Bad shaking on first ride after installing wheel spacers
- Thread starter PalmettoStateBob
- Start date
Is everything torqued properly? Wheels and tires still balanced? You didn't list a weight or something?
When you mean "shake" is it a whole death wobble like shake?
OP
Well I do have new tires and rims. I took rims to a tire shop and had tires put on. They balanced them. And I mean it shook the whole Jeep. Stayed under 30 going back to house and it didn’t shake, just vibrated. Haven’t experienced a death wobble to know what it is. But everything was fine until new spacers, rims, and tires were put on.
Last edited:
You had death wobble.
1. Check the torque on your lug nuts in all four wheels. Try driving again.
2. If that doesn't fix the issue, take the Jeep back to the tire shop and get the wheels/tires rebalanced again. Make sure everything is torqued to spec after they put mount the wheels+tires back on the vehicle.
Do that and post the outcome here.
As well to add make sure the hub centric part of the spacers are correct because i made the mistake of using some cheap spacers not too long ago and they had the wrong size hub bore
A way to know spacers aren't hub centric and if they are make sure the hub bore size is correct, But if they move/wiggle alot when you slip them on they arent the right ones !
Note when the hub bore isn't correct, the spacer wont be perfectly centered causing vibrations that along with the tires not being properly balanced will cause what just happened to you ! In this case being death wobble like @psrivats mentioned
Just my 2 cents from what has happened to me, hope we helped
A way to know spacers aren't hub centric and if they are make sure the hub bore size is correct, But if they move/wiggle alot when you slip them on they arent the right ones !
Note when the hub bore isn't correct, the spacer wont be perfectly centered causing vibrations that along with the tires not being properly balanced will cause what just happened to you ! In this case being death wobble like @psrivats mentioned
Just my 2 cents from what has happened to me, hope we helped
I’m not a big fan of spacers. Lost my front DS tire on the road. Was dam lucky, veered into opposite lane. Watched has my 35” tire hit a building and rolled through a gas station. Honked the horn to get peoples attention. No one was hit, went over an embankment into another road. The spacer bolts holding that tire sheared off. The shop that put them, a reputable shop. The owner said he was longer going to sell them/install them.
I would make sure they didn’t over/under toque the spacers and are sitting correctly against the hub. Correct grade bolts are used etc. or remove and get wheels with a bigger back space.
I would make sure they didn’t over/under toque the spacers and are sitting correctly against the hub. Correct grade bolts are used etc. or remove and get wheels with a bigger back space.
OP
I installed them myself but didn’t torque. I’m pretty sure they aren’t under torqued. Spacers seemed to have a tight center bore. Wheels are Vision Prowler 17x9. I will say that rims had a larger center bore. I hope it’s not rims
Last edited:
I installed them myself but didn’t torque. I’m pretty sure they aren’t under torqued. Spacers seemed to have a tight center bore. Wheels are Vision Prowler 17x9. I will say that rims had a larger center bore. I hope it’s not rims
Use the same torque for the spacers as you do on the wheels.
Lots of variables in your mix.
I’ve run spacers on 2 different set of rims, first JK and now my gladiator take offs without issue.
Second the torque concern, HF has the 1/2 and 3/8’s always on sale.
I’ve run spacers on 2 different set of rims, first JK and now my gladiator take offs without issue.
Second the torque concern, HF has the 1/2 and 3/8’s always on sale.
OP
HF ?
I just bought batteries for my torque wrench. I will add, I had to use extended lug nuts with the spacers.
Are they bigger tires or just different tires? Both bigger tires and different offset affect steering geometry to an extent. I'd be willing to bet the new wheels/tires/spacers are a catalyst, not the cause. I'd check over everything for worn components, starting with your steering linkages.
Track bar ends, wheel bearings, ball joints, etc.
I had a Jeep once when I was young and broke that would drive smooth - it would feel like the wheels were perfectly balanced. But hit a bump and death wobble. Swapped the tires front to rear and still felt just as smooth, but the death wobble went away. One of those tires was just enough out of norm from the rest to cause the death wobble to kick off. But the real issue was worn tie rods.
There's nothing wrong with good quality wheel spacers installed properly.
Track bar ends, wheel bearings, ball joints, etc.
I had a Jeep once when I was young and broke that would drive smooth - it would feel like the wheels were perfectly balanced. But hit a bump and death wobble. Swapped the tires front to rear and still felt just as smooth, but the death wobble went away. One of those tires was just enough out of norm from the rest to cause the death wobble to kick off. But the real issue was worn tie rods.
There's nothing wrong with good quality wheel spacers installed properly.
OP
Only one of these statements is correct.
Remove the spacers and try without.if it doesn't shake then the spacers were installed wrong or are faulty
OP
32” tires. I think the problem may be in rim fit. I ordered a set of centric rings to match up with rims today.
LONGJP2
TJ Expert
Are they just spacers or bolt pattern adapters?
If they're just spacers, remove them (for now) and recheck for wobble.
Last edited:
OP
They are spacers, but once my centric rings arrive they are coming off. Rings are spect for hubs without spacers