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[Erie Von Otto]

I purchased a new set of RS Technik wheels spacers (15/12mm) and installed them on El-Superbeasto myself. I followed the advice on the forum about cleaning the mating surfaces, adding light film of anti-seize, and used a torque wrench @90ftlbs in a star pattern to torque everything down. As per my usual habits, I checked the torque (car on ground) a few miles later and found that almost every bolt (16-18 of 20) were loose. Ok... So torqued everything down again, remember to check in a few days. Did that, and same thing. About the same number of bolts moved some near a 1/4 turn! That's about when I became concerned. I spend some time driving on the autobahn at 200+KPH routinely.

Why would these bolts continue to lose torque? I did notice that the bolts that came with the spacers had a sub-par paint job on them. They all chipped off during install. Could this be a sign of poor quality bolts? Any input? I almost feel like it would be safer to remove them. And to top it off, there is NO vibration which was my biggest initial concern...
Thoughts???

[THE TECH]

Seems odd to me. You could always use a little loctite to be safe.

[Julius@Style77]

you should make sure to check that the bolts didn't elongate or twist in any way. Also, did you put anti-sieze on the thread of the bolts?

[Malek@MRF]

Seems that you may have put anti-seize on the lug bolts, or possibly on the face of the actual spacer.

The only place that anti-seize should be used for spacer installation, is right around the hub, not on the entire face of the spacer. Anti-seize is does not collapse or compress well, and can prevent proper torquing of the wheel bolts.

What kind of torque wrench are you using?

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by Malekreza11

Seems that you may have put anti-seize on the lug bolts, or possibly on the face of the actual spacer.

The only place that anti-seize should be used for spacer installation, is right around the hub, not on the entire face of the spacer. Anti-seize is does not collapse or compress well, and can prevent proper torquing of the wheel bolts.

What kind of torque wrench are you using?

^This...you probably contaminated with ant-seize

clean the threads on the bolts and in the hub with some brake cleaner and a towel..reinstall and torque properly..

[Drifty//]

Originally Posted by ottoblotto

As per my usual habits, I checked the torque (car on ground) a few miles later and found that almost every bolt (16-18 of 20) were loose. Ok... So torqued everything down again, remember to check in a few days. Did that, and same thing. About the same number of bolts moved some near a 1/4 turn! That's about when I became concerned.

I had the same experience, when I installed H&R spacers with RAD 2-piece wheel bolts. I (foolishly) didn't use ANY anti-seize, and the bolts were completely new.

I'm used to the bolts loosening up a bit after the first day of driving since the wheels were last off. However, with the spacers, it seems they had a little more "settling" to do, requiring an additional tightening.

I'd say if the bolts still don't hold torque after a couple more tightenings, then you should probably try cleaning them as suggested here.

[Singletrack]

How good is your torque wrench? They need to be re-calibrated periodically. If you aren't torquing them down enough, they may continue to loosen.