Aftermarket wheels question.
 

Will aftermarket 18 inch kinesis wheels for 996 C2 fit in the 986 boxster or boxster S?

Thanks

can someone plz tell me if this will fit or not?

the fronts should be a direct fit at 18". Now the rears for the 911 are probably 18x10" which is too big for the 986 and you'll need spacers. And that has to be done EXACTLY right. Everything needs to be centered or you'll get wheel wobble, at worse you could damage your wheel bearing which are like $700 per wheel.

Call Kinesis, they should be able to tell you exactly what you need, spacer wise. They could also tell you your options to have the rears reworked for the Boxster. That's one of the great things about 3 piece wheels.

I think your rears have a 65mm offset and with an 18 x 10 you would need something closer to 45mm so a 20mm hub centric spacer should do the trick.

Hi,

My understanding is that you should never use mroe than a 17mm spacer on the Boxster. Also, when using spacers, you need also to replace the lug bolts with longer ones. If you add a 5mm spacer, you need 5mm longer bolts etc.

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

Thanks for the info but why do i need the spacers for the rear? Wouldn't it make the wheel stick out of the fenders?

Hi,

The short answer is - YES! - Depending upon how thick a spacer you use.

Without the proper sized spacer, the inside of the Tire/Wheel will contact some of the Suspension and Brake Components, such as the Handbrake Cables - very bad.

The Maximum Allowable Spacer size - 17mm could be tied to the fact that you need Wheel Bolts which are also 17mm longer than the stock Wheel Bolts. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

Ok thanks guys. This info is very helpful and i posted it on 6speedonline but nobody came up for help.

H&R makes their DRS hub centric spacer up to 23mm for the Boxster and has longer bolts to match. It's TUV approved for the Boxster and Boxster S so I would have no reservations using them.

to answer a few questions:

wheels sticking out:

offset is counterintuitive; more offset brings the wheel further under the car. less pushes it out toward (or past) the fender


will they fit:

if the rears are indeed 18x10 with a 65mm offset, they will fit. i reccomend a 21mm spacer for a total offset of 44mm. the passenger side will likely scrub the e-brake cable, but you can zip tie it out of the way. 44mm offset with a 10" wheel will come just inside the fender lip, but not past.

acceptable offsets for the rear (after factoring in the spacer) are 40mm-50mm (but personally i wouldn't go over 47mm; you won't clear a 285 tire with some brands). to get your total offset, subtract the spacer from the wheel offset.

make sure the spacers are hub-centric. they can be had on ebay for cheap. you will need longer bolts. with a 21mm spacer, you will need 66mm bolts (68mm will work, too). you will have to remove the brass 'cones' from your factory bolts and install them on the new bolts, as the new bolts should be flanged. they can be had from gpr tuning for about $5.85 a piece.