Old Body style wheels spacer question
 

On the old body style, with the optional 16" "phone dials" can a 12mm spacer be put on to push the rear wheels out a bit? The rear wheels are just tucked in so much.

IIRC the factory option was a 21mm spacer though you will need longer wheel bolts.

thanks!

People have used 1" (25.4mm) bolt on spacers without rubbing problems. As Roger said, to use the factory 21mm spacers you'd need longer studs.

I have factory spacers on the '85 and the tires are a fair distance away from the lip of the fender. The '86.5 parts car has a set too that I'm willing to sell.

Stick with the 21 mm bolt on spacers.

The "slip on" spacers require longer studs & to replace the studs you have to pull the rear hubs (torqued to 460 nm ~340 ft lbs) and in the process destroy your rear wheel bearings which have a "crush" pre-load.

James

There is a ton of room for rear spacers - but stick to the bolt on type.
I have 28mm spacers on a 9" wide ET60 wheel. If you have a 7" ET65 phone dial, you would need 30mm (1" + 5mm) to just match my wheel before a spacer was added ..... then another 28mm to get to the fender.
While that takes some careful measurement, the point is that the phone dials sit in a loooong way.

by bolt on you mean a spacer that has it's own wheel bolts on and you uses the bolts on the hub to tighten it down like you would tighten a tire?

So 2" bolt on spacers with 7X16 phone dials would fill the wheel well with out rubbing?(on the old bodies)

I would carefully measure the car in question when fitted with whatever tires before committing to a specific spacer size; however, a 2" spacer in the rear should pose no problems with that wheel.
Easy to confirm by running a steel ruler/tape horizontally between the two vertical planes that define the turned under fender lip and the max. width of the sidewall.

Thanks Garth, looks like I have just under 2" between the tire side wall(7x16 phonedial 245/50) and the rolled lip on the inner side of the fender. I better get 1 1/2 inch to be safe.

And I guess any porsche hubcentric 5x130 bolt on spacer will do?

ceedee:

"by bolt on you mean a spacer that has it's own wheel bolts on and you uses the bolts on the hub to tighten it down like you would tighten a [wheel]?"

Exactly. They are a bit heavier and add a bit of unsprung weight, but save you a lot of grief.

James

With the spacers with the bolts on them, what about the original bolts, what happens with them? They don't get hung up on anything?

IM0000 are your spacers the kind with their own bolts? send me a pm please.

i think in one way they bolt into the hub beneath, but have also bolts on the spacer to hook onto the wheels. making it a bit heavier but more rigit, in order to have less of a migraine trying to fit it all.
i might be wrong ,
been wrong before and will be wrong again :icon107:

Excellent, I think my car will look so much better, it looks off with the wheels tucked under.