todd.

I installed H&R 7mm front & 15mm rear wheel spacers on my new CAB a few weeks ago, but they just aren't staying tight. I originally tightened them to 96ftlbs., then retightened them a tad after 40 miles. Today after another couple hundred miles I thought I'd check them just to be safe and they were surprisingly loose, by that I mean half a turn. This was not my experience with the OEM Porsche 5mm spacers & bolts. As you can see from the photos they look great on the car, but I am worried nonetheless.

Is this normal??

gota911

Todd,

I am not trying to be a smart *** here, but did you get longer lug bolts with the spacers to account for the width of the spacers? It appears in the first pic that you did, but I am just checking to make sure.

Edgy01

Are you degreasing that hardware first?

I would think that for this application you may want to consider Blue Loctite, or some sort of mechanical devise like spring washers.

todd.

Yes I am using the appropriate bolt lengths.

todd.

The factory bolts do have a yellow substance on them, but there was no mention to use anything from H&R.

OCBen

The Blue Loctite might do the trick, but I would not at all recommend using Belleville washers (spring washers) between the spacer and the wheel or the hub and the spacer.

If the Bellevilles are placed between the wheel and the spacer this will reduce the normally large contact surface area between the back of the wheel and the hub or spacer to that of the small annulus areas of the five washers, which admittedly won't present a problem in straight line driving but it will present a problem in cornering the vehicle.

When a car corners there is a bending moment applied perpendicular to the axis of the wheel. Picture the asphalt reacting against the wheel during a hard corner. On the outside wheels the asphalt is reacting against the bottom portion of the wheels pushing on the bottom as the car corners.

This bending moment causes compression on the bottom of the interface and tension on the top, which is carried quite adequately by the lug bolts. The compression on the bottom, however, which would normally be carried by the larger contact area of the interface will now have to be carried by the smaller annulus areas of the spring washers. This will increase significantly the compressive stresses where the washers interface with the wheel, potentially damaging the wheel in the process by creating indentations the size of the washers. The same condition applies when having washers placed between the spacer and hub.

Try instead the Blue Loctite. Torque the lug bolts per spec and then check the torque values a month later or after some spirited hard cornering. If that doesn't do the trick you might want to try an adhesive between the hub and the spacer. This shouldn't pose a problem if you intend to use the spacers as a permanent fix. But it might present a problem if you intend frequent swap outs, as the adhesive might prove a bitch for that.

todd.

Thanks for the detailed explanation, will try.

jhbrennan

It's difficult to tell from the pictures but did you attach the spacers to the hub with the small screw that usually comes with these? I know the Porsche 5mm spacers come with two recessed holes - you remove two phillips head screws from the hub and use them to attach the spacer. Looks like the H&R's has one recessed hole.

jlinmd

There are several strengths of the Blue Loctite. Which one is the appropriate strength? High, Low, Removable, or Wicking? Just for my own education.

todd.

Does not apply to the H&R spacers, they do not have holes that line up. Those are just to keep the spacers in place, but are handy.

jhbrennan

Here's what I was referring to - these are on FVD spacers. Extra hole spacing looks similar to H&R

todd.

Yes, I am aware, but the single hole does not line up on using H&R spacers, whereas both holes do on the OEM 5mm ones which I had on my '07 C4S CAB(photo 3). So, the two H&R included brake screws are useless. Again, they only serve to keep the spacer in place and are not necessary.

Edgy01

I would suggest the Blue Loctite. It's removable if necessary while Red is pretty tuff.

Verde

This definitely is not normal. I'd be a bit concerned that the bolts you have might be made of a sub-standard alloy. I have the factory 5mm spacer kit with matching bolts and have never had an issue.
1/2 turn is very scary. Although the blue loctite is likely helpful, you might want to check out the bolts, and even experiment with one wheels-worth (5) of a different brand just to see if they make a difference.
Oh and yea, the screw-holes are just to simplify life in holding the part in place. Handy if they line up. OTOH, I purchased the $10.00 (or so) tire mounting bolt from SunCoast. It's just an 8" aluminum rod, threaded to screw in to the lug holes. You screw it in before mounting the wheel, and you can 'hang' the wheel from it while you get everything lined up and 4 lug bolts hand tightened. It's the most 'duh, I wish I had thought of that' device I've come across in a while.

todd.

Yeah, that's a must get!