Bowtie Brody's Namesake 96 454

[Supercharged111]

Bolting on an LS body with linear linkage is by far the cheapest easiest option. Factory diameter is sufficient at WOT. I was after more part throttle response myself.

 

[Biggershaft96]

Whatever you do, if you end up running the spacers keep a jack, a 4way and a bunch of spare lug nuts in the truck for the first couple days. Double check the spacers torque after the maiden voyage. It’s sketchy having wheels fall off going down the road lol, it’s happened to the best of us.

 

[BowtieBrody]

Whatever you do, if you end up running the spacers keep a jack, a 4way and a bunch of spare lug nuts in the truck for the first couple days. Double check the spacers torque after the maiden voyage. It’s sketchy having wheels fall off going down the road lol, it’s happened to the best of us.

That's the plan, the spacers have these tiny lugnuts though, way smaller than stock so I'll have to see if the parts store has any close to the same size.

 

[Biggershaft96]

It’s not that common for the spacers to fall off, most of the time it’s just the wheel

 

[BowtieBrody]

It’s not that common for the spacers to fall off, most of the time it’s just the wheel

Yeah, any tips for making sure everything stays put? I've heard of some guys using lock-tite but I don't know how I feel about that.
Or is driving and checking the torque about the only way to manage?

 

[98chevy2500SS]

Mine have stayed put after 6+ months of using them. I do need to check them again soon. Haven't had to mess with them a whole lot. I have probably only checked them twice and they seem to keep on truckin'. Got mine from Ebay too. They are aluminum, I think.

 

[Biggershaft96]

Yeah, any tips for making sure everything stays put? I've heard of some guys using lock-tite but I don't know how I feel about that.
Or is driving and checking the torque about the only way to manage?

you could use blue loctite. I don’t think there’s a lot of options beyond that.

 

[Suburban1500]

I put spacers on my 4Runner with red loctite. The spacers havent budged at all but there were times when I had to tighten the wheels down onto the spacers after they would come loose. But now everything is tight and I am not worried. For wheel spacers though, just make sure they are torqued to what it says in the instructions.

 

[BowtieBrody]

I put spacers on my 4Runner with red loctite. The spacers havent budged at all but there were times when I had to tighten the wheels down onto the spacers after they would come loose. But now everything is tight and I am not worried. For wheel spacers though, just make sure they are torqued to what it says in the instructions.

They didn't come with instructions, I just got them with the wheels I bought.

 

[BowtieBrody]

Okay, update time.
Wheels went on, look great, spacers looked amazing too.

Tire shop ****** up two of my tires by somehow gashing the sidewalls, they're okay it just looks terrible.

I was pretty pissed about that but they just said "Oh well they came in like that" (I told them I knew the tires weren't like that, but they still wanted to argue) and "I dunno what you want us to do" so I realized it wasn't gonna do any good to try and dispute it any more.
Glamour shot while camping, this is when I found the gouges.

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And then a couple days later, as I was checking the torque on the wheel spacers, I find that two of the studs on the passenger side were cross-threaded. So now I'm waiting to find the patience to pound two new studs in and get them back on the truck.

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And the latest and greatest, water pump **** the bed on me and the interior has a leak around the windshield; found the leak in one of the 3 days straight where it just poured down rain for like 2 hours each day, I siliconed up the windshield seam as a temporary fix and it seems to work but I know I'll need to get it properly fixed, I think a new headliner is going to need to go in due to water damage on the original.
Water pump was a pain in the ass like I expected; but it's done along with a new lower rad hose, new fan clutch, and a new belt. With the new severe service clutch and the S10 fan the truck runs at like 191 cruising and gets to like 186 with the fan spinning full force.

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Recharging the AC, new carpet/headliner along with sound deadner, new door pins and bushings, new steering wheel and new turn signal stalk are probably on the list next. We'll have to see what is in store after I get back from vacation.