Wheel hub cap spacer build

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

CrashTestDummy

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
Posts
886
Reaction score
327
Location
Pearland, Texas
Well, as usual, I posted this in the wrong dam section. Here it is reposted in what I hope is the right one....

When we took our '18 Tahoe in for new tires, I removed the hub caps myself for safe keeping while the tire monkeys did their thing. When we got back, and I was checking the wheel nut torque and reattaching the hub caps, I discovered that one of the dam things had wandered off. We searched for it for a while, but turned up nothing. So I temporarily. bolted things together while I could order a couple of new spacers.

In checking around, it appears that the only way to get the individual spacers is WITH a new ~$75.00 hub cap!! All images on the GM web stores catalogs show the hub cap, which shows the spacers AND bolts, but none of those parts seem to be listed separately. Tony even has a thread about this in the 'Parts Wanted' section of this forum:

Ppv center cap spacers and bolts

So, I figured I'd do the same thing. Tony did and get some aluminum spacers and modded them to fit. I did the same. Here's what it takes:

McMaster-Carr P/N 92511A091 - Aluminum 5/8" OD x 7/16" L x 1/4" ID spacer
McMaster-Carr P/N 9452K19 1/4" buna o-ring package.

I already had the bolts, which IIRC, are 5/16"X3/4" flanged stainless USS bolt.

The spacers have a counter sink on each end. I made that by drilling a couple of shallow holes with a 29/64" drill (you can probably use a 7/16, but 29/64 fit the counterbore perfectly). I then drilled the center hole out to 5/16". Since I got 5, I went ahead and modded the whole set, even though I only need 1. The rest will go into spares.

The spacers from McMaster-Carr are actually about 1/32", or so longer than the OEM spacers, but this is about as close to a fit as I could find. I'll probably replace all 3 of the spacers on one hub cap so it's spaced evenly, but I really doubt that little bit of difference won't matter much.

Picture attached. The spacer, as-received, is on the. left. Next to it is the spacer after the 'counter sink' drilling, and on the far right is the finished spacer. The OEM spacer is below the other 3.

hub cap spacers.JPG
 

Tonyrodz

Resident Resident
Joined
Feb 16, 2012
Posts
31,598
Reaction score
47,090
Location
Central Jersey
Well, as usual, I posted this in the wrong dam section. Here it is reposted in what I hope is the right one....

When we took our '18 Tahoe in for new tires, I removed the hub caps myself for safe keeping while the tire monkeys did their thing. When we got back, and I was checking the wheel nut torque and reattaching the hub caps, I discovered that one of the dam things had wandered off. We searched for it for a while, but turned up nothing. So I temporarily. bolted things together while I could order a couple of new spacers.

In checking around, it appears that the only way to get the individual spacers is WITH a new ~$75.00 hub cap!! All images on the GM web stores catalogs show the hub cap, which shows the spacers AND bolts, but none of those parts seem to be listed separately. Tony even has a thread about this in the 'Parts Wanted' section of this forum:

Ppv center cap spacers and bolts

So, I figured I'd do the same thing. Tony did and get some aluminum spacers and modded them to fit. I did the same. Here's what it takes:

McMaster-Carr P/N 92511A091 - Aluminum 5/8" OD x 7/16" L x 1/4" ID spacer
McMaster-Carr P/N 9452K19 1/4" buna o-ring package.

I already had the bolts, which IIRC, are 5/16"X3/4" flanged stainless USS bolt.

The spacers have a counter sink on each end. I made that by drilling a couple of shallow holes with a 29/64" drill (you can probably use a 7/16, but 29/64 fit the counterbore perfectly). I then drilled the center hole out to 5/16". Since I got 5, I went ahead and modded the whole set, even though I only need 1. The rest will go into spares.

The spacers from McMaster-Carr are actually about 1/32", or so longer than the OEM spacers, but this is about as close to a fit as I could find. I'll probably replace all 3 of the spacers on one hub cap so it's spaced evenly, but I really doubt that little bit of difference won't matter much.

Picture attached. The spacer, as-received, is on the. left. Next to it is the spacer after the 'counter sink' drilling, and on the far right is the finished spacer. The OEM spacer is below the other 3.

View attachment 438392
You did a much better job then I did. Very nice work.
 
OP
OP
CrashTestDummy

CrashTestDummy

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
Posts
886
Reaction score
327
Location
Pearland, Texas
I lost many of mine during a tire rotation and didn’t realize it right away. I ended finding nylon spacers in the Hillman hardware cabinet at Lowe’s which happened to be the same height and diameter. They’ve been in there 3 years now.
Yeah, I saw those, but worried about them melting during a panic stop or autocross (yes, we've autocrossed our Tahoe PPVs!), allowing the caps to rattle loose and disappear completely. That's why I opted for the aluminum units. If I had a lathe, I'd have just bought bar stock and turned a set, but my simple shop has less-sophisticated tools, so drill press it was...
 
OP
OP
CrashTestDummy

CrashTestDummy

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
Posts
886
Reaction score
327
Location
Pearland, Texas
Thank you! I'll be interested in finding out how the nylon ones do long-term, but since we usually have at least two ex-service vehicles in our possession at any given time, and the fact that my bride would make a good test driver for these things, figured metal was a good idea. They weren't all that difficult to make, either.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
132,314
Posts
1,865,820
Members
96,908
Latest member
Boosyed96GSX
Top