChrisSlicks

I break the torque seal on the lug with the car partially jacked but the wheel touching the ground. The wheel is still on there good and tight and then I lift it the rest of the way and use a cordless (or air) impact wrench from that point.

Both of my failures were on front wheels, which I think is no coincidence. Both failures were after track/auto-x sessions. The 15mm is the weak design, if you have the 20mm I think it would be ok, but I'm not using spacers on the track ever again.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

kenchan

first off i always break my lugs loose while the car is on the ground. this is so i dont accidentally move the car while it's on jacks using my long-handle rachet. i dont loosen the lugs much, just enough to break it loose.

the purpose of the lip is to support the weight of the car. that is the hub-centric design. it shouldn't break off if constructed correctly.

spearfish25

I disagree. The spacers are aluminum which is much too soft to support the car's weight. The lip is designed to align the spacers and wheels. Once you tighten the lugs down, the spacer lips probably experience no force at all.

With the privilege of an impact wrench, I don't loosen my lugs until the car is in the air now.

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

kenchan

ahh so you see, while they appear hubcentric by design they are not functionally hubcentric at all. it's only used to aid centering the wheel during installation... like how lug-centric wheels come with plastic centering rings. you dont put the vehicle weight on the plastic rings.

if that's the case it's buyer error. you bought the wrong parts for your application. I suggest you remove them for safety and get proper hardware that support the weight of the car as it should for those hub-centric wheels.