ivai

I found a couple of threads where someone had offhandedly asked about it.. and not many responses.

I have an '86 951 with stock (early) offset. If I end up getting some 17" wheels with late offset, will there be any kind of disadvantage to going with spacers? This car will see track days every once in a while.

TRP951

I know MPD47 had 17in ccw wheels on his car before he switched to late offset and I dont think he had any problems you might want to pm him.

fast951

For a track car, I prefer not to have spacers. If you must, look into getting spacers similar in design to the one used on the 930.

xsboost90

ok - whats better- longer studs and spacers that slide on, or spacers that bolt on and then have their own studs? Ive seen racers using the slide on's w/ longer studs so i would guess that way would be better-or lighter- but not sure.

anders44

I'm haveing custom hub centric billet ones made to my spec, and will use long studs. this is for a trackcar. then there is no sideplay, everything is in balance and it's pretty strong with 5 bolts going thru it.

on the 997 turbo for winter we use front wheels all around, the rear spacers there 5-6 centimeters then. and its only drive on ice tracks with dubs, so gets a beating.

Van

I do see this a lot at the track. I have 1" bolt on spacers on the rear of my track car, and have very good luck with them -- I leave them on all the time, and periodically check the torque.

I've heard that using spacers can put extra load on the wheel bearings, which makes sense. In my case, I wanted to widen the rear track (which makes the handling extremely netural) -- so since the distance is greater, there IS a larger moment on the bearings. But with all that being said, I have not had any problems.

If you're using spacers to put different offset wheels IN THE SAME position as the stock wheels (same width, too), I do not think the moment/wheel bearing loading theory holds water -- the contact patch is in the same location relative to the wheel bearing.

The bolt on spacers do weigh a little more (use steel lug nuts), but are convenient to leave on the car while you do wheel changes -- and probably the most "idiot resistant" for street use -- meaning, when you get new tires put on, the shop won't accidentally leave them off or lose one (picture the spacer sticking to the rim when the wheel comes off the car, and falling off on the tire mounting machine and rolling back into some dusty corner...)

The slide on spacers with longer studs give you quick-change ability for fine tuning and are better if you want to absolutely keep your unsprung weight and rotating mass to a minimum.

xsboost90

yeah ive run the bolt on spacers before and had no problems w/ them. On my 914 w/ manual steering and little weight in the front, i could feel a noticable difference w/ and w/o them on the car weight wise or effort wise in the steering, but i think w/ the 944 it'd be harder to notice and since im using them w/ 18" wheels im not going to feel it anyways.

MPD47

Jumping in alittle late here. As Tim stated I used to run a smalllll spacer with my CCW's. They were made for an '86 with small coil springs and my suspension was basically stock when I had them. So I needed a 7mm spacer to clear my front springs. I know spacers are not prefered for track use, and even on street use can accelerate wheel bearing wear (though marginally). Honestly I dont have a problem with small ones for minimal adjustments. Now when you start talking 1/2" + wheel spacers that's just asking for issues IMO. As for slide on and longer studs vs bolt on with a seperate set of studs. Slide on with longer studs is the prefered method by far, you're just asking to have it slip slightly and sheer a stud with two sets of lugs.

2bridges

Will never be a spacer on any car I own.

tifosiman

I have to run a small 1/4" spacer on the fronts on my early offset car so that the front wheel clears the bleeder on the S4 calipers.

icat

The early 944's came from the factory with spacers. There were also spacers on some of the 911's. So if Porsche thought they were ok, then why wouldn't you?

My 86 951 has spacers on all four corners to run the late offset wheels. All four spacers are factory units. I also have open ended steel lug nuts that I can use if I remove the new wheels/spacers and then run the stock Phone Dials for track days, DE's, or autocrosses.

xsboost90

i run long studs in the rear-now- w/ 15mm slip on hubcentric spacers- the front has bolt on 25mm spacers currently but i pull them for my 8" early phones all around when im racing.