Stripped Al 2” wheel spacers, recs for good ones

[MarkMarine]

There are 2” spacers the front wheels (only) on my (new to me) fj62 and after I bled the brakes and was putting my wheels back on, I now realize why the lug nuts were so easy to break free. Just a mild amount of torque (60 ft lbs) was enough to have multiple studs spinning on the wheel side of the studs. I didn’t get the paper work for these spacers so I had no idea what the torque was and just gave them the safe snug with a torque wrench, before I set them down off the jack stands and could look up the right torque.

So, I’m pretty sure I stripped multiple spots in the studs, and I’m also pretty sure this mod is from the generation of mods that was done by a less skilled home mechanic (someone used glue to attach a head unit to my dash and stuffed a bundle of paper towels in behind the unit to support it while driving) so I’m guess these were an eBay special.

So… what are my options here? I think the short version is get some recommendations for good/great wheel spaces (some nasty cuts on the inside side wall of my LT285/70R17 MT Baja MTZ p3 say these are required) while I consider just buying wheels with the right offset to mount these wheels. I do like the stance and look.

So, steel spacers? Al ones that won’t strip? Lug studs that are long enough to engage well? Any recommendations welcome, spend my money for me please.

 

[OSS]

If I get to spend your money, I’ll assume that you’ve got a lot of it to let me do what should be done. (ha)

Replace the wheels with wheels that don’t require spacers. There’s several models that look great.
Then take the hubs to a brake shop and have them remove your stripped studs and press in new TOYOTA wheel studs.

I’m definitely not a fan of wheel spacers — so that’s my recommendation.

 

[Spike Strip]

I hate wheel spacers. Particularly large ones like you've got. They can be safe when installed correctly, but even then will cause undue wear on the bearings as well as effects on braking, handling, etc.

No recommendations for a quality replacement 'cuz I always tell people to get rid of them, but you'll get plenty of diff opinions here.

This happened near me a couple years ago and it was determined the wheel came off because of improper use of wheel spacers. Just look at the stance of that truck and you can tell.

 

[MarkMarine]

Fair enough, I didn't put them on there and have a pretty healthy hatred for anything like this on the truck. This truck currently has the FJ cruiser 17" steel wheels (I'm pretty sure they are that at least) as well as an OME Lift. Currently has 4 runner calipers on it. Any ideas on wheel backspacing and offset? I'm fine sticking with the 17" size, I do like the black with holes look of the FJ Cruiser wheels, and I would love it if these were not expensive wheels. Truck has LT285/70R17 tires on it.

 

[OSS]

Here’s the FJ60/62 wheel bible

Wheels that work, part numbers

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Spike Strip]

Those FJ Cruiser wheels are really nice. I considered running them but just didn't want to use the spacers. Quite a few people here have run them with the 2" spacers without issue, though, maybe someone will chime in here with their experience and what brand they used.

A PO may have used non-Toyota studs in the hubs, and they're listed as working in the on-line parts houses, but they're just a smidge too small and start to turn in the flange when over-torqued which seems like what you're experiencing. New front and rear studs are still available from Toyota. They're different sizes.

There's a long thread called, 'Wheels that Work' or something close to that, with about every variation of wheel/tire you can think of that people have tried. There's also a thread for 17" wheels. You might see someone in there who used the FJ Cruiser wheels and ping them to find out what they used.

Stock Back-spacing is 3.5"

OSS got there already!

 

[Spook50]

If you're looking to buy new wheels and tires, I would definitely follow @OSS's advice and look through the wheel thread he linked.

I'm one of those oddballs that uses spacers (mine are also 2" but I paid over $500 to have them made by US Wheel Adapter several years ago) but advises against them. If you can find wheels that work for you without using spacers, that's definitely the best way to go.

I personally have had no issue with mine, but I'm meticulous with their removal and installation and also the removal and installation of the wheels on them. My spacers (and wheels) are hub centric and the rear pair also have hub centric lips machined onto the center which helps increase reliability and stability. The spacers and wheel combination I have were the only way to get the wider wheelbase that I wanted for extra stability (and in a small part, aesthetics). I could've gotten that with different wheels and no spacers, but the only wheels available that worked were the pavement queen super gaudy chrome jobs and I hated their look, especially for a 62.

 

[MarkMarine]

Those FJ Cruiser wheels are really nice. I considered running them but just didn't want to use the spacers. Quite a few people here have run them with the 2" spacers without issue, though, maybe someone will chime in here with their experience and what brand they used.

A PO may have used non-Toyota studs in the hubs, and they're listed as working in the on-line parts houses, but they're just a smidge too small and start to turn in the flange when over-torqued which seems like what you're experiencing. New front and rear studs are still available from Toyota. They're different sizes.

There's a long thread called, 'Wheels that Work' or something close to that, with about every variation of wheel/tire you can think of that people have tried. There's also a thread for 17" wheels. You might see someone in there who used the FJ Cruiser wheels and ping them to find out what they used.

Stock Back-spacing is 3.5"

OSS got there already!

The studs that attach to the truck's axle didn't strip, the stud that goes into the aluminum is what gave way. The lug nuts that are holding the wheel on are 1/2-20 (those splined ones with the really thin socket for taking them off) so something funky is going on.

I'll dig into the wheel thread. Sucks, this is not what I wanted to spend money on right now. I wanted to buy fresh rotors and pads for the fronts.

 

[open country]

Spidertrax is known for trustworthy spacers. You'll need at least 1.25" to use your same wheels. Product number is same as the 40 series on their site.

 

[mattressking]

Spacers are like oil, it's a dumb, repeated debate. Spacers are absolutely safe, except in the hands of an inexperienced person.

Aluminum or steel are fine. Aluminum is plenty for single wheel, steel is usually reserved for duallies.

If you just want someone to tell you what to do, like @open country said, Spidertrax are great. I put about 100k on my 60 with 2" spacers and guess what....not one single issue. They never even loosened up when I checked torque during tire rotations.

Steel is overkill, most including myself only use steel on duallies. I have 3" steel spacers and they work great, but note the GVW is much much higher along with triple the weight of the wheel/tire combination.

 

[MarkMarine]

Well, this was a fun experience. It wasn't the spacers, wheel studs, or anything that would be sensible. Nope, someone put on janky spline drive lugs nuts on there, and to add a little icing on that cake, the janky spline drive nuts were 1/2-20 thread, not metric and not the right thread for the wheel studs.

Replaced all the nuts on the vehicle with the spidertrax lug nuts and solved my problem for 40$ This also makes me strongly want to remove every single bolt and nut on the vehicle and replace anything that doesn't look OEM with the Toyota bolt, and torque it appropriately. Reached out to the seller and he didn't do it, he had a shop put the spacers on and they put the lug nuts on there. Crazy.

 

[dbbowen]

The best fix for wheel spacers on a 60 series are wheels with a 3.5 inch backspace. When you are looking for wheels these are the specs you are looking for. Offsets stay the same as wheel size changes.

15 inch Wheel
15x7 -12
15x8 -25
15x8.5 -32
15x9 -38
15x9.5 -44

16 inch Wheel
16x7 -12
16x8 -25
16x8.5 -32
16x9 -38
16x9.5 -44

17 inch Wheel
17x7 -12
17x8 -25
17x8.5 -32
17x9 -38
17x9.5 -44


*Note when you go into the wider wheels wider than 8.5 you run into issues with the tire hitting your leaf springs

 

[MarkMarine]

That’s super helpful thank you!