Wheel spacer / adapter questions

2001TeeJay

2001TeeJay

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Joined
Sep 11, 2020
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9
Location
Crystal Lake, IL
Hello everyone — Longtime lurker, first time poster here. My wife and I recently bought a house after 10 years of apartment living and street parking. Now that we have a garage, I'm looking forward to getting my hands dirty and getting this girl back into shape.

First oder of business is getting here some new shoes. I'm swapping out her 15'' heavily pitted aluminum wheels and bald mud tires for some 17" JK Moabs. I've read through a bunch of the posts on here about people putting Moabs on their TJs but I wanted to know a couple things.

1) When installing the wheel adapters to the hub, is it recommended to use a threadlocker like Locktite?

2) I've noticed some people saying that their back wheels studs are shorter than the front, and if they are, need to be replaced with longer ones. I guess I'll find out for sure when I pop the wheel off, but is it common for the 2001 TJ Sport to have shorter wheel studs in the back? Being 4x4 I'm not sure why this would make sense.

3) I want to get a new lugs for all 4 wheels. Any recommendations on a good set of lugs?

Thanks all! Appreciate your help.

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A big welcome to WTF!!

For the nuts that hold the adapter to the lugs coming out of the rotor, yes using Blue Loctite would be fine. No need for the mostly permanent Red version of Loctite. Consider using aftermarket JK look-alike wheels with the correct 5x4.5" bolt pattern. That would eliminate the wheel adapters and eliminate sticking the wheels out so far.

For studs that don't stick out far enough for enough thread engagement, you can use ET lug nuts, the ET standing for Extended Thread. Their threads extended down further so they engage the studs more. Like these... https://www.billetspecialties.com/wheels/wheel-accessories/lug-nuts/e-t-conical-seat-lug-nuts/ which I use myself.

Enjoy your ride here, it's a great forum. :)

P.S. Love the Flame Red color of your TJ, my previous TJ was that color.
 
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1) I just used Blue Loctite on mine, though it never said any was needed. The real key here is making sure they are properly torqued.

2) I never had an issue with this at all.

3) X2 to what Jerry said about the lugs.
 
YES... the rear studs on my '01 were shorter than the front. I purchased a set of longer studs (+.375") from Rock Auto for a '98 ZJ with rear disc brakes since I installed a BM disc brake conversion kit. I thoroughly cleaned the wheel studs with brake cleaner before applying red loctite (yeah I know it's over kill); I ensured to torque them to 90 ft/lbs.
 
I bought the longer studs for the rear from napa. They were very inexpensive for the piece of mind they offered me.
 
It is worth noting that SpiderTrax wheel spacers provide you with red loctite with instructions to use them.

I upgraded my rotors yesterday and removing the wheel spacers with red loctite was easier than i thought.

I would reccommend using red.

But do make sure they are torqued properly.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
A big welcome to WTF!!

For the nuts that hold the adapter to the lugs coming out of the rotor, yes using Blue Loctite would be fine. No need for the mostly permanent Red version of Loctite. Consider using aftermarket JK look-alike wheels with the correct 5x4.5" bolt pattern. That would eliminate the wheel adapters and eliminate sticking the wheels out so far.

For studs that don't stick out far enough for enough thread engagement, you can use ET lug nuts, the ET standing for Extended Thread. Their threads extended down further so they engage the studs more. Like these... https://www.billetspecialties.com/wheels/wheel-accessories/lug-nuts/e-t-conical-seat-lug-nuts/ which I use myself.

Enjoy your ride here, it's a great forum. :)

P.S. Love the Flame Red color of your TJ, my previous TJ was that color.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jerry. The lug size on stock 2001 TJs is 1/2-20 correct?
 
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Alright guys, so I finally got around to putting the spacers on. Front went on no problem. Rears have the shorter lug bolts so I ordered the extended thread lugs that @Jerry Bransford suggested. The shank of the lug nuts extend through the spacer on the hub side a fraction of a millimeter. It's barely noticeable by eyeing it or running your finger over it, but am I right in assuming that this is a safety issue? I my mind when I torque this adapter onto the hub it wont be making flush contact with the hub.

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Just wanted to close the loop here to show you guys the finished product.

Old (very old) wheels on the left; New (used) Moab wheels on the right.

Thanks everyone on this thread for your help.✌️

Screen Shot 2020-10-27 at 9.24.51 AM.png
 
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