Wheel Spacers

[TriGem2k]

I know its been discussed several times on the forum but I just couldn’t find it. I just put on 5mm spacers on my rear wheels with the factory bolts. Is it really necessary to get longer bolts for 5mm spacers???

does it really makes a difference on the driving to add spacers and is it noticeable or purely esthetic to have these big wheels coming out of your arches?

go into forum search and check for :bolts and spacers you will see a few threads for this

Originally Posted by TriGem2k

I know its been discussed several times on the forum but I just couldn’t find it. I just put on 5mm spacers on my rear wheels with the factory bolts. Is it really necessary to get longer bolts for 5mm spacers???

Yes, you need bolts that are 5mm longer. They are Tequipment 996 361 980 02. These are anti-theft too.

[TriGem2k]

Originally Posted by olly986

does it really makes a difference on the driving to add spacers and is it noticeable or purely esthetic to have these big wheels coming out of your arches?

go into forum search and check for :bolts and spacers you will see a few threads for this

It is actually not much for show....I have 18X10 wheels running 285/30/18 in the rears and they fit fine but the clearance is sooooooo tight between the wheel and the strut i just wanted to make sure it doesnt rub under extreme driving situations.

[Tool Pants]

We have a local owner with 6 or 7 mm spacers (I forget) and 996 wheels. He drove the car a long time with the standard wheel bolts. I use to tease him that his wheels would come off, but they never did. He recently put in the wheel bolts for the GT3 which are 5 mm longer.

5 mm is not much. But Porsche says to use the longer wheels bolts.

How many turns do you get with the standard bolts and spacers. How many turns do you get with the standard bolts and no spacers.

There is a rule of thumb for the number of turns to determine of you need longer bolts, but I forget what it is. A few years ago I counted the number of turns with the standard bolts and no spacers. I think it was 7 and a half turns, which was a lot more than the rule of thumb

i think a third of the bolt thread makes a good safe tightning

[TriGem2k]

Originally Posted by Tool Pants

We have a local owner with 6 or 7 mm spacers (I forget) and 996 wheels. He drove the car a long time with the standard wheel bolts. I use to tease him that his wheels would come off, but they never did. He recently put in the wheel bolts for the GT3 which are 5 mm longer.

5 mm is not much. But Porsche says to use the longer wheels bolts.

How many turns do you get with the standard bolts and spacers. How many turns do you get with the standard bolts and no spacers.

There is a rule of thumb for the number of turns to determine of you need longer bolts, but I forget what it is. A few years ago I counted the number of turns with the standard bolts and no spacers. I think it was 7 and a half turns, which was a lot more than the rule of thumb

Thanks tool pants, I think i should be ok with the Standard bolts, I will eventually get the longer ones, but as the car is my daily driver i didnt want to have to wait for the bolts to come in. Its $160 if i bought the porsche extended bolts for two wheels that include the anti theft bolt.

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

You may be OK, but then again if not, $100 - $200 for the Proper Bolts will Pale in comparison to what it will cost you if you're wrong. I mean Porsche didn't simply make this up, if they say you need Longer Bolts, I suspect it's for a reason. Personally, I wouldn't risk it...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[spgribben007]

... but does having 5, 6 or 7mm spacers make a "noticable" difference in the car's handling?

Originally Posted by spgribben007

... but does having 5, 6 or 7mm spacers make a "noticable" difference in the car's handling?

I ordered my 987S with the factory 5mm spacers. I did this more for esthetics. I don't expect the handling to be notably different.

[TriGem2k]

Originally Posted by spgribben007

... but does having 5, 6 or 7mm spacers make a "noticable" difference in the car's handling?

I highly doubt it, my car was already riding 18X10 285/30/18. I only put them on to ensure myself that the wheel will not rub the inside strut during hard driving.