sockr1

iTrader: (5)

I put on Akata spacers about 2 weeks ago (great quality) from ebay and I put my original Acura OEM wheel locks back on them. A few days later when I re-checked my torque, one of the wheel locks had SHEARED off and was missing! First question, has anyone used a hammered-on 3/4" socket to get off a lug nut?

But now to the point of this thread....I bought some gorilla wheel locks on amazon because I thought the Acura ones might have been poor quality and that's why it broke (even though I torque to spec), but when I went to put on the gorilla locks I realized there wasn't enough thread and that the wheel wasn't sitting flush when the lock bottomed out.

So this got me thinking and looking at the spacer I realized that the spacer studs are a little longer than the OEM...which means when I put on the original wheel locks, they just BARELY don't fit, there is slight play when I have one wheel lock on. So what happened is that the stud pushes into the end cap of the wheel lock and when I torqued it, there was enough force to create a crack and shear the wheel lock top off. Anyone have any suggestions on other wheel locks that may give me more room so the locks don't bottom out??

The spacers look great but I think I would rather have wheel locks on there...and I'm not even sure how much the other ones have been stressed that haven't sheared off yet. sorry for the long post just trying to put as much information out there as possible to warn anyone in the future

close up - broken




original wheel lock

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

You're not the first it has happened to, there have been others that have even pushed the stud out of the spacer because of the bottoming out of the lock.

I've used impact sockets that were driven over existing lug nuts to get them off, but have never tried it on a perfectly round lug nut, but if it hasn't seated on the wheel it should be easy to remove with minimal force.

Also, the Acura lug nuts call for a ball seat so make certain this is the style you purchased.

Just looked quickly and it looks like they make 2 adapters, a type 2 is needed for the TL as the other has extended studs.

Here's the reference to the 2 spacers:
http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=815699

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

yea i have the ball seat wheel locks (OEM and gorilla), and it's just barely not long enough. prob less than 1/10" gap when the lock is hand tightened, i need to buy some digital calipers and get some measurements on them. i don't think the stud can be pushed out since the gap to overcome is so small and the spacer is sitting flush on the axle hub, but it makes me wonder hearing that it has happened.

i also have the type 2 akata spacers...I may just replace the broken wheel lock and hope the rest don't break off (1 per wheel). i will always take the spacers off whenever i go in for wheel rotations, that way they don't put an impact to it and break off the wheel locks

SSM4DR

iTrader: (1)

Wow! 1st time I saw anything like that OP. Hopefully you can solve what's causing it .

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

went to a local tire place today and the guy got off the broken lug nut in about a minute and didn't scratch up the wheels at all...gladly gave him a tip.

I'm probably gonna put these spacers up on the black market, they are great quality i just never felt 100% comfortable putting them on even before i put them on. i loved how they looked but i would rather have a peace of mind then think about it. gonna keep my gorilla wheel locks and put those on all around

ebelp

That's crazy. How long are the studs on the Akata spacers? I wonder if Ichiba V2 spacers would have the same issue...

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

i bought a digital caliper last night, today/friday i'm going to measure the theards and total length for the gorilla locks, the OEM wheel locks, the akata studs, the OEM studs, and the rim thinkness.

There are quite a bit of other members on here running stock type s wheels, akata spacers (or another brand), and OEM wheel locks. Maybe I just had a defective wheel lock, stud, or some other combination, hard to tell.

Overall gonna sell the spacer mainly because it always had me kinda paranoid and i was always checking the torque (never loosened but i still checked).

ebelp

Thanks for doing the legwork on this!

07tl-s6spd

iTrader: (1)

i have spacers and oem wheel locks i have no issues at all...and i ran spacers in the back for a year before my new setup and they didnt loosen one bit...

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

which spacers did you have?

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

I've never heard of those Spacers OP..

Red Voodoo

lol... This. I've been running around with Ichiba spacers since Spring. First 20F/25R, then more recently 15F/20R. It's always in the back of my mind. What if? It's a bit unnerving thinking about it, but I guess I would feel the same way if I was running stretched tires.

