Extended Bolts - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

boxster6354 · 01-09-2009, 11:02 AM

Bought some H&R spacers and the extended bolts that came with them were two pieces (the bolt and bowl piece) the "bowl" piece that allows the standard looking bolt to attach to our wheels. See photo below.

Question:
The bowl piece does not appear to be metal -> magnet test ;-) and feels pretty lite, anyone have experience with these and is it safe to use?

Thanks

RandallNeighbour · 01-09-2009, 01:17 PM

What you've got there with that "bowl" looking thing is an important part of your bolt assembly. You MUST use one on each bolt on your car.

Those bolt cones center the bolt in the hole, allow the bolt to be torqued down to 96 ft lbs (the right torque for Porsche wheel bolt, btw) and keep the bolt tight when the cars in motion.

I ran my rear wheels without them for a while not knowing I needed them after I bought new rims and I had a LOT of vibration as one would expect. My buddy saw a wheel off and started screaming at me at the top of his lungs that I was an idiot for driving the car without them (very dangerous) and then stopped screaming, grabbed me, gave me a manly hug, and said, "Thank you God for sparing my friend's life."

Yeah, they're really important evidently. My friend swore to me he wasn't over-reacting.

PS - The curved side goes toward the wheel (flat side against the bolt head)

boxster6354 · 01-09-2009, 01:22 PM

Many thanks to you.

PS: the BMW looks sweet!

jmatta · 01-09-2009, 01:23 PM

They are most likely aluminum...all 911's up to the 996 used aluminum lug nuts. They should be perfectly fine; and yes, they are very important to center the lug bolt.

RN, I can't even imagine how the wheel seated without those...you were blessed!

Kirk · 01-11-2009, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxster6354

Question:
The bowl piece does not appear to be metal -> magnet test ;-) and feels pretty lite, anyone have experience with these and is it safe to use?

+1 for aluminum. I'm pretty sure that they're aluminum. The stock OEM pieces seem real light like aluminum too. Makes sense - I think that part of their purpose is to keep those beautiful wheels from being marred when you install the lug bolts. Aluminum would fit this purpose nicely.

Kirk

renzop · 01-12-2009, 06:23 AM

The purpose of the bowl is so that it matches the contour of the bolt seats on your wheels. Stock Porsche wheels have what is called a ball seat. Many aftermarket wheels for Porsche also have ball seats. But some have tapered seats. This is why the seats are separate from the bolts with your aftermarket spacers, so the spacers can work with ball seat or tapered seat wheels by just supplying the correct seats.

Without the correct seat all of the force for holding the wheel is on the rim of the bolt and the bolt itself in shear. Not only will this result in vibration and potential damage to the wheel but can also result in bolt head failures. Always make sure that the seat contour of your bolts (or nuts) matches the seat contour of your wheels.

boxster6354 · 01-12-2009, 01:05 PM

Thanks to all that took the time to educate me and future searchers.