Spacers/shims

[Woodcutter]

14mm? 15mm bolt-on spacers would have been a better, safer job.

Safer? Not liking the sound of this, I already had reservations about putting them on full stop!

 

[Gambit]

this type of setup

 

[Nicky]

Yeah, like the 1's Gambit posted. The original wheel studs/bolts sit in a recess in the back of the alloy, while having new wheels studs pressed into the spacer for you to bolt the wheel to.

Having studs is so much easier to work with over using wheel bolts too...

 

[Woodcutter]

Thanks guys, I'm still a bit confused between the differences though. Excuse my ignorance.

 

[Nicky]

Bolt On Spacers:

Slip On Spacers/Shims:

The bolt-on are a safer way of mounting your wheel further off the hub, as if you use the "slip-on" spacers/shims with longer bolts, you wont get a very accurate torque of the wheel nuts/bolts as there is more of a thread which can stretch and give a false reading, leading to snapped bolts/studs, wheel bolts/nuts coming loose and the wheel coming off etc...

Wheels bolts:

Wheels nuts (these screw on to wheel studs which are pressed into the hub from the back, the same way as they are mounted on the bolt-on spacers):

 

[Nicky]

If you do buy Bolt On Spacers, you can bolt them to your hub using your cars original wheel bolts, and then either use the nuts supplied with the bolt on spacers or else buy new wheel nuts to mount the wheel on to the spacers.

Is it becoming any clearer yet?

 

[Woodcutter]

Nicky you are a gent - it's so bloody obvious now! Thanks dude.

Right, I don't want those slip on jobs so I'm going to have to get another set. Doovde on here can get me a set of 16mm Eagle jobs, but ideally I'd like 14mm...although I guess 2mm difference isn't going to matter much.

 

[Nicky]

No bother man. Like everything, its only easy if you know the answer...

2mm wont make much of a difference at all. The bolt on 1's are a much better job, though more expensive, given that they require alot more machining to manufacture, but worth paying the extra...

What car is it for, out of curiosity?

 

[Woodcutter]

I'll have to give this company a shout to see if I can cancel, they have been waiting on extended bolts being delivered so hopefully they haven't processed my order yet.

They're for a Cayman S.

 

[IL]

They're for a Cayman S.

When i was washing mine on sunday i was just thinking she could take a brave chunky set on the rear!

 

[Nicky]

Is it a pair your looking, or a full set of 4?

If my Googling has been successful, its telling me that they have a PCD of 5x120 (Pitch Centre Diameter - The 5 indicates the number of bolts that hold the wheel on, while the 120 comes is worked out as if you drew a circle through the centre of all your bolt holes/studs, the circle would have a diameter of 120mm).

Most BMW's have a PCD of 5x120 too, so scouring the internetz for a set of new/used spacers from either a Porsche (not likely to find any listed under Porsche parts) or a BMW will expand your search results with a bit of luck.

You can buy brand new 20mm and 25mm spacers in pairs with new studs and nuts included for £50 online, or sometimes a bit less in 5x120. Anything below 20mm tends to be "slip on", which I personally avoid if going above 5mm, but getting 6mm taken off the back of a set of 20mm bolt-on spacers would leave you with your desired offset by giving you a 14mm bolt-on spacer, if Doovde cant get hold of a set of 16mm's for you.

 

[Jason]

View attachment 26746

It was rhetorical indicating, why on earth you not get them when you bought them!!

 

[Jason]

14mm? 15mm bolt-on spacers would have been a better, safer job.

I'd rather run extended bolts on the likes of some bimecc's than bolt on ones which could sheer, less to go wrong.

 

[Woodcutter]

Is it a pair your looking, or a full set of 4?

If my Googling has been successful, its telling me that they have a PCD of 5x120 (Pitch Centre Diameter - The 5 indicates the number of bolts that hold the wheel on, while the 120 comes is worked out as if you drew a circle through the centre of all your bolt holes/studs, the circle would have a diameter of 120mm).

Most BMW's have a PCD of 5x120 too, so scouring the internetz for a set of new/used spacers from either a Porsche (not likely to find any listed under Porsche parts) or a BMW will expand your search results with a bit of luck.

You can buy brand new 20mm and 25mm spacers in pairs with new studs and nuts included for £50 online, or sometimes a bit less in 5x120. Anything below 20mm tends to be "slip on", which I personally avoid if going above 5mm, but getting 6mm taken off the back of a set of 20mm bolt-on spacers would leave you with your desired offset by giving you a 14mm bolt-on spacer, if Doovde cant get hold of a set of 16mm's for you.

Thanks mate, are you sure they would fit? I'm just after rears, fronts are OK. £50 seems cheap, quotes so far range from £100 upwards for 2.

When i was washing mine on sunday i was just thinking she could take a brave chunky set on the rear!

Yeah rears definitely need filled out, some guys are running 11" rears with 295 or 305 tyres, so there's definitely room for spacing.

 

[Nicky]

Thanks mate, are you sure they would fit? I'm just after rears, fronts are OK. £50 seems cheap, quotes so far range from £100 upwards for 2.

Yeah, the Cayman has a centre bore of 71.5mm (the hole in the centre of the alloy wheel) and the BMW's have a bore of 72.6mm, so worst case scenario, a machine shop takes a small bit off the wee ring that sits proud on the face of the spacer (its used to place the wheel centrally on the hub), 0.55mm round the outer edge to be precise, allowing the wheel to sit over it.

In some case, the wheels have a little ring (spigot ring) inside the bore which can be removed to allow them to be fitted to other cars with a bigger locating ring, so you could be lucky enough to find that inside yours, or they might just be big enough anyway to sit over the ring on the BMW spacers

 

[Paul RS]

14mm? 15mm bolt-on spacers would have been a better, safer job.

No spacers would have been a better, safer job

 

[DaddyCC]

and less sc3n3 gay lets face it

 

[chris_b]

Sorry chop chop only getting to look at this now. Dont be worrying about the term 'safer', spacers are 100% provided they are not 10mm or tightened with a HGV wheel gun a thousand times.
As you know I've had them on the 535d, M5, M3 & now the CSL had never had any issue. I do agree with getting slightly longer bolts than required tough, more threads gripping then. Jonny has my 12mm set at the moment and when they were on the M5 & 535 I used 15mm extended bolts, although 12mm are fine - don't panic Jonny!

Personally im not a fan of the bolt on variety, had those on the 300zx & S15 and for road use I prefer the spacers.
I could source you bolts if required, give me a buzz if needs be...

 

[Woodcutter]

Cheers Mr B.

Just going to go with the jobs that I have ordered, due to be delivered on Monday, just need someone to fit them for me next week week. Any suggestions on who could fit them?

 

[Gambit]

you need someone to fit spacers for you

 

[Woodcutter]

you need someone to fit spacers for you

Yes I do, I don't have a torque wrench to properly tighten the bolts, so why would I do it myself using a crap jack and standard wrench?

Cheers for the helpful post though.

 

[Gambit]

no need to get your knickers in a twist - never realised you needed specialist tools for your studs - hope you dont get a punture someday or your snookered

 

[Woodcutter]

no need to get your knickers in a twist - never realised you needed specialist tools for your studs - hope you dont get a punture someday or your snookered

 

[Paul RS]

Yes I do, I don't have a torque wrench to properly tighten the bolts, so why would I do it myself using a crap jack and standard wrench?

Cheers for the helpful post though.

Whats your Dad's buisness again?

If you are really stuck i'd recommend Mark Pritchard, on the D Dee road. May be a bit far for you though?

 

[IL]

Gimme a shout when they arrive and ill go bitch boy.