Wheel spacers
 

Does anybody have wheel spacers fitted?
After looking at a couple of pictures of members cars, I quite like the wider look.
I was thinking 20mm rear, 15mm front.
Are there any noticeable handling compromises?
Do they put to much stress on wheel bearings?
What is the max width of spacer you can get away with?

Thanks

If you don't track your car then those sizes you mentioned should be fine.

I have 15mm front and back. Same sized wheels just out 15mm more. They do not protrude from the wheel wells and I have no rubbing issues with 17" stock Boxster wheels. Have yet to have any suspension problems with this set up. I also have M030 Sway bars front and rear. Handles real well with no lean on hard corners. They do tend to throw up a bit more road grime onto the rocker panels and rear fenders.

AKL

Make sure that you get hub-centric wheel spacers which have a lip in the center that supports the wheel, and that you get longer wheel bolts to match the thickness of spacer that you use. I have been tracking with Porsches and BMW's for years with hub-centric spacers with no issues. Your wheel bearings may wear a little faster, but big deal - they are made to be replaced.

By the way, Brey-Krause just announced a new line of all hubcentric spacers (even the thinner ones):

R-5010 Hub-Centric Wheel Spacers

The weird thing is that their web site advertises them only for 911's. Does anybody know if these will these fit a 986?

Thanks for the advice. I will go with the 15mm fronts and 20mm rears and make sure that at get the hub centric spacers with the longer bolts to suit.
Will post some pictures when all is complete.

Horrible design if you ask me !

JD why do you think they are so horrible. They look quet smart to me, I think they will do the job of centring the wheel, even on a thin spacer with this design

They're not bolt centric, nor does it appear as though they countersink to the hub.

+1, Looks concerning.

hey guys new to this forum, and dont have much experience with wheel spacers

got two questions for JD

1. what do you mean by countersunk to the hub. I see on the back of the spacers the is a countersink on the inside diameter, is this what you are talking about?

2. Do they have to be bolt-centric if the hub-centric fingers on the spacer lock into place with fingers on the hub, which would not allow the spacers to move?

I guess I dont understand why they need to be bolt-centric if the are hub-centric

The spacers should be machined in a way that the bolt openings match with Porsche's 130x5 specification. This ensures that the spacer and wheel cannot move under force. In addition, it's ideal to have the spacer mount securely to the hub. That way, instead of the spacer spinning while you're trying to line up the bolt openings of the wheels with those of the hub, it stays in place.

JD, can you post up a link to some spacers that you recommend?

There are numerous sources from which you can purchase high quality spacers from. The important thing is to make sure that they are of the correct design. Here's an example of a properly designed spacer.

- hubcentric
- correct bolt pattern
- machined countersink tap

I found this image on the website, it looks to me like the fingers ,or whatever you call them, that make the spacer hub-centric, match and lock the spacer into place with the hub not allowing it to spin.

Is it really possible for the spacer to spin under load even with the wheel torqued down properly. The wheel is mounted using the studs which go to the hub so the wheel cant really spin under load if correct lugs are used correct? doesn't that mean that the spacer would not be able to or have no reason to spin? there is no torsional load being applied to the spacer other than what the wheel is putting on the spacer, so any spinning that would happen would happen regardless if the spacer were there on not?



The reason I am asking is I am looking at these for my track 986, and there are a lot of crappy wheel spacers out there and it seems everyone has different views on the subject.





http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1364233416.jpg

john you are a perfect example of why some people should not post in a forum when they lack the technical prerequisite for the design of such a part that brey krause has made thank you brey krause for filling that need, unbelievable!!!!




Danger;333386]The spacers should be machined in a way that the bolt openings match with Porsche's 130x5 specification. This ensures that the spacer and wheel cannot move under force. In addition, it's ideal to have the spacer mount securely to the hub. That way, instead of the spacer spinning while you're trying to line up the bolt openings of the wheels with those of the hub, it stays in place.[/QUOTE]

I have no idea what that image is. But, in any case, I think you're making this issue far more complicated than it needs to be. Imagine having a wheel, that instead of having lugs that are correctly match to the hub specification (i.e.. bolt pattern), but rather there were a series of elongated slots to mount the wheel to the hub. What would effectively hold the wheel in place ? Certainly not the torque of the lugs bolts alone. Furthermore, if neither the wheel or spacer has a center bore that's specific to the hub's center bore, then the interface between the two will not be hubcentric. Same principles hold true for the spacer. The spacer essentially acts as an extension of the wheel/hub in order to augment offset. Beyond using a 7mm spacer or so, there's no longer enough exposure of the hub for the wheel to effectively seat. Therefore, a properly designed spacer will have a hubcentric collar that acts as an extension of the hub so the wheel will interface correctly. The machined countersink tap is a nice touch that more or less keeps the spacer in place so it's not moving while you're trying to line up the wheel and hub.

[/QUOTE]

Who's this jackass ?

Absolute junk !

I would much rather utilize a spacer that was both bolt centric and hub centric, than one that relied on "fingers" alone. Your choice.

My thoughts exactly!