Boxster Wheel Woes - Carrera II 18" Painted Anthracite

[honeymonster]

Hi everyone

I recently bought this Boxster: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Porsche-Boxst ... OC:GB:1123

I've found that I get a wobble above 80mph. I've had the wheels balanced and that hasn't improved things.

The car has cheap tyres on it which I intend to replace but the tyre garage pointed out that the wheels are wrong for the car and there's not enough clearance to put the correct tyres on the back without the tyres rubbing.

Having researched this more myself, I think I understand the issue; the car has 911 wheels which are 18x10 with a 65mm offset at the rear. The Boxster should have wheels that are 18x9 with a 52mm offset. The car has 10mm spacers on the rear but it should have at least 13mm spacers (65-52). Have I understood all of this correctly?!

The tyre place was dead against spacers. So the question is; should I swap the 10mm spacers for 13mm spacers and get new tyres all round to (hopefully) get rid of my speed wobble OR should I sell the Carrera II 18" wheels and get some Boxster specific wheels - such as the MY02 18" Boxster wheels (996.362.138.00)?

I do love the look of the wheels I have now. Would a company that refurbishes alloys do them in that anthracite colour if I wanted - or is that going to be ridiculously expensive/ impossible?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Many thanks

Simon

[tr7v8]

Firstly Hi and. Welcome
10mm should be ok Are all 4 wheels properly balanced?
18" wheels were never an option on A 2.5 of that year which some insurance companies may take a dim view of.
I suspect it would drive better on Boxster size wheels & better still on 17" wheels.
Plenty on Ebay in this size. Colour matching can be done by any decent refurbishing outfit.

[honeymonster]

Thanks Jim!

I've just bought these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321780922757? ... EBIDX%3AIT

That solves the wheel/ spacer issue and the tyre issue in one fell swoop and hopefully solves the speed wobble issue! And hopefully I can get a few quid for the current 911 wheels and cover some of the cost. (Any idea what they might be worth? They're in very good condition).

And it means I won't have any problems with insurance.

I'm hoping swapping the wheels (and removing the spacers) will be easy. I'm going to need some normal length wheel bolts for the rear I guess. I'm not sure about the front - do my current wheels have normal length bolts I wonder?

Thanks a lot for your help

Simon

[tr7v8]

Blimey they are a bargain! The tyres are worth £500 or so, refurbing the wheels would have been £50 each.
Yes worth pulling a bolt front & back & checking the length. AFAIK any spacer over 7mm needs longer wheel bolts so 10mm should definitely be longer. A phone call to a Porsche wheel specialist like Jasmine Porsche should find out.

[FarQue]

As Jim says - Brian at Jasmine will be able to answer any bolt/spacer queries and supply replacements easily if required. Mention tipec if you do talk to him.

[honeymonster]

Thanks to you both. You've been very helpful. I will call Jasmine and mention TIPEC.

Thanks!

[honeymonster]

New wheels and tyres (and wheel nuts/ locking wheel nuts) all fitted and the problems have all gone away.

Thanks for your help!

[tr7v8]

Probably drives & handles better to boot. Oversize wheels may look better but don't help the handling & roadholding.

[JasonGibson]

Glad you are all sorted now.