I've elected not to use wheel locks since my car is garaged, but I'm also down the original wheel lock key since it broke after one of them was over-torqued by a negligent technician. Your situation does make me wonder if purchasing a new set of wheel locks is going to be worth it? Thanks for the insight.

ebelp

OP, did you ever get a chance to measure the lengths of the studs on the spacers? I'm curious how much longer they are than the stock studs, and I'm curious if they're the same length as the Ichiba V2 spacers...

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

oh yea thanks for the reminder, i took a bunch of measurements when i took off my spacers and wanted to get them all organized but here they are in a snapshot:

note - these were all done with a cheap digital caliper and some of the shapes are hard to measure so they won't be exact

akata spacer studs: 1.3"
OEM stud out of hub: .925"
Rim thickness: 0.375"
(necessary thread engagement for the lug nut/studs is 0.4", from above you get 0.55")
OEM wheel lock internal depth: 0.96"
OEM lug nut internal depth: 1.327"
Gorilla wheel lock internal depth: 0.875"

there is about 0.4" thread between the OEM wheel lock and the spacer when you thread the lock all the way down, which is just smaller than the rim thickness, meaning you should get full torque without damage. so i still can't tell if the lock was just flawed already or if the stud did indeed force the lock to shear. i do know others are running similar spacers with OEM wheel locks.

i took off the spacers which are in the BM, and am now running gorilla locks on all studs (I actually really like the wider diameter gorilla locks they look solid). i might put the other 3 OEM wheel locks up for sale (if someone can only steal 1 wheel that might deter them haha). all in all i have a peace of mind now knowing i'm back to OEM and can start using that Progress RSB to the max again!

ebelp

^ Very informative. Thanks!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Hmmm...strange, I'm the guy that posted a review of the akata's and I've had them on my girl's 08 accord with my oem acura locks for over a year now (IIRC). I don't recall feeling like it didn't get torqued down all the way. I'd contact akata and see about the spacing issue and whether or not they have a revised version two with shorter studs.

Also, I'll mention that I rode around for a long time with just 4 nuts on an ichiba spacer (because I stripped the heck out of one of the nuts before I realized I should be torquing to spec and not gorilla fisting it). I didn't have any issues that way.

Your new gorilla locks should work just fine...I had the spacers on WITH the gorilla locks without a problem at all. Why not go for a set of open ended lug nuts? Maybe titanium ones or something?

J.

ebelp

Well according to his measurements above, the Gorilla locks have a shorter internal depth than the OEM locks, so they won't be any better. I agree...open-ended locks/lugs are probably the way to go.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Reading and numbers own me... Strange though, I ran into no problems with this on my girls' accord. I wonder if HER oem lugs are deeper (no jokes please).

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

i felt like there was no problem at all torquing down the OEM wheel locks, but one failed for one reason or another. the dimensions are pretty close though.

however there is no way a gorilla lock could torque down the type s rim on this spacer stud though (i tried). the accord might have a different rim thickness than the type s and would have no problems. make sure you have the ball seat gorilla locks though...the cone seat looks similar and is much deeper however you wont' get the contact area you should be getting.

i was going to contact akata and just let them know shortening their stud by .1 would eliminate all doubts. it's a great quality spacer i just got rid of it cuz i was always worried they weren't torqued or the steering was off or something.

now i'm running gorilla locks on OEM studs and I'm at peace! but those spacers make the car look damn good...

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Yeah, they are affiliated with Vossen wheels, btw...they are local down here for me.

Gotcha...well, I guess I'll have to take a closer look at my gorilla locks although I've been rockin them for 2 years almost so I would think I'd have had some issues by now!

joelmatt89

iTrader: (1)

just an update on this, I have these spacers as well, one of my oem wheel locks just did the same thing as op's. It only took me about a minute to get off (hammered on a 19mm 12 point socket). But if you have Akata spacers I would be very careful. I am the only person who touches my lugs and I am very careful how much I tighten them. Mine must have actually cracked the last time I put them on and then water got in there an through freeze thaw cycles opened it up more I may post a picture later but you can see where it sheared off all but a few small areas were rusted. I applied almost no pressure before it sheared off.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Honestly, this has nothing to do with the spacer, it is a problem you may encounter with ANY extended studs. I ran into a HUGE problem running 45MM thread extended studs and some soft metal WORK lugs...

J.

