[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Trent B

I guess where my confusion lies is if you have a physically longer spacer (eg one that goes into the holes on the wheel as well) would that offset some of the shear force and thus make the bolt more resistant to bending than it would be with a short spacer?

If the plastic was failing, a longer spacer would distribute the load across more of the plastic, but in this case the bolt is failing and that's a stress concentration problem... if I'm anywhere near approaching an understanding of what people are talking about.