Wheel Spacers and Steel Rims (I messed up)

[Pauly99to17]

So, I messed up. Changed my summer wheels for the stock LX steel ones that I use during winter. The problem is that I left my wheel spacers on. When I torqued the lug nuts one steel rim bent slightly and now I have a wobble. My car is at the dealership today for the B1 service maintenance, so I asked them to check the wobble. They just called me and gave me the news.

I had no idea that steel rims could not be used with wheel spacers. I hope that this post might save someone from doing the same thing as me in the future. Feeling like a dumbass, but had never heard about this before. Is this common knowledge?

 

[webby]

Never knew it or even thought about it. Was it just 1 that bent?

 

[Pauly99to17]

Never knew it or even thought about it. Was it just 1 that bent?

I think so. Going to pick up the car this pm. And will update. I asked them to take the spacers off.

 

[Pauly99to17]

Good news! Got the car back and it's rolling smoothly once again. Wobble is gone. I think the dealership was trying to scare me into buying a new rim. They took the spacers off and all is good.

Today I learned that the back of a cheap stock steel rim does not sit flush on a wheel spacer. Best to take them off when going into winter mode.

 

[webby]

Are your spacers solid or do they have holes in them?

 

[Nomar06]

I wonder what got bent....the wheel or the spacer? Guessing the spacer.

 

[Pauly99to17]

I wonder what got bent....the wheel or the spacer? Guessing the spacer.

No, supposedly the wheel.

Are your spacers solid or do they have holes in them?

The spacers are solid.

 

[Pauly99to17]

Doing a bit of reading about this issue and found this written on a forum. Take it for what it's worth.

"If your winters are steel, I wouldn't run spacers unless they are hub centric both ends......
If your winters are alloys then giddy up"

Also found this article which is interesting...

http://driving.ca/auto-news/news/why-you-need-hub-centric-rims

 

[Pauly99to17]

The more I read about this, the more I question what the real problem actually was. I'm starting to think that maybe one of the wheels was not evenly torqued so slightly off kilter if you know what I mean. I never got to see the inside of the steel rim to see why/how the spacer did not sit flush as the dealership was telling me. They also said that the rim was bent, but it is not. I looked in my rear view mirror and both wheels had no wobble at all and the car felt smooth.

A good read about hub centric rings (my spacers are hub enteric).

http://www.gencoupe.com/wheels-tires-brakes-2008-2012/68473-skinny-hub-centric-rings.html

 

[webby]

I know when I've put steelies on, it took a little bit to get one perfect. If one lug would get tightened too soon, it could throw the rest off from sitting centered it seemed. The last set I put on was like that at least. I had to loosen it, and slowly tighten each lug and then it finally seated itself properly. No idea if you maybe had a similar issue or what.

 

[Pauly99to17]

Ya, I think that's what may have happened. I will be looking at everything closely this spring when I take the steel rims off. I'll be able to put the spacer on and see if there is actually a problem with how everything sits together.

 

[Pauly99to17]

UPDATE: It turns out that all the steel rims may be slightly bent because of the spacers. There was some miscommunication with the dealership, which happens at times because I'm speaking French as a second language. I had been feeling a slight vibration in the brakes after the last service. I know they cleaned the brakes so I took it back for them to check. I kind of knew that it was probably from a bent rim, but wanted to have this confirmed.

I spoke to the mechanic who worked on the car. He explained to me that the OEM bolts were sticking out above the spacer. When the winter wheels were torqued on, this over hang touched the rim and bent them. The wheel spacers are not on the car, so I can't check this, but I was pretty sure those OEM bolts did not surpass.

Luckily I have found a new set of steel rims f0r only $40 so this isn't going to hit the pocketbook too hard.

 

[Pauly99to17]

Okay. Mystery solved. Well, the title of this thread is fitting. I messed up. Look at how much the OEM bolts stick out! Haha
I never even thought about this. There was no problem with my Enkei rims because they have recessed pockets for the bolts to go in. The steel rims are much shallower. Live and learn as they say..





Here is a picture of the back of my Enkei rims. You can see the cavities that the bolts go into.

 

[webby]

Well at least it was only a $40 error. Could have been much worse.

 

[Pauly99to17]

Well at least it was only a $40 error. Could have been much worse.

Yes, I guess I'm lucky. ?
Haha