trapped thereby reducing the amount of lubricant available for lubrication of the bearing assemblies 16 18 the openings 76 can be holes 80 slots 82 or notches 84 in this embodiment the slots 82 are disposed in the second section 66 and the holes 80 are disposed in the third section 72 preferably the openings are disposed within the second and third sections 66 72 however the openings 76 may be disposed within any non deforming section of the spacer 26 these openings allow lubricant to fill the cavity 78 as the wheel hub 12 is filled and substantially eliminate potential oil starvation of the bearing assemblies 16 18 the openings 76 can be of any shape or configuration that does not reduce the structural integrity of the spacer 26 the invention includes a method of adjusting a length 90 between bearing assemblies 16 18 referring to fig5 the wheel hub assembly 10 is shown in cross section the method includes the installation of the spacer 26 between the inner and outer bearing assemblies 16 18 along with the wheel hub 12 onto a fixture 92 the fixture 92 is of the same size and configuration as a spindle or drive axle to which the wheel hub assembly 10 is to be installed a force indicated by arrow b along the axis 34 is applied to the outer bearing assembly 18 the magnitude of the force is predetermined to exert sufficient pressure to deform the spacer 26 at the thin wall 62 a predetermined level in response to the predetermined level of force the length 90 of the spacer 26 is changed to a deformed length 94 the deformed length 94 is the proper distance between the bearing assemblies 16 18 for that.