PS4U

All,

Looking to get some additional information on a wheel spacer issue I recently ran into on my B5 S4.

I am running H&R 8 mm DR series wheel spacers all around with 18 x 8.5 ET30 RS4 Reps (tires practically brand new). The rears are flat and have no lip, where as the fronts have the mounting lip (per ECS tuning recommedation). I had been running the same setup for about a year, and about a month ago, had a lug break off on the front right side after the car was sliding on a patch of gravel around a tight turn doing about 45 mph. After I ordered new lugs (extended of course) got things back to normal, I started to get vibrations between 50 mph and up. I first thought it was an alignment problem, but I noticed I am getting a heavy wobble from the right wheel where the lug broke off, and a slight wobble on the front left, although very minimal. When I or a passenger put their head out of the passeger window, you can see there is some serious play in the rotation of the wheel.

I know a ton of people had issues with the H&R 8 mm spacers with aftermarket wheels due to the spacer essentially covering up the hub, and without installing and torquing perfectly, you can get vibrations. The thing is, before the broken lug, I wasn't experiencing the vibrations, which leads me to believe it could be something else, possibly a bearing or axle issue when a lug broke off. I also noticed there isn't an exact fit between the front spacers and the actual wheel. The chamfer of the spacer doesn't 100% "fit" with the wheel, but its darn close.

I thought about getting hub centric rings, but since the wheel now sits on the spacer instead of the hub, could hub centric rings still be used? Even with torquing to 85-90 lbs, and trying to seat the wheel perfectly, should I still be getting the wobble/vibrations? I also thought about trying spacers front spacers with out the lip, but I don't know if there would be enough hub left to hold the wheel. Unfortunately, I need the 8 mm spacers because the wheels I have do not clear the front calipers so I am SOL with using the spacers.

If anyone has any experience or insight, I would be grateful. A few pics of the spacer/hub and wheel bore on the inside of the rim.

Thanks,

Teutonix

Based on the story, I'd say that the event that caused the lug bolt to break probably caused more damage. Think about the stress and how components need to move to cause the lug to break. I'd guess that the spacer is permanently damaged. Hub-centric rings should ALWAYS be used. The purpose is to put the stress and force of the car on the hub instead of the lugs. I would go so far as to say that if you had been using a proper hub-centric setup, it's quite possible that you never would have broken the lug.

I have used spacers on many vehicles in the past, and I've unfortunately learned my lessons the hard way. Get the right rings for the wheel (I've learned to only buy wheels that fit the hubs without rings) and make sure that the inside taper also fits the spacers. Then buy a new set of spacers to replace the damaged ones that you have.

If you're looking for a quick test, swap the spacers front to rear and go for a short drive. I think you'll probably find that the problem is greatly reduced.