[kgain968]

I found a used set of 996 Carrera 5 spoke 18"s for sale. Do you guys know what offset I need ideally. Would these possibly be the right offset, here is what the seller has told me so far. He will know exact offset tomorrow.



"The wheels are 18x8 front and 18x10 rear. I believe the offests are 50 or 52 front and 65 rear. The wheels are at my mechanics shop, I can verify tomorrow."

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[rustech]

[quote name='kgain968' date='Apr 16 2006, 11:24 AM']I found a used set of 996 Carrera 5 spoke 18"s for sale. Do you guys know what offset I need ideally. Would these possibly be the right offset, here is what the seller has told me so far. He will know exact offset tomorrow.



"The wheels are 18x8 front and 18x10 rear. I believe the offests are 50 or 52 front and 65 rear. The wheels are at my mechanics shop, I can verify tomorrow."

[right][post="19264"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



Perfect fit! Small spacer in rear for wider stance.

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[SILVY968]

[quote name='kgain968' date='Apr 16 2006, 11:24 AM']I found a used set of 996 Carrera 5 spoke 18"s for sale. Do you guys know what offset I need ideally. Would these possibly be the right offset, here is what the seller has told me so far. He will know exact offset tomorrow.



"The wheels are 18x8 front and 18x10 rear. I believe the offests are 50 or 52 front and 65 rear. The wheels are at my mechanics shop, I can verify tomorrow."

[right][post="19264"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]





My 18's are as follows:



Rear = 10Jx18ET65

Front = 7.5Jx18ET50



   

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[Anchorman]

If a "small spacer in rear" is 10mm or so, then they'd look OK - but that would take almost 1/2" away from the "bite" of the lug nuts, which would concern me. IMHO, you'd be better off with a rear with less offset, or change the lug bolts to longer ones (I have no idea what's involved in doing that).

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[SILVY968]

My 18's are on without a spacer for the same reason that Anchorman stated. You do not want one of these babies flying off at any speed!

65 on the rear seems to fit fine for me. I'd try the wheel for visual before I automatically added a spacer. Clearance in not a problem, hence a spacer is not required. The front wheels will require some trimming of the lower black plastic nose piece, as it rubs when shocks are at full travel with the wheels turned either direction.

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[Anchorman]

I had been using 8.5x18 ET52 on the front with no interference with any body work - but only after I refreshed the front suspension (new Koni yellows). So, I don't expect you'd have any problems in front with 52 offset on an 8" width. In the rear, I had 10x18 ET47. The look was ideal, but an offset of 52-55 would have been a better fit. I think a 65 offset (without a spacer) will put the outside edge too far inside the fender - at least for my taste.

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[kgain968]

I guess it is not as cut and dry as I had assumed. Turns out the mechanic of the fellow selling the wheels has sold them already, so I will have to find another set. Anchor what offset are the new wheels you are getting.



Also I had been considering selling my 17"s to help fund the purchase of 18"s, anyone want to swap + cash?

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[Anchorman]

Fronts, 8" wide, are 57 offset; rears, 10" wide, are 58 offset. I'm going to purchase 5mm spacers because I'm pretty sure I'll want to bring the wheels "out" to the fenders by that much. I'll be checking to see if there's still enough grip on the lugs or if I'll have to change them. I'm hoping that the less than 1/4" change will not require changing lugs. (As a matter of fact, as I'm writing this, I'm wondering whether a 1/4" change is enough to justify using the spacers. I'll probably try with and without and see if I'm satisfied with the look. I really liked the look of my previous rear set with the 47 offset, but I'm not going there again - too much spacer would be needed, and I want to reinstall the clips that hold the fender protector in place.)

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[SILVY968]

See if you run into the clearance issues that I did with 7.5 x 18 50 on the front. With the front of the car up off the ground turn the wheels full left and full right. When I fitted my 18"s I got contact with the black under nose skirt. A small amount of trimming with a sharp knife did the trick. Shocks were 2 years old at that time.

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[Anchorman]

I don't think I'll care if there's interference under the conditions you describe, since - if I understand correctly - they represent a situation never to be seen on the road (basically, a turn at lock with the wheel off the road - I can't corner like that!). In real life driving, once I replaced my front struts, I drove many thousands of miles with 8.5x18 ET 52 with 245/40 tires with no interference.

