Hood Warped - NOT

[Barbwire]

A while back I posted that my hood was warped on my Silver RT and my dealer was ordering a new one for me. Come to find out there is an adjustment for the front trunk lid that my dealer evidently did not do on set-up. Just by chance we stopped into La Follette Motorsports in La Follette, Tennessee and their mechanic fixed it in 2 minutes! We were so impressed with the owner and staff there.

Carlo at BRP was also very helpful on a couple of issues I had posted and I really appreciate his quick responses to my questions.

I have the aftermarket wheels on my RT that were really made for the RS. With some added spacers they work great and look sharp!

Last but not least I couldn't let Lamonte get ahead of me so I ordered a Corbin Seat. He was gracious enough to let me try his out and I have been a Corbin fan for years anyway but needed to make sure I could still reach everything since I am vertically challenged.

I am loving my RT.

[Sopher]

Last but not least I couldn't let Lamonte get ahead of me so I ordered a Corbin Seat. He was gracious enough to let me try his out and I have been a Corbin fan for years anyway but needed to make sure I could still reach everything since I am vertically challenged.

Did you order the Lamonster Cut or the Standard Cut?
How tall are you?

[Barbwire]

I ordered the stock cut. I am 5' tall and the stock RT seat is 15" from the nose to the driver back. Corbin was the same but their back is a little lower. Even on Lamonster's I could still reach but I didn't need anything cut out like he did.

[Dwight]

Barbwire,

Can you tell me any more about the spacers that you used on the front wheels? We wanted them for our RT but the shop guys said they wouldn't fit because of the offset. Maybe the phone number of the shop that installed them for you?

Thanks
Dwight

[Coolbreeze]

Barbwire- my hood is warped too, dealer said he couldn't do anything about it and showed me that all the rt's he had on the showroom floor were the same way. Can you tell me what they did to straighten out your hood?

[Barbwire]

The offset comes into play with the clearance between the sidewall of the tire and the fender strut. By adding a 1/4" spacer/washer where the fender struts bolt to the hub will correct this issue. You will need a total of 6 spacers/washers, 3 for each side. The clearance will not be the same as that with the stock wheels but is no longer an issue.

[Dwight]

Thank your barbwire. Easy enough to do and mama wants those wheels.

Dwight

[NancysToy]

The offset comes into play with the clearance between the sidewall of the tire and the fender strut. By adding a 1/4" spacer/washer where the fender struts bolt to the hub will correct this issue. You will need a total of 6 spacers/washers, 3 for each side. The clearance will not be the same as that with the stock wheels but is no longer an issue.

I would be very leery about using spacer washers to space out wheels. This puts an unacceptable strain on the wheels and on the brake rotors. It can also result in eventual warping of the brake rotors. There is a large, flat hub on the wheels for a reason. If you can get a machine shop to make up some full-circle, single spacers, you will be much better off.....and safer in the long run.

Also, be careful about the lug nuts. You need at least the width of the stud engaged in the treads of the lugnut, preferably more. You may have this, but it pays to check carefully when you make a swap like this, and space the wheels out. If you do not have enough thread engagement, you would have to purchase or fabricate longer studs.

Better safe than sorry. Don't sacrifice safety for looks.

[fencepost]

The spacer/washer is not used to space out the wheel, the specer/washer is used to shift the fender and provide additional clearence between the strut and the sidewall of the tire. This modification for wheel fit on the RT has nothing to do with mounting the wheel (s) on the hub. I hope this clears up the concern.

[NancysToy]

The spacer/washer is not used to space out the wheel, the specer/washer is used to shift the fender and provide additional clearence between the strut and the sidewall of the tire. This modification for wheel fit on the RT has nothing to do with mounting the wheel (s) on the hub. I hope this clears up the concern.

Got it! Thanks for the explanation. You had me worried for a minute.

[YPILOT]

Would the fender struts from the GS/RS do the same thing? If so would the RT wheels work on the GS/RS if you also used the RT fender struts?

The spacer/washer is not used to space out the wheel, the specer/washer is used to shift the fender and provide additional clearence between the strut and the sidewall of the tire. This modification for wheel fit on the RT has nothing to do with mounting the wheel (s) on the hub. I hope this clears up the concern.

[Barbwire]

Here's basically what was going on with my hood and what LaFollett Motorsports did to fix it.

My hood wasn't tight it still had movement when you pressed down on it in the center where it latches when closed. This gave the appearance that the hood was warped and out of alignment.

La Follette Motor Sports 423 562-5239 was the one who fixed it just by chance when we stopped by and just got to talking about Spyder stuff. Their mechanic said most all of the Spyder trunk lids have to be adjusted and it is part of the dealer set-up. I am sure your dealer or you can call them if needed.

The latch mechanism is held with 2 screws and they loosened the screws just enough to work with the hood and then closed the lid, pushing down to make sure the fit was tight on the body and it was lined up right. Then they opened the lid and tightened the screws to set the new alignment.

If your hood has no play when you press down on the center and it is out of alignment it probably is warped.

[fencepost]

The wheels are for the RS and were not supposed to be used on the RT due to the different offset. This difference is only an issue with the clearence between the fender struts and the sidewall of the tire. Using the spacer/washer between where the fender strut bolts onto the hub will improve the clearence. The wheels bolt to the hub with no issues.