Swapping Wheels
 

I currently have stock 17 inch wheels with continental extreme DWS tires on them and lots of tread left. I recently purchased 18's from a forum member and I am about to pull the trigger on tires. If I get summer tires and have them professionally installed can I just swap back to the 17's when it gets cold? Will the 17's have to be professionally installed when I want to switch back?


Thank you

Absolutely not, you can jack up the car and switch wheels just like any other car. The Continental Extreme DWS is not a directional tire so it doesn't matter which side it goes on, but you may want to make a note and rotate them side to side each winter (or not, I never rotated my sumis...)

Steve

Edit: but if you are friendly with the folks that are mounting and installing your new 18's they would probably be happy to swap them out for you for low $$$ when the time is right if you have a2nd vehicle to bring the 17's and carry away the 18's when you swap them.

No you can do it yourself. All you need is a jack, jack stands, wheel chocks, 19mm socket and a torque wrench. You can get all that stuff from Harbor Freight for around $100 with coupons.

Changing a tire on a Porsche is the same as changing a tire on any other car. If you need professional help for that, so be it.
BTW, a lot of "professionals" don't do it right, they just use an impact wrench and don't check for proper torque

Harbor Freight has a decent 1/2" torque wrench for under $12 on sale. If you search for coupons, you can find them for $12.99, sometimes $9.99. If all yo are going to use the jack for is changing tires, then one of the trolley jacks should be fine. If you plan on doing DIY stuff and need to get under the car, then you want a higher lift jack. Be sure to get a low profile one in any case. I bought their 2 ton steel one for around $60 on sale. Their 3 tone jack stands on sale are $20 also get the jack stand covers, they protect the underside of the car.

If all you are doing is tires, you don't even need jack stands

Get a 19mm impact socket, they are deeper and you may need that on some wheels. I also wrapped mine with gaffers tape (you can use duct tape) so it wont scratch the wheels. You can also find online "soft" sockets for around $30 that wont scratch the wheel or lug bolts.

You need to torque the bolts to 96 ftlbs

You can swap wheels one at a time with the factory supplied jack & tools on a paved level surface. Just buy a torque wrench that's good to 100 ft/lbs. The oe jack works very well & everyone should use it before they HAVE to use it in a potentially difficult situation.

I have no worries about taking the tires on and off I have done that a few times in the 4 years i've owned the car and recently when I bled the brakes.

I don't know why I thought maybe there was something that needed to be done when going from 18's to 17's.

Now I just got to order the summer tires so i can get some enjoyment out of them and the new wheels before winter.

Thanks everyone!

Just make sure the 18's have the correct offsets. Boxster offsets are different from 911 offsets

They came off a 986 so I think I should be good.

I'm really excited about putting them on.

Thanks!

Carlisabadman986, do yourself a favor and weigh your factory 17's as the come off and weigh the 18's as they go on...

I put some 18's on my car and they're significantly heavier than my factory 17's. My off-the-line performance suffered and worst of all, these great looking 18's on my car have prematurely and repeatedly worn out suspension parts.

If the 18s are a lot heavier, don't drive the car on bad roads or you'll pay dearly.

It reads like you're thinking of your 17s as all-season tires good for winter.

Those in the know refer to all-seasons as no-seasons, i. e. not good ever.

Best to get true winter tires on the 17-in wheels.

That's a great idea and i will definitely do so.

These are the wheels

http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-parts-sale-wanted/58420-18-cararra-wheel-set.html

As for the all seasons being no seasons I have to say I am pretty happy with the continentals so far. I actually considered putting the same tires on the new wheels but thought it would be cool to have a set of summer tires with a little better performance.

\

Nope I'm sorry to inform you that those wheels will not fit your car. Your best course of action would be to send them to my house. I'll PM you the address. :D

I have those wheels as my DD wheels. They look great on a Boxster
I bought a set of 17's for track and AX

:p
I have been looking for a used set of wheels for almost two years, 95% of the ones I see on this forum or Rennlist are in CA or somewhere far away. When these popped up in VA I was all over them. I Paypalled the money and had a friend scoop them up like 2 hours after I saw the post.

It was meant to be:D

My spare set was the same.
I had been looking for a while and found a set local. Drove over and picked them up.

I hear you man. I've only been looking for less than a year. So maybe I'll find something close next year. Besides I've got to stop spending money on this thing lol. Well they look great and I hope you enjoy them. :cheers:

As these cars use lug bolts rather than nuts, it's helpful to have the post tool that screws into a bolt hole to let you hang the wheel on the hub until the other bolts are out/in. The tool is part of the standard tool kit that came with the car.

Interestingly, my VW, which also uses bolts, doesn't have the post tool, so I use the one from the Boxster.

I have the tool, but never use it. Just have to be a little careful when removing or mounting the wheels.
Once you have the wheel on the hub, it supports the weight so you can put in the lug bolts