Courtshark

My ebay specials arrived today, very nicely packaged. They look fantastic... better in person than on eBay for sure. The fake 3 pc aspect is the only drawback, but it's minimal. Can't be beat for the price...

The fronts are 8.5x18, and the rears are 10x18.

I "installed" the right front wheel sans rubber. New tires arrive tomorrow. (Dunlop Direzza DZ101s; 225/40/18 & 265/35/18).

Speaking of minimal... the clearance over the big red brakes is just that, maybe 1/2mm. You can hear the rim clipping the metal brake fluid hose ever so softly when turned by hand. Can that be moved? I think I need a 1 or 2 mm spacer. Is there such a thing? What's the smallest? I've never used spacers before. And who's a good source?

On another note, I'd like to give a special thank you to Highline Wheels / Modular Wheels, the seller. They've got a pretty bad rep on the internet, which I didn't know about until after I ordered from them. I was pretty nervous after learning about some of their alleged past transgressions. They proved to be an outstanding company. They gave me tracking information upon request, were incredibly nice on the phone, and even threw in a set of Porsche crest center caps (which were supposed to be $100 extra!).

UPDATE: Got the tires mounted Saturday and everything looks and fits great as far as the tires. Not really surprise... same sizes I had on my prior set of wheels. 265/35/18s definitely fit on 18x10" wheels.

Just waiting now on the spacers from Wheel Enhancement. Should be here Weds. It will be interesting to see once the suspension settles whether they'll rub. It's definitely going to be close.

UPDATE II: THEY FIT! Both sets of spacers arrived tonight. Kevin Michael sent me a free set the same day I ordered the set from Wheel Enhancement. They're both pictured below. I tried the Wheel Enhancement ones first because they're much thinner and I was worried about pushing the rim out too far (but it was nice to have a backup in case the WEs weren't enough!). The WE spacers fit like a glove and gave the wheels perfect clearance.

Took a SLOW cruise around the neighborhood (25 mph max) to make sure they weren't rubbing, making weird noises, etc. Nuthin! So, I filled my car with gas (only my second fill up since 9/28/07! Ouch) and took a nice 25 mile drive on some nearby twisties. What a ride! They look great to me, and it was so nice to not worry about dinging them... I might just go ahead and buy a second set to keep on hand for when they do get bent, because here in Baltimore, they will.

Can't say enough how pleased I am with how this worked out.

Marine Blue

I would be real nervous about using them. Any flex in the wheel and you're going to contact your calipers. From there who knows what can happen.

Can you revert back to the original calipers or possibly use a small spacer.

Marine Blue

Nice looking wheels BTW.

hacker-pschorr

Tap the line with a hammer?

Slantnose!

Hey there.
Smallest spacer I've seen is a 3mm.
Good luck with the new wheels...

michaelathome

Looking at H & R's website they have 10mm listed as the smallest but I am sure there is someone out there with smaller.

http://www.hrsprings.com/products/trak/

Michael

Courtshark

Just found 4mms from Wheel Enhancement. Only $40 for the pair. On their way...

And thanks Marine Blue! They'll look even better with tires on, LOL

Dean_Fuller

How does the 265 fit the 10" wheel? I had to send mine back...way too narrow. I went to 275 and they barely worked...285 would be better.

As far as the line rubbing...I'd tap that..........with a hammer!


BTW....great looking wheel!

dejkorn

Those wheels look awesome. I'm glad those offset work...sort of. Pleae post more pics when you get them tires mounted.

cold_beer839

I would go up to 285/30's on the rear.

mark kibort

They sell the 1/8" spacers at any of the rice burner speed shops.
I run them just to have a wider footprint up front.

Courtshark

1/8" = roughly 3mm (a little bit more, like 3.175mm to be exact). I got 4mms... should be OK. I hope!

Re: 265/35/18s: I use them now on my current 18x10s, no problem. Perhaps it depends on the tire... strange that your's were so off. Or perhaps the rims were 11s? That photo makes it look like that might be the case!

Courtshark

The offsets would work fine on stock brakes. It's the big reds that cause the problem. They're just friggin' huge.

pcar928fan

Be sure the spacers are hub centric! Porsche wheels (and most others for that matter) don't set on the lug studs, they set on the hub. The lug bolts and studs just hold the wheel to the hub... Very important! I bought some ebay specials and they were NOT hub centric, I was NOT IMPRESSED, but they were to cheap to screw with sending back... YMMV! Wheels look good, but I am not a fan of ANY 3 piece (or look alike) wheel. I would take the CIII Porsche wheel ANYDAY though!

blitz928

+1 on that,3mm spacer is the way to go, I 've seen pairs on eBay for like $10