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[SILVY968]

[quote name='Anchorman' date='Apr 19 2006, 04:45 AM']I don't think I'll care if there's interference under the conditions you describe, since - if I understand correctly - they represent a situation never to be seen on the road (basically, a turn at lock with the wheel off the road - I can't corner like that!).  In real life driving, once I replaced my front struts, I drove many thousands of miles with 8.5x18 ET 52 with 245/40 tires with no interference.

[right][post="19451"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



I guess that when I saw the wheel hitting I trimmed for clearance. I think that in a practical sense the only time that I could run into problems would be during a jump were I got air and decided that I wanted to go hard left or right when I landed. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/laugh.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

The streets downtown are bad, but not that bad!!!

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[Anchorman]

Or, if you're attempting the equivalent of a skiing acrobatic stunt - get air and move the wheels (the equivalent of the skiis) left and right before landing. If I had seen what you had, Silvy, I might also have gotten concerned. Luckily, I never thought of doing that test, so all was well.

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[Renalicious]

I'm curious, what is the widest tire you can safely fit in the rear and front? Currently I'm running 255/40-17" in the rear, and 235/45-17" in the front, but was entertaining the idea of upgrading to 265/35-18 and 235/40-18 in the future. Is that basically the limit?



I've noticed that durring hard acceleration the car really sags in the rear. Is this normal? I'm worried that wider tires would start rubbing on the body work under these situations. I haven't had the car for very long, nor have I had a chance to see other 968's in action, heh, so I have no gauge on what's normal and what isn't <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



-ren

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[flash]

if that shot is yoru car, that is a lot of squat - i'd take a look at your shocks and torsion bars - also take a look at your ride height - it should be level



you can get bigger stuff in there for sure - a quick search will show quite a few different sizes - for example, i have 285/30/18 in the rear and 255/35/18 in the front - with my ride height and suspension geometry, that's the limit, and i had wheels built to fit in there

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[Renalicious]

Yep, that would be my car, this was at a performance driving education event in early april. As far as I can tell the ride height is level, it's only durring acceleration or cornering does it sag to one side. I'll have the suspension checked out the next time I'm at the shop <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



As for the tires, thanks for the info! Always good to know I can fit more rubber under there <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



-ren

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[flash]

if that shot on the left showing the driver side, is the car sitting still, it looks like you are ass low - if so, that is part of your problem



in having the back of the car just a half inch low, you transfer about 100 lbs to the rear - that reduces your effective rear spring rate quite a bit



while this is not technically the correct method, it will work as a good indicator for you - with about a half tank of fuel, and approximately the same weight as you in the driver seat, and the car loaded as you would be driving it, take a tape measure, and measure from the ground, up through the center of the wheel, to the top of the wheel arches - all 4 corners should be the same



remember, that the hardtop is already 66lbs heavy at the rear - any changes that add more weight back there, on the already soft rear suspension, can really make for some issues like what you are experiencing



they can usually correct most of this with the eccentric tool at a good alignment shop

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[Renalicious]

I did the measurments with the tank half full:

Front = 2' 2.5"

Rear = 2' 1.25"



I guess that means that something needs to be replaced / adjusted <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



-ren

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[flash]

ok - before doing that though, go find another 968, that is sitting level, and bounce the back end of yours and it - you may have sagging rear shocks - you should be able to get it undulating, release and have no more than 1 to 1.5 corrective swings before it sets - any more than that, and they are soft for sure - if they are OEM, it's a pretty safe bet that they're shot - they were soft to begin with, and age and miles quickly take them to a condition that can cause sag



if your shocks check out, then yes, an adjustment at the rear eccentrics is in order - if the shocks are soft, replace those first - then drive and recheck - then adjust accordingly



you'll be amazed how much better the car sets when things are right

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[Eric_K]

Hey, Mission Raceway! I thought the background looked familiar then I noticed your location. If you wanted to compare, kgain and Rich Sandor have 968's in your neck of the woods.



I think your rear shocks have seen better days. The squat the normal, but yours looks excessive. If your going to be tracking the car, you'll want to upgrade them anyway. BTW, I like the all white look.



Eric

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[Renalicious]

Yeah, I've seen a couple of 968's here in vancouver, but they were always driving the other way heh <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



As for track use, I won't be going more than once a month, maybe once every couple months. So I'd like to keep the car at least semi comfortable as it's my daily driver. I'll most likely get the standard shocks put in there if I get them replaced.



-ren

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