4 lug spacers, Yea, or nay Options

[ChrisReale]

I have room up front to push out my wheels about one inch. Where can I get 4 lug spacers? If I played my cards better, when I got my Panasports I would have had two made with a different backspacing to allow for the more room up front, but I was not wise. Are spacers generally considered ok for this? I know I would have to have longer lug bolts, or have longer studs put in. Anything else?

[krk]

Alrighty then.

Do we have data? You know -- things like "How many miles are the wheelbearings expected to last", and "what changes have been observed". I'm guessing that some of that will be hard to get, but perhaps someone out there has seen real data? Even racing data would be useful I would expect.

Here's my lonely datapoints wannabe's -- not to be confused with real datapoints -- but ya work with what 'cha got.(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

I drove a GT (or M471) configured 914 as a daily driver for over 5 years. During that time, the wheelbearings may have been replaced, but it would have been pretty early in my ownership. iirc, 6" and 8" wheels, with good quality tires and iirc 1" spacers. Was on the second set of tires when it left. I put probably 45K miles on it. It outhandled any of my current cars (930, stock bodied 914/6) by a goodly amount. I attribute that to the wider track, and the wider tires. I did not observe unusual bearing wear, but it may take more miles or more aggressive driving. (I would classify my driving style as "conservative/spirited", and most of those miles were South Bay commute miles)

I've had the 930 for 3 or 4 years -- it has spacers from the factory, but it also has different hubs (so I'm told) from stock -- in particular, the wheelbearings are apparently stronger, but then the 930 chassis has many "upgrades" (over standard 911 chassis parts) because of the horsepower -- so it's probably not too valid a data point for the current discussion.

The 914/6 has had it's front wheelbearings replaced in the first couple of weeks I owned it. I've not put enough miles on it to say that the wear pattern is different than first 914 tho. Just that wheel bearings fail and are replaced in the normal wear and tear of ownership.

Seems to me that many things could increase the load on the bearings -- better brakes , better compound tires, more horsepower, etc. Where does increasing the track by 1/2" or 1" fit into the scheme of wear?

How long do wheel bearing last on a race car? Are they changed as a matter of course? When changed, are they examined for wear? Are patterns noticed based on track or tire compound? Etc.

Oh, the "sport purposes" manual for the 911 and 914/6 has a short mention of "distance discs and wheel bolts". It's just a little short on explanation -- "To compensate different ofset depths of the rims, distance discs have to be used. The following index shows the required thickness of the distance discs when using different rims". 914/6 6" rim, front 21mm disc, 72mm wheel bolt. (same for rear). For 7" rim, front 27mm, rear 35mm, and 72/85 mm wheel bolts. But they don't identify the offset or model of the wheel (as near as I can see) and they don't mention actual car model either. Oh, and there is a parenthetical note at the bottom -- "From production May 1971 no distance discs for 7" and 9" rims are necessary" -- but it doesn't say for which car. If I were an expert on porsche wheels, which I'm not, I'd guess they changed models of wheels. Brilliant, eh?(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

hth.

kim.