Spidertrax wheel spacers

[Rich Z]

Actually I am a little bit uncomfortable calling these things "spacers", since that term seems to hit a nerve with some people. Technically, I think "wheel backspace adapters" is probably a better term to be used, since that is what they are really doing. But I guess I will still call them "spacers" just because it's easier off of the fingers when typing.

Anyway, I was kind of surprised that I would like the stock Sahara wheels as much as I did when I saw them in person. Connie likes them a lot too. So although they are more narrow than I would like (7.5 inches) I think I can still find some nice and wide, more aggressively treaded, tires when it comes time to change them out and still retain those wheels. Actually the Bridgestones looked a lot better in person too, than they did in photos. So maybe I'm just being a cheapskate, but I can't see just tearing those tires off and basically throwing them away.

But the stance of the stock Wrangler just seems to narrow to me. Hence the thought of perhaps spacers to offset the wheels/and tires a bit might be in order. The Spidertrax units seemed to be highly rated, and prices for any of the more quality branded spacers was about the same, plus or minus a few dollars. Really wasn't keen on getting the cheapest brand I could find anyway, for something holding the wheels on. The ones I got are 1.5 inches wide, so that gave a 3 inch wider stance for all four wheels.

After removing the wheels, there will be some spring clips on some of the wheel studs. These hold the brake rotors onto the hubs if you were to remove the calipers. There were two for each front wheel, and three for each back, if I remember correctly. These MUST be removed. Otherwise the spacers will not fit flush with the rotors, and consequently the wheel itself will be cocked at some weird angle. I'm sure taking a drive with the wheels like this will tell you immediately that there is something very wrong.

The clips come right off with pliers and just get tossed into the trash. Then it is probably a real good idea to get a stiff bristle brush and clean up the face of the rotors as well as the inside mating surfaces of the wheels. If you are doing this on a Jeep that has a bunch of miles on it, you might have some rust to deal with too. But the idea is that you want the spaces to mate flush with the rotors, and the wheels to mount flush with the spacers.







When you test fit the spacers onto the studs on the hub, make sure that the wheel hub studs DO NOT extend past the face of the spacer. With the 1.5 inch spacers this is not a problem, but if you go with thinner ones, it might be something that could be a problem for you. So at least check it to make sure you are OK.

Slip the spacer onto the wheel, and then put some permatex on the hub studs before spinning the included lug nuts onto the studs. Tighten them in a criss-cross pattern and then on the second pass torque them down to 90 ft./lbs. You DO have a torque wrench, don't you?












Then put the wheel onto the studs of the spacer. I didn't use permatex on those studs, but I suppose you can if you want to. Do the same tightening procedure on those lug nuts that you did on the spacer. Done.

Now lower the Jeep onto the tires and take a look at the improved stance with those spacers.....













The instructions say to check the torque on the spacer's lug nuts after driving the Jeep for 50 miles, but I honestly didn't do that. Instead I took a trip of about 2,000 miles and then when I got back home, changed the oil and filter and rotated the tires at the same time. While I had the wheels off, I checked the torque by setting the torque wrench to 85 ft./lbs, and all of the lug nuts were still as tight as the day I put them on. But your mileage may vary with this. Do what you feel is best for you, under your circumstances.