Wheel hub cap spacer build

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CrashTestDummy

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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

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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.
 
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CrashTestDummy

CrashTestDummy

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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...
 

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