Widebody stress wheel bearings?

[mreid]

So, I'm converting my 1984 911 to a widebody. My 930 uses special wheel bearings (read as expensive). I'll have to purchase new wheels and I'm wondering if the offset required puts extra strain on the standard wheel bearings? Is this an issue?

[porsche930dude]

most people here will say yes. I say hell with it and worry about it when they go bad. Personally i dont think it makes much of a difference. Think of it this way. On a tire centered on the bearings its pushing up equally on both bearings. When its offset the outside is pushing up and the inside is pushing down. they still have the same load. I dunno maybe the outer gets more weight on it but if they cant stand up to a little more weight they were probrobly going bad anyway. My car was converted back in the 80s and as far as i know the bearings are still original

[Steve@Rennsport]

Originally Posted by mreid

So, I'm converting my 1984 911 to a widebody. My 930 uses special wheel bearings (read as expensive). I'll have to purchase new wheels and I'm wondering if the offset required puts extra strain on the standard wheel bearings? Is this an issue?

Is this going to be a street-only or street/track car?

The solution is to have wheels made with the correct offsets/backspacing for your car to minimize bearing stresses.

[LJ851]

Originally Posted by Steve@Rennsport

The solution is to have wheels made with the correct offsets/backspacing for your car to minimize bearing stresses.

For a wheel of a given width that puts the tire at a given distance from the wheel bearing (filling out the flare) it seems to me the bearing would see the same loads no matter if the wheel offset puts the tire in that place or a combination of wheel spacer and wheel. Am i missing something?

To the original poster: The further you put the tire away from the wheel bearing, the more stress it will see. It has more leverage.

[paulgtr]

how much more expensive is it to do it right than to do it over and over again incorrectly?

[winders]

Basically, when you add a spacer you are increasing the length of the lever and that puts more stress on the wheel bearing. The lever length is not increased when you change wheel offset to get the same track width.

The distance from the face of the wheel mounting pad to the bearing is the lever length. Add a spacer and it gets longer. Change offset and it does not.

Scott

[mreid]

Scott, are you sure about that? It seems to me that the further the outer edge of the tire is from the bearing, the more stress. Shouldn't matter if its a spacer or offset.

Am I missing something?

[mreid]

I guess the follow up question is are the banana arms different between the narrow body (911) and widebody (930)?

[winders]

Originally Posted by mreid

Scott, are you sure about that? It seems to me that the further the outer edge of the tire is from the bearing, the more stress. Shouldn't matter if its a spacer or offset.

Am I missing something?

Think about where the force on the wheel is being applied. It is at the point where the wheel pad is attached to the hub. The face of the hub to the center line of the bearing is the lever length. If there is a spacer, the lever is longer.

Scott

[winders]

Originally Posted by mreid

I guess the follow up question is are the banana arms different between the narrow body (911) and widebody (930)?

Yes, the trailing arms are quite different between a 911 and 930.

Scott

[5:04]

I'm running pretty wide wheels on my car with a widebody and I haven't run into wheel bearing issues. All of my cars have been built with really low offsets and much wider track widths than stock. I've only replaced rear wheel bearings on my 911 because the po didn't torque the hub nuts and they backed off. Other than that I've had 0 wheel bearing issues.
Does it add more stress? Yes
Does it cause bearings to fail? Not in my experience, or from what I've seen on any of my friends/track buddies cars.

Lots of us on here are doing it either with offset or spacers. I'm sure you'll get some good feedback.

[kinein]

i also have wide wheels 12 inch wide in the rear running 335 30 18. for the past 5yrs still no issues 275 35 18 in the front

[mreid]

That's what a wanted to hear!

Did you add the flares to a stock 911?

[DRACO A5OG]

+1 what Scott said, at least in my situation. I placed 1/4" spacer on my passenger rear to compensate for body defect.

I developed a clunking noise at the bearing and recently replaced both, driver side was still good but replaced both in pairs.

J

[kinein]

yes i have 13inch flares in the rear 11inch in the front

[mreid]

Wow, that tangerine is a real beauty!

[Mothy]

2 sets of bearings and labour to remove old and fit new is probably less than $1000 all up.

Having to replace them once every 10 years with widebody and offset rims instead of every 20 years for the narrow body and standard rims kinda puts it in perspective.

I't not a big issue.

My SC with widebody guards and wider wheels using spacers for the offset is 30 years old and the current rear bearings are 7 years old and not showing any issues.

Tim

[kinein]

I dont use spacers.

[kinein]

Oh thats not tangerine

[kinein]