Cosmo Kramer

You don't want to add spacers to the front. you are already passed the optimal offset and spacers will make it worse. You can remove the cap and cut a few mm off of you can flatten them with a BFH to make the caps fit.

I ran with the exact same wheels with 225 front and stretched 275 rears. Here are some pics. They are my favorite style wheel on a 928 I just wish the offsets were better.

Gary Knox

If you want to add a spacer to the front for the center caps, a 3mm is the correct size. Hard to find, but that's the minimum you can use and still fit the cap. Gives and effective 47 mm offset. I have this setup with hollow spoke 996 turbo on the front of my track car. Does give some tramlining on rutted macadam roads, but I only drive it to and from the tracks. On the track, it is great, no ruts there!! I used 255/35 X 18 Michelin PS2's (now on Curt H's car) on the front. Tried to install some 255/35 X 18 Yoko AD08's, and the sidewalls were too STIFF to fit onto the 8" rims. Now looking for 245/35 or 245/40 AD08's.

Gary--

dr bob

I tried 6mm spacers in front for a short while, until I got around to trimming the wheel bearing caps.

Remove the wheel bearing caps and trim maybe a 3/16" slice off the inside edges with a hacksaw. With the thickness of the blade included, you want to decrease the total height of the cap by lesss than 1/4". You may want to get a measurement with the wheel center cap and see how much you'll need to actually cut.

The bearing cap steel is pretty soft, so go easy with the saw, and finish the work with a file. Ten minutes of saw & file once you have the caps off and degreased. When installing the newly-shortened caps, it may be possible to drive them in far enough for the inside face of the cap to rub the end of the spindle and nut when the wheel rotates. Don't put the cap on that far. You can get the bearing cap started on square in the hub, then put the wheel on. Tap the bearing cap in just enough for the wheel center cap to fit, and no more.

Gary Knox

Bob,
Great approach for the S4's and maybe even GT's. But, the GTS's (at least the one I have) has a ridge around the wheel bearing cap that is a STOP for sure. Thus, I had to use the 3 mm spacers.

Gary-

hinchcliffe

Got a set of 3mm spacers en route I'll let you know the out come with pictures.

rgs944

It is nice to know I have two good options. I will look forward to see how the spacers come out for you. Can you tell me the price and where you got them? The way my frugile mind works I will probably be leaning towards the hacksaw approach if it works for an S4. OK I know what you thinking so I'll just say it. I'm cheap. LOL

hinchcliffe

Ebay $50 plus shipping.

dr bob

The GTS has a slightly different bearing cap, one with a flattened face compared with what's original on the pre-GTS cars. A 3mm spacer is OK for a GTS with the GTS bearing cap, but will be a couple milimeters too thin to get what's needed on the S4 and GT cars.

I looked at just buying the GTS caps and massaging them with a mallet as some were recommending. But the cost of new GTS bearing caps was a large fraction of the cost of the wheels I bought. Normally I stockpile the original parts and buy others to modify, but not this time. I I have a very casual eye out for a set of spare/used S4/GT bearing caps to throw into the spares bin, so I can bring it back to original if/when needed. Assuming I'm still alive when these cars become more 'collector' cars than 'used' or 'project' cars anyway.

rgs944

I cut off the caps but no luck getting needed clearance. I even drove the cap all the way to the bearing stud just to see if that would work. Still need a lot more. I guess I will need the spacers too. Are my concaved center caps causing the problems?

rgs944

At this point am wondering if 3mm will be enough even after I shortened the caps. I will try to find some washers to do some clearance testing before I decide what is needed for spacers. Found these on Ebay if 3mm will be enough for me. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pc-3mm-Hubc...item5892704cbe

hinchcliffe

Added the 3mm spacers and good to go. I'll need to roll the front fenders a little with the 255 methinks. looks good otherwise.

rgs944

I did the bearing cap mod and it worked great. Will post pics when I get them mounted.

rgs944

Finally got my turbo twists on, ready to go 4 wheelin now. Will it settle down sitting in the garage or does it need to be driven? Can't drive it till I get my pod back in. I put in new brake pads, painted and resurfaced rotors, painted calipers and lugs. Can't wait to get it on the street. Need to also roll my rear fenders. I am nervous about that final step.

dr bob

The pictures look great, especially with the pretty calipers peeking out. Wheelwells look nice and full of tire now.


The suspension car won't settle sitting there. Gott go drive it!

rgs944

Right now it is just fun gawking at it in the garage, I need to get my tags renewed so will not be able to drive till next weekend. Thank you dr bob for your help with the hub cap mod. One thing for reference if someone uses this thread in a future search. I did need to grind down the outer center of the cap to get the last 1/8 of an inch I needed. My cap is now paper thin but it should be fine for keeping in grease and keeping dirt out. . Talk about close.