Anyone using rear wheel spacers to give more aggressive look?

[J-RAD]

Originally Posted by yellowboxster01

My take on wheel spacers has always been if you don't need them, don't run them. If you're looking to buy wheels that require spacers, look for different wheels.

And is still the correct approach. If a person is interested only from an aesthetic standpont, then I suppose spacers are OK. However, I would never use spacers if I planned to really drive my car, which I do (ie. very spirited driving, DE, etc).

Spacers were created as a fitament solution for wheels that weren't specifically designed for use on a particular vehicle.

[Stunin_Stud]

I have the H&R 15mm spacers all around. looks perfect...stock the wheels were tucked in and made the car look like a frightened puppy. 5mm is not noticiable imo

[humara]

Originally Posted by J-RAD

And is still the correct approach. If a person is interested only from an aesthetic standpont, then I suppose spacers are OK. However, I would never use spacers if I planned to really drive my car, which I do (ie. very spirited driving, DE, etc).

Spacers were created as a fitament solution for wheels that weren't specifically designed for use on a particular vehicle.

normally i would agree with this, but since porsche offers 5mm as a factory option my feeling have changed. i'm assuming porsche knows a thing or 2 about how well their cars would perform on track.

[drburton]

I track my car with the spacers and no issues. In fact, my Porsche mechanic thought the spacers in the rear would improve track performance, wider track with more negative camber.

I think there are limitations though. I wouldn't throw on a 15mm spacer and track the car, I think that creates some stress.

[Bob O]

I have 7 mm front and 15 mm rear. I think they definitely improve the looks, and, according to a couple of knowledgeable folks, SHOULD improve things on the track. We'll see, since I'm going to a DE next Sat.

I have 17" wheels on my 01. How would adding these spacers increase any suspension stress over what increasing the wheel size to 18's and the tire size accordingly? Or what additional stress would simply increasing the width of the tire do???. I could put on 18's, which was an available size from the factory, and be at approximately the same relative position in the wheel well as putting on the spacers. I'm not convinced that any additional stress results over what the factory has allowed for in the design.

Now if we're talking about 50 MM spacers.. that's another matter! but the 7 and 15's are actually pretty small.

Just my .02

Bob

[Bob Z.]

I was told that I should get hub-centric spacers; however, the 7mm H&Rs are not - the 15mm are. So, any opinions? If it helps, I plan to install them on a 2008 S with stock tires (235 40ZR18 front, 265 40ZR18 rear).

[cvhs18472]

I have 7mm H&R spacers on all 4 wheels and have no trouble. I believe that they make the car look a little better though I don't see any handling differences. When I got them I talked to the parts man and he said to just be careful because if you had different sizes front and rear or just on rear or front you would change the steering and create over or under steer problems. Sort of makes sense. Ed

[Bob Z.]

A lot of folks are running 7mm spacers on the front and 15mm on the rear. Excuse my ignorance but if the rear tires are wider, why would one use larger spacers on the rear vice the front? My objective is to bring the wheels/tires closer to the wheel well lip after I lower it with H&R springs.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Bob O

I have 7 mm front and 15 mm rear. I think they definitely improve the looks, and, according to a couple of knowledgeable folks, SHOULD improve things on the track. We'll see, since I'm going to a DE next Sat.

I have 17" wheels on my 01. How would adding these spacers increase any suspension stress over what increasing the wheel size to 18's and the tire size accordingly? Or what additional stress would simply increasing the width of the tire do???. I could put on 18's, which was an available size from the factory, and be at approximately the same relative position in the wheel well as putting on the spacers. I'm not convinced that any additional stress results over what the factory has allowed for in the design.

Now if we're talking about 50 MM spacers.. that's another matter! but the 7 and 15's are actually pretty small.

Just my .02

Bob

When you look at the stress on the wheel bearings, you typically want the tire to overhang the bearings by an equal amount on both sides. This minimizes the moment in the axial direction of the axle. It basically reduces the force that wants to twist the bearing out of the race.

Assuming the tire is centered on the bearings stock, when you add a spacer, you add to this load. It will slowly wear more on the wheel bearings. The larger the spacer, the larger this load.

Is it significant? Probably not, but it is real.

[thenavarro]

Eomak,

I have a 2001 986 lowered with HR springs and my rear wheels are 18 x 10 et 65 and I run 21mm spacers in the rear.

I tried 15mm and 18mm first and I had issues with the strut hitting with those, the 21 work great for me. You will also need longer wheel bolts.

The wheel spacers can be both used aesthetically and necessary depending on the wheel you run. Aesthetically, they will push your wheels further out from the car and I think that looks better as it gives the appearance of filling up the wheel wells better. By necessary, my aftermarket Carrera lightweights have a different offset than stock Boxster wheels, so in order to get them pushed out far enough that the wheel doesn't hit a strut or anything else, I had to use spacers.

The long term effects on the suspension for me are yet to be determined.

Mike

[skinns101]

Mike,

What tire size are you running with these wheels? I just puchased a set of 18x10" turbo twist's ET65 but am planning on running a 265/35/18 and am wondering what spacer I will need.

Steve

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by drburton

I track my car with the spacers and no issues. In fact, my Porsche mechanic thought the spacers in the rear would improve track performance, wider track with more negative camber.

I think there are limitations though. I wouldn't throw on a 15mm spacer and track the car, I think that creates some stress.

Spacers make no direct difference to the camber.

They do slightly soften the suspension since the suspension arm is lengthened. The car will sit a little lower, so the camber will change a bit, but it's not something that you could notice.

[ut_cougar]

i want to add spacers to my wheels since i might not be buying new ones anymore...anyone know a good size spacer to run on an 02 box S with the 18" turbo wheels? I have no experience with spacers at all. What should i put on the front? rear? i want it for aesthetics, a nice look. you said 15mm looks the best but that sounds a bit big? plus i'm worried about what this guy below is saying, how it might pronounce the wheel gap instead of make it look less?

[heyjae]

I'm a bit confused by the talk of wheel bearing failure due to wheel spacers. Wouldn't having the same wheels but with the "correct" offset have the same effect on wheel bearings? For example, my rear wheels have 50mm offset, but I need to run 15mm spacers to clear the shock tower. So wouldn't that be the same as running a wheel w/ a 65mm offset? But no one ever mentions running high offset wheels can affect wheel bearings. Is there something I'm missing?