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

it definitely could have something to do with the spacer component, not necessarily the spacer disc itself, but the component yes. the studs were measured to be shorter than the OEM studs whereas some other spacers also had the same OEM length. to me it seems to be a combination of the lug and the spacer stud.

not bashing on the akata spacer, just letting people know to be careful and keep an eye on it

joelmatt89

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I am in no way bashing Akata either rockstar. They make an awesome product for a great price. But it does seem as though for whatever reason their studs stick out slightly farther. I just wanted to give a little word of warning. The real danger is anyone using these spacers with stock wheels may be out of luck, as far as finding aftermarket locks that wont crack. There are only two options for aftermarket ball seat wheel locks one is the mcgards which are way to short and would require machining work (ie. drilling a hole through the end which would be hard for us average joe's to do and get it right.) The other option is a set you can get off ebay that look like they may be long enough or if they don't you could easily grind a little materials off the end and then powdercoat to make them an open end. Here are those locks:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acura-Honda-...#ht_2038wt_938

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

To be honest with you guys...there's another thread about the 10MM version 2 spacer they made that failed for someone...(too little material for a type II spacer to bolt down)...they had a few others on ebay, I let them know and they ended up pulling the auction. I think they are still working out little unforseen kinks...it's a pain in the butt, but I BET if you told them you were having this issue, they would likely get into producing it with a slighly shorter stud...or maybe even send you guys some shorter ones so you could knock out the ones that are in there now and pull through the good ones.

J.

OR, get a set of open ended gorilla style locks...they sit deeper in the wheel anyway and actually probably offer better protection than the mcguards...

Just an idea.

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

yup the same thing happened to my wheel lock using the akata spacers. key words...WHEEL LOCK. the locks themselves can sheer with the smallest amount of force...i personally think it's a terrible design. couple that with the weight/balance of a wheel and spacer and you can understand why the lock would sheer off like it does.

my opinion, run these akata spacers...they are great spacers. BUT don't use the OEM acura wheel locks. they are junk.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

^^^if he says it...it's truth.

myron

iTrader: (4)

wheel locks are too "shallow" for when you are putting them over the spacer studs. That's what it seems like from those pics. Plus those wheel locks are shit to begin with, mine broke as well, without spacers being there.

joelmatt89

iTrader: (1)

If you can find me a set of BALL SEAT open end 12x1.5 lug nuts I got a really nice piece of ocean front property in Kansas you can have :p

I do plan on contacting Akata tho just to let them know.

con5tant

iTrader: (4)

I heard open end lug nuts are bad because they cause the studs to rust..

Anyway, was anyone able to find some wheel locks that work with OEM wheels? If not i'll just run no locks...

UA6

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

technically, you could knock out one of the studs on the type 2 spacer and replace it with 1 shorter lug...paint the tip blue or something so you know which one is for your lock. Probably an easier/cheaper solution right there...

ebelp

This thread is just one more reason not to run the oem McGard locks. I hate those things...they're so damn soft. I've broken 3 and refuse to ever use them again. When it comes time to put my stock wheels on for the winter, I will only use a spline-drive style lock.

btw, I have not experienced any concerns with rust using my open-ended lugs on my summer wheels. Of course, I would probably be a little more concerned if I were running them in the winter up here in NY.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

^^^Right...AND to be honest, a little anti-seize would help that.
ALSO, I know that one of my tech buds at the local Acura dealership actually used his extended lugs and an impact gun to turn his gorilla locks into open ended...the ends actually pop off really easily.

ebelp

^haha I hope that was a temporary thing until he got real open-ended lugs!

KJ TL-S

iTrader: (9)

So I am having my 15/20mm akata spacers installed tomorrow on OEM wheels. I have the standard acura locks. Is there anything else I can run instead?

I have no idea if there is any difference, but I'm using the new black anodized Akata spacers. Don't know if they changed anything but the color though.

Horditruck

iTrader: (1)

Tell me how that goes, interested as well

KJ TL-S

iTrader: (9)

Anyone find a good lock solution for those of us running OEM wheels and spacers?

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Gorilla locks are a bit deeper...I think, as long as you don't use an impact gun to put them on, you'll be ok with the oem ones. Just tighten by hand.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

I haven't had any problems with my OEM wheel locks and spacers. Maybe I'm just lucky