986 wheels fit 987???

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maninwa

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I want to put some winter tires on my new 987 boxster and found a set of 986 17 inch wheels. My car currently has 18 inch wheels. My dealer told me they wont fit / Porsche does not recomend it as the drive system is different and it may damage the transmission? That seems strange, I might get it if the brakes are different and they won't fit over the brakes. Can anyone tell me what you know on this subject?
 
do you have a base model or an s? tire rack tried to tell me that 17 inch wheels would fit on my 987s, but they were mistaken. i believe they would fit on a base model. but they will not clear the brakes on a 987s. where do you live? my summer wheels are 19's, but for the winter we went to the same 18" wheel all the way around. 235/40/18, so they are the same front and back. i believe you are correct in wanting the smaller wheel for winter, and i have been told 17's will fit a base 987 (although porsche does not recommend it), but if you have a "s", 18's are the smallest you can go.
 
Re 986 wheels on 987

I have a Boxster not an S. But I emailed the dealer again and they are firm that I can not use a 986 wheel but there are 987 wheels in 17 inch that will fit. I live in Seattle so it really isn't a snow issue just a cold weather issue.
 
maninwa said:
I have a Boxster not an S. But I emailed the dealer again and they are firm that I can not use a 986 wheel but there are 987 wheels in 17 inch that will fit. I live in Seattle so it really isn't a snow issue just a cold weather issue.
Click to expand...

I have a base 2006 Boxster, it came with 17" wheels, the base Cayman also comes with similar 17" wheels. Most people like to upgrade to 18" or 19" wheels so there should be an abundance of 'approved' 17" wheels out there. In fact the last set of 17" I saw for sale went for about $500 complete with tires and center caps.

As for the 986 specific 17" wheel not fitting, I would have to agree with you, if the offset is correct and the brake caliper clear I odn't see what other issue there could be.

Do you have the Porsche part number and offset of the wheels you were thinking of using (even a picture would be helpful)?
 
wheels

986 255x40x17 and 240x50x17 is what I have
 

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If you have these wheels already, look right next to the valve stem, there will be a number on each side, one will be the wheel width (in inches) and the other will be the offset (in mm). Then on the back of the spokes will be the Porsche part number 9XX XXX XXX

I have seen these wheels before, give me a minute...
 
986 wheels

I do not have access to the wheels as I have not bought them.
 
your information sounds correct to me, to the extent that 17's will work on your car. the problem with a 986 wheel may be the offset. as westcoaster said, if you can post the offset of the 986 wheels, we may see the issue. the offset on my car is 57mm front and 43mm rear. yours will be different depending on what you have. btw, as i look at my owners manual, i do not see 240x50x17. the 17's listed are 205/55/front and 235/50 rear and the offset is 55mm and 40mm respectively.
 
What you appear to have found:

7J x 17 H2, RO 55, 996.362.124.01 (Front)
8.5J x 17 H2, RO48, 996.362.126.06 (Rear)

My 17" wheels are:

Front: 6.5 J x 17, RO 55 with 205/55 ZR 17 91Y
Rear: 8 J x 17, RO 40 with 235/50 ZR 17 96Y

Hmmm, they are just different enough that you could try them on but check very carefully for the proper clearance between the tires and the suspension and the brake calipers and the wheel before you drive the car (the tires are a bit over sized)

But, since you haven't bought them I would say the best choice would be to heed the dealers warning and look for the 17" 987 Boxster /Cayman wheels.
 
maninwa said:
986 255x40x17 and 240x50x17 is what I have
Click to expand...

The problem may be more in the tire sizes than the wheel sizes. 987 tires are NOT the same diameter at 986 tires. The 986 tires are all very close to 25" in diameter. The 987 rear tires are larger than the fronts - about 26.5" in the rear and 25.5" in the front.

The TIRE sizes you listed above sound like 986 sizes, but the front should be 205/50/17, not 240/50/17. If these tires are already on the wheels you are buying, you probably don't want to use them. The catch might be fitting proper 987 tires sizes to the wider 986 wheels. But since it is only a 1/2" difference, it would *probably* work.

To be safe, I would also recommend looking for a pair of 17" 987 take-offs. In the case of winter tires, the narrower width actually works in your favor. (Stock 987 17" sizes are 205/55/17 and 235/50/17.)
 
ok, this is a little off topic, and i have asked this question before in other posts, but never got an answer that felt good. when i put my winter wheels on, my dealer advised to go 235/40/18's all the way around. they insist that the smaller sizes were best for bad weather. i would love to hear other opinions. this will be my third winter on this setup, and other than the rear wheel wells looking empty, i've had no problems. but i guess i have never been totally comfortable with this idea. any thoughts?
 
baxter said:
ok, this is a little off topic, and i have asked this question before in other posts, but never got an answer that felt good. when i put my winter wheels on, my dealer advised to go 235/40/18's all the way around. they insist that the smaller sizes were best for bad weather. i would love to hear other opinions. this will be my third winter on this setup, and other than the rear wheel wells looking empty, i've had no problems. but i guess i have never been totally comfortable with this idea. any thoughts?
Click to expand...

That seems like a bad idea to me. The rear tires will be about an inch smaller in diameter than stock and will be spinning faster than the PSM and ABS systems are expecting. It will appear to these systems that the rear tires are slipping slightly. The 1" difference puts you close to the 4% tolerance that I have seen mentioned for these systems.
 
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