awrryan

After I had my front tires changed at the dealer, I noticed a vibration. I did not go back to the dealer because I did not have time and simply had a friend closer to my house rebalance the tires using road force variation. The tires checked out and did not require rebalancing expect for one rear wheel which was about 25 ounces off, but my vibration was felt in the steering wheel and not in the seat of my pants, so to speak. I later removed the 5 mm OEM spacers myself at home and the vibration was gone. Obviously, I came to the conclusion that the spacers were the culprit, but I wanted to put them back on the car since the spacers really made a difference in the look and pushed out the wheels just enough to make it noticeable. I have 19" Carrera Sport wheels which are already half an inch wider than the other OEM 19" wheels so I only want them pushed out slightly which is why I think the 5 mm OEM spacers are sufficient. Last night, I reinstalled the spacers myself one wheel at a time and torqued the wheels to 96 foot pounds. I only realized later that the new torque spec for wheel bolts, apparently even for 997s, is 118 from Porcshe. Either way, with the spacers reinstalled, the was vibration came back. I later realized after searching this forum and others that my procedure for torquing the wheels may have been the cause. With 5 mm OEM spacers, there is not much lip on the hub to hold the wheel. There is enough of a lip on the hub, but barely enough in my opinion and it is easy to see why most recommend hub centric spacers with a lip (ring) so that the wheels are properly seated sufficiently on a lip. Either way, since I previously I had these 5 mm OEM spacers on my car with absolutely no vibration or issues, I was intent on using them. What I mistakenly did when I torqued the wheels was tighten the wheel bolts as tight as possible by hand, lowered the car slightly so that the tire was partially sitting on the ground and then used my torque wrench to tighten to 96 foot pounds of torque. The problem is that the wheel must have shifted before they were torqued with my torque wrench when the tire made contact with the ground. This morning, I removed the spacers, used fine grit sandpaper to remove any dirt and break dust from the spacer and the hub and torqued the wheels while they were still suspended in the air. I had my girlfriend sit in the car and push the brake pedal to avoid the front wheels from spinning while torquing them. The vibration (or slight wobble) that I had previously experienced was gone. I still feel something slightly off (a very slight vibration that is so slight that it is felt in the steering wheel, but it does not make the steering wheel shimmy whatsoever), but the highway near my home is under construction and it may be the roadway. On other portions of the highway, I do not feel anything off. I'm going to drive the car like this for a few days, but wanted to report what I had found with my 5 mm OEM spacers and my Carrera Sport wheels. Hope this helps someone.

Kuhl997.2!

Same problem switches to 8mm from ECU with the centering hub problem solved. Cheers

jhbrennan

You're title indicates that these are Porsche OEM 5mm spacers, correct? If so, there is enough of a lip to mount the wheel correctly. Also if they are the Porsche spacers have you attached them to the wheel hub with the small countersunk screws that came with the spacers - they would have kept the spacer from moving (if that is what happened) when you lowered the car. You're eyes are better than mine if you can notice a 5mm difference...at this point I'd leave them off - better than the vibrations. You ought to also re-check the balance. Let us know.

awrryan

The difference is definitely noticeable. I used the screws. Will update my post after taking the car on a different section of highway. Thanks.

jhbrennan

OK - so I'd say it's not the spacers causing the problem - if you had no vibration before the tire switch and now you do, I'd focus on what changed - the tires and the balance.

awrryan

I thought that too, but there is no question it was the spacers or how the wheel was remounted after balancing. After removing the spacers, The vibration and the shimmy in the steering wheel went away. After reinstalling them and using my initial method of torquing wheels, it came back. After using fine grit sandpaper to remove any buildup on the spacers in the hub and re-torquing the wheels completely while they were suspended in the air before setting up a car down on the ground, the vibration and shimmy went away.

OKB

Im glad you figured this out. My first instinct was to tell you you hadnt done the job right. Theres a certain amount of care and knowledge you have to do in every job. Watching somebody else do a job can be deceiving. He doesnt look like hes taking any care and it comes out right, then you do it and it comes out wrong. In this case everybody comes up with complaints and blames the parts, but it usually turns out to be the labor that was the problem.
Wheels, tires, lugs and spacers have to FIT . there cant be any misalignment. If it doesnt feel right, it isnt.
Everything should look and feel like it fits and have smooth contact.
Sanding build up, scraping off old buildup and smoothing the surface , washing, cleaning, all the contact points is mandatory or its not going to fit. And if it doesnt fit right, it wont drive right.

awrryan

I agree. They were on my car before without any vibration whatsoever. I figured it must have been something I was missing since there was no vibration or steering wheel shimmy when I had taken them off previously.