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Rear Wheel Spacers?
#1

Would someone summarize what the options are for rear spacers with 17"wheels which still results in good suspension performance on stock  suspension?

Ive always thought the rear track looks a bit narrow for the car.  Would like to push the wheels out for cosmetics but not  really willing to do it if affects suspension much on back roads. 

 

 

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#2

edited after measuring my spacers : 


A  5mm spacer might be just sufficient for just a slight aesthetic push out, and not really warrant going with a longer, steel bolt.   But I would not track the car, or take it to its limits on spirited drives, turns , etc.. just out of an abundance of caution, without longer steel bolts .  It’s unlikely it will be a problem but there is a very small chance, nonetheless.  

 I have spacers both front and back ( 20 mm front and 15mm back ) so my wheels are flush with the wheel well fender,  but they all have steel bolt-through set up, and I have those re-torqued every 5 K miles or so, just for peace of mind,  even if they may not really need it .    But with any spacers you should re-torque them periodically . 

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#3

ds968

I drive the 968 very hard on back roads. Are you saying 5mm would throw it off too much even with the steel bolts?

Could you point me in the right direction as to where I can find both items for purchase?
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#4

There’s always a chance, but as I mentioned it’s a very slim one ..negligible , IMO.   To my knowledge most tracks will not allow cars with any spacers, regardless of the size ( or even steel bolts holding them ) because it’s construed to be a “ safety hazard “.    Granted, they may be paranoid, but there must be a reason behind it.     But many people put spacers on Porsches because of their infamous space left open behind the fender .. horrible aesthetic if you ask me, but that’s a subjective topic .. and none drive their cars like a little old lady going to church, yet I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone having a problem whether too much stress on the suspension or wheel bearings, or anything else .. much less them getting loose and the wheel coming off because of insufficient bolt tread holding it in place ..   as for where to get them, I don’t recall where I bought mine, it’s been way too long , but if you run a search on this forum , I vaguely recall several threads discussing spacers, and also some of the brands and sources where people got theirs ..  

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#5

You can buy longer studs for the hubs direct from Porsche

Have to bang out the old studs and fit the new ones


I personally would be worried about damaging the hubs at over $1000 each
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#6

Waylander,

thanks for your feedback.    I think it's now a passing thought for me.   I'll leave it alone.

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#7

IMO, youd be better off finding a set of wheels with the proper offset to accomplish what youre after.

In OE wheels, your choices are limited, but most aftermarket wheels have a wide variety.

I know Panasport (mini lite copy) can be had in just about any width, offset, and lug pattern imaginable. And a fellow on the Speedster (replica) forum recommended a Canadian company that does the same with reproductions of many vintage alloy wheels.
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#8

I am running 17's with 5mm spacers on all 4 corners because of the front bearing dust covers, and I also think it makes the car look nicer. You can get away with 5-7mm spacers if you don't run the original aluminum nuts. I went with steel ones because they require less thread penetration to be safe. Our stock aluminum nuts are also supposed to be replaced after so many torquings, but I bet 1) we don't keep track of such things and 2) most of us have no idea how many times they were removed and reinstalled before we purchased the car. Steel nuts have no such limitation, but they are somewhat heavier.

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#9

Quote:IMO, youd be better off finding a set of wheels with the proper offset to accomplish what youre after.

In OE wheels, your choices are limited, but most aftermarket wheels have a wide variety.

I know Panasport (mini lite copy) can be had in just about any width, offset, and lug pattern imaginable. And a fellow on the Speedster (replica) forum recommended a Canadian company that does the same with reproductions of many vintage alloy wheels.
Did a quick search, the company is Augment Wheels and they pretty much build forged wheels to order. As do Forgeline Wheels here in the states.


Ive always liked these Campy repros on Porsches, cant really picture what theyd look like on a 968 though.

https://www.augmentwheels.com/blogs/cust...-yellow-sc


This take on a D-90 928 wheel would look pretty good.


https://www.augmentwheels.com/blogs/cust...forged-d90
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#10

Weight on the rotating mass translates to approx. 4 x in curb weight add-on , so the roughly 12 lbs worth of steel bolts total ( on all four wheels )  will be like adding a 48 lbs of weight to your car .   Not a huge problem , but if you try to squeeze every 1/10 of a second out of your launch, 0-60 , or Q mile times , yeah it will be noticeable.  

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#11

Quote:Weight on the rotating mass translates to approx. 4 x in curb weight add-on , so the roughly 12 lbs worth of steel bolts total ( on all four wheels )  will be like adding a 48 lbs of weight to your car .   Not a huge problem , but if you try to squeeze every 1/10 of a second out of your launch, 0-60 , or Q mile times , yeah it will be noticeable.  

That's a great formula, but I question the total weight for the steel nuts. When I received the package I don't recall the box weighing nearly that much.

 

The online numbers from the place where I purchased them estimates the steel units at 1.5 oz, and the aluminum (stock) units at .85 oz. Even if the difference was 1 oz per nut, and 20 nuts per car, the overall difference would be less than 2 pounds. Still a difference, but happily offset by the improvement in track and the peace of mind resulting from adequate thread depth and the diminished probability of losing a wheel.

 

And, I like the look of the chrome nuts and the fuller wheel well.

 

M-
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#12

It’s been so long I don’t recall the exact weight , but I’m almost certain it was at a very minimum 8 lbs ( box containing both the bolts and the spacers ..although the spacers were very light.. they’re aluminum  after all.. ) but I think the shipping weight  indicated 12 lbs.    The weight  might also depend on the mfg. of the bolts, just because they’re all steel doesn’t mean that some won’t be lighter than others, especially with composite technology changes, maybe the newer ones are likely to be lighter than the ancient bolts I have ..

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