Wide Track Boxster S Options

[BigPines]

I am looking to widen the front and rear of a Boxster S to put a much wider body on. I would like to widen the stance without destroying the great handling of the Boxster. I can't get there with rims alone and I obviously want to avoid huge spacers. I am hoping someone already makes a kit for this that has either a longer control arm setup or some other mod to push the entire suspension out. I have seen kits like this for other vehicles but not the Boxster. I have looked around but can't seem to find anything like what I am looking for. Anyone have any ideas for me?

[The Radium King]

I thinks most people do it with spacers and offset here. I do know that there are kits available to widen the front track on the 996 awd cars to reduce the amount of understeer they experience:

http://www.tpcracing.com/wide-track.html

as you can see, big $. you might be able to source gt3 rs components to widen things as well, but again big $.

[BigPines]

Thanks for your response. Yes, I saw that kit. Too bad it isn't for the Boxster. Cost is always a concern but it is a secondary concern. I will have to pay what I have to pay. Above all, I want to do this right.

How much width is gained by that kit anyway? I can't tell. I also couldn't figure it out based on Wikipedia.

[The Radium King]

actually, 986 boxster and 996 911 (incl turbo) share most of the same front end components, incl, front wishbone, control arms, etc. (ie, the items in the tpc kit) so should be interchangeable. rear end is a different story, however.

[BigPines]

Cool. I didn't know that.

I could probably get away with large spacers / rim offset on the rear but I'd rather not because I am worried about extra wear and tear on the bearings.

[heliguy]

Techart has some nice widebody kits.

[BigPines]

Thanks. Those do look nice but I am going with something even more aggressive. The Techart body is 3.15" wider. I am looking to go nearly 10" wider. This is why I don't want to Mickey Mouse things.

[The Radium King]

so, i did some more looking (cause this is a cool idea). you should be able to widen the track up front with the tpc kit. for the back, the control arm is the same part as the front so you can get that from tpc as well. there are two other control arms that would need to be longer, and both are available aftermarket in adjustable format (tarett, top speed) so should be easy enough to get longer versions. the axle spacers that come with the tpc kit for the front could be repurposed to the back to extend your axles there. next step, if serious, would be calls to tpc and tarett. never worked with tpc, but the guy at tarett is excellent to deal with and would most likely enjoy the challenge. of course, 10" is a lot. is that 5" per side? 2" spacer, 2" wheel offset, 1" wide track mebbe?

[BigPines]

Thanks! That is some really great information. I like that the front and rear control arms are the same. Very cool! I saw the control arms at Tarett. I assume these are the ones: GT3 Control Arm Kit, 996/997/986/987/981/991

I know 10" of extra body is a lot to attempt. After considering my wheels, I actually need to go 8.5" wider in front and 4.9" in the rear. I really hate to run 2" spacers. I think that would not be great for my bearings. Can I really only get 1" per side on the wide track? If that is the case, I may have to do something really custom. I will eventually give those guys a call. I am serious about doing it but not right now. I have a few other things I need to work out first.

[Hasbro]

From the crypt but exactly what I was looking for! Thanks RK.

Originally Posted by The Radium King

so, i did some more looking (cause this is a cool idea). you should be able to widen the track up front with the tpc kit. for the back, the control arm is the same part as the front so you can get that from tpc as well. there are two other control arms that would need to be longer, and both are available aftermarket in adjustable format (tarett, top speed) so should be easy enough to get longer versions. the axle spacers that come with the tpc kit for the front could be repurposed to the back to extend your axles there. next step, if serious, would be calls to tpc and tarett. never worked with tpc, but the guy at tarett is excellent to deal with and would most likely enjoy the challenge. of course, 10" is a lot. is that 5" per side? 2" spacer, 2" wheel offset, 1" wide track mebbe?

[The Radium King]

necro thread. i think the spacers i originally linked to were axle spacers designed for the rear of most cars as well as the front of the awd cars. knowing what i know now, i think you could get 25 mm control arm shim, 25 mm spacer, 50 mm wheel offset (say oem et50 to et0) to achieve a 4"/side 8" total track width increase using off the shelf components. also, some vendors sell extended lower control arms to achieve increased track width without as much shim:

https://roadsportsupply.com/3-307-xl-inner-spherical-bearing-mono-ball-end-kit-set-of-2/

the rear axle spacers just allow you to run big shims in the rear lower control arms without maxing-out the plunge on your half axle cv joints.

spacers and low offset wheels will impact your scrub radius, and aggressive lower control arm shims would impact your suspension geometry and probably necessitate adjustable thrust arms (or adjustable thrust arm bushings) and adjustable toe control arms. also camber plates to keep your camber reasonable.

[Gilles]

Please keep in mind that using spacers that are too wide will put too much stress on your wheel bearings, and could promote premature failure...

[Hasbro]

Originally Posted by Gilles

Please keep in mind that using spacers that are too wide will put too much stress on your wheel bearings, and could promote premature failure...

Thanks, Gilles, understood. Inspect bearings often and replace as needed. My biggest concern is keeping the geometry correct for handling first, aesthetics a distant second. My first P car so lots to still learn re. how to.

Thanks RK.

[Anker]

Originally Posted by Gilles

Please keep in mind that using spacers that are too wide will put too much stress on your wheel bearings, and could promote premature failure...

So will using rims that have offsets that push the wheels well out from their OEM positions.

[The Radium King]

i've heard that and the physics makes sense, but i think the overall concern might be a bit overblown. porsche sells 25 mm spacers without caveat. and with the trend in flush face wheels, the difference between an et65 996 rear wheel and an et50 986 rear wheel is basically a 15 mm spacer incorporated into the wheel centre.

[maytag]

In my 35 years of modding cars, including hot rods, drag racers, circle burners, euro-rods, vintage race- clones, rock crawlers, desert racers, etc.etc, I've never experienced a wheel bearing failure that I could attribute to wheel offset and / or spacer.

I agree the physics make sense, but I don't think the real world implications are as dire as some purport.

Perhaps I should qualify that I've never gone "extreme" with the offset or the spacers.

But that's just my anecdotal, first- hand, experience.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[Anker]

I just happen to own a car that had to have new steel wheel carriers replacing the original aluminum carriers because the combination of the old wheel carriers and wider wheels made it eat the outer, conical, wheel bearing. 1987 Caterham 1700 SuperSpeed.

Not hearsay any more! :-)

[The Radium King]

c'mon; it failed because british, not because of spacers or wheel width. what do you blame when the engine leaks oil or the electrics stop working?

joking btw; i race a triumph gt6 ...