Almost lost a wheel

RustyRatRod said
You're even "supposed" to check torque on stone stock wheels (with no spacers) over time. Every oil change comes to mind, but that might not be enough. People just get used to leaving well enough alone. I'm in 100% agreement with all your points. You did it this time without trying to make people feel stupid. I'm proud of you. lol But my personal preference for wheel adapters has not and will not change. I don't like them. I do completely agree and understand there are "good ones" out there and they......like everything else need attention to make sure they're not trying to do something stupid. You know what my biggest problem is with them? I'm too frikkin lazy to retorque them over time. I do enough maintenance on my car that I check the torque on my stock wheels plenty often enough.

Yes sir, all good points. Nobody has to like them or run them, I myself prefer not to have them. They do add complexity, twice as many lug nuts to maintain torque on. But that's totally different than saying that all of them, regardless of quality, are unsafe or even dangerous.

valiantpatrol said
Thanks to all who contributed to a spirited discussion. My plan of action is to switch the left hand side to 7/16 R/H threads so I can use the adapter manufacturers larger conical seat nuts to hold spacers to drum and rear axle. Will also use locktite on those larger conical seat nuts, properly torqued, per adapter makers instructions. I'll consider my repair tempoary until I decide whether or not to upgrade to BBP disk brakes.

Sounds like a good plan to me!

dmopar74 said
Meh.... I've jumped a 2016 ram 2500 crew cab with wheel spacers on the front end and then put 40,000 miles on afterwards. Zero problems but i did retorqe and add loctite per the instructions, seems that any failure I read about on the interwebs there is always something questionable about install or mantanance

And pretty much all trucks with duallies have a spacer just like the ones the OP is running, they bolt on and then have studs for the next wheel. Straight from the factory. Granted, most of those are steel but they're also rated for much higher loads. Which just returns to my point, as long as they're good quality spacers and the base material is strong enough to support the load on the studs they have, they're just fine as long as they're installed and maintained properly.