dabiscuit

Hi ya'll,

I asked this somewhere else, but wanted a more concrete answer before I commit to buy. It's about wheel spacer adapters.

I currently have standard 17" wrx alloys. I would like to fit 18" sti alloys however whilst they are both 5 bolt the placement of the bolts is of a larger diameter on the 18s thus not allowing to fit them. The way I can explain it is if you imagine you draw a pentagon which the bolts for both wheels the 17" pentagon would fit inside the 18" pentagon.

Sorry for the stupid description, but without pictures I wasn't sure how to articulate myself

The offest on both is 55.

I need a 100-114.3 spacer adapter which I know you can get, but I am just concerned as to whether this will actually allow me to fit the wheels.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

If yours is a wrx, it will be 5x100.
5x100 to 5x114 adaptors are around £250 a set and I really wouldn't bother. Best just go for the correct stud pattern to start with.

dabiscuit

Sorry, but what do mean by start with the correct stud pattern?

I don't want my wheels to go to waste, and I don't want to buy new ones I just thought an adapter would be a far cheaper option.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

I wouldn't call £250 cheap and extending the wheels out via a spacer is never really the best option.

dabiscuit

Well cheaper than new wheels anyway. I am not going to be tracking or racing nor do I drive that hard on the road. there seems to be split opinions about them.

I found an old Scoobynet thread from 2008 that said for a better look and to fit bigger wheels its not a problem as long as they're made properly. I am not doubting your advice at all. I just want to know what options I have

at least id be able to straddle the sodding speed bumps in my local town!

DmcL

the 5x100, 5x114.3 or 4x100, 4x108, blah, blah is called the PCD or pitch circle diameter.

i have recently been looking into wheels for my hawk WRX though not STi wheels or replica's, i want something blatantly aftermarket and will be going either mental jap like the rota grid drift or lenso spec e or i will go with something bordering on euro like the cades zeus or some other dished wheel. im looking only at 18's and i intend to run a fairly wide rim (between 8.5 and 9.5 wide) with an offset of ET35 which will have the outer edge of the rim basically flush with the arch lips. i will need to run tyres narrower than the whels for arch clearance after i lower it in later on and may need to roll the arches as well but IMO it looks sweet and honestly all the stance/anti stretch ****'s can lick my plums because the standard 17's come with 215 width rubber and on 18's with a width between 8.5 and 9.5 (may resort to 8 if its a wheel i really like) i will be using at minimum 225 width tyres so its not pure form over function as tyres will be wider than standard and i intend on fitting some decent tyres also which will further improve grip over the cheap zeta ztr10's mine came with when i bought it. you can have your cake and eat it too if you play the game right.

if your not prepared to mess with tyre width and potentially having to roll the arches then the offset you will be wanting is something in the ET40-45 ballpark (someone confirm this as im not 100% sure).

for reference this is what ET35 looks like on a new age, 18x9 with ET35 offset. wheel face is flush with the arch, if not a few mm past the arch without any additional camber:


if you want function only and do not intend on lowering the car more than like 40mm then you could run ET35 or more ideally ET38 or ET40 with a wide rim and also with wide tyres for more grip but if you lower it too much or, depending on how much suspension travel there is, go and catch some air or something crazy that compresses the suspension enough then you may get arch/tyre contact.

18x9 ET35 with same width tyres as apposed to narrower width tyres:

dabiscuit

I will not be lowering the car, but haven't considered the tyre width.

I am going to buy some adapters I just don't know whether to buy a cheap set of 4 for 75 quid from Malaysia or a set of 4 for 220 quid from RA Motorsport even though they are made from the same stuff.

The reason I would like STI wheels on it, is because I have some from a 2010 WRX STI I used to own. They are in perfect condition and the tyres on them have only done 3000 miles. So I would be mad not to use them.

Pigman149

iTrader: (1)

have you already got the other wheels????? if not just get some that have the right pcd for your car 5x100

dabiscuit

Had some 18inch WRX STI wheels lying around (as you do). Their PCD is 114.3

DmcL

TBH if going for adaptors and you like the car id spend the extra for decent quality ones. not saying cheap ones from the far east wont do or may not even be of the same quality but it is an extra chance your taking. they could be 100% or they could be badly cast or whatever..

if the far eastern spacers use good materials/manufacturing processes though then they should be ok. im guessing they will probably be billet alloy with pressed in steel studs which, if thats the case, should be ok to order on the cheap from the east. if you generally havent got a clue what im talking about then just play safe and fork out the extra for brand name ones.

also worth noting, any adaptors you get WILL change your wheels offset. so if the adaptors are 20mm thick and your STi wheels are ET50 then with the spacers that would make your new offset ET30, which would stick out even more than the images i posted above. if you can get 10mm adaptors that should be ok, you would want to aim for the final offset with the spacers factored in to be ET40 or higher to not need to worry much about tyre width, arches, etc.

dabiscuit

My dad (an aircraft engineer) tells me all about billeted aluminium, forged metal etc.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-25mm-Whe...item417e700e23

These are the ones im considering

Not a clue what the import tax is though

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Don't fkrget that if your wheels protrude past the wheel arches, it is an Mot fail.

dabiscuit

Well I've bought them anyway. I meassured as best I can and the wheels should not portrude over the arches. Very close at the top possibly.

this could be cheekily fixed with some arch extensions from abw motorsport

if anyone is interested I'll report on findings. Look, feel, ease of installation etc.....

DmcL

maybe if the wheels stick way out its a fail but flush or like 5-10mm past shouldnt fail because our MOT's over here in NI are only done by the DVA/DVLNI and are far more strict than yours in england where you can just nip round to nearly any garage and worst case slip them 20 quid in the hand for the hassle. some of the cars people bring over here from england with a years ticket on it are shocking and wouldnt stand a chance of passing MOT here yet there are plenty of cars lowered and with wide wheels and stretched tyres than sail through MOT just fine here. granted if the stretch os extreme and looks unsafe or the wheels stick way out then id say thats a definate fail but so long as its reasonable and the ride height is sufficient to get the car onto and off of the ramps/brake test rollers then your fine.

those spacers look fine, billet alloy and a half decent grade of steel so should do the job but they are 25mm spacers so they will lower your offset by 25mm (will make the wheels sit further out by 25mm) so to remain under ET35 which is a somewhat aggressive fitment (nevermind lower than ET35) as i show in the pics above your STi wheels would need to be ET60 and i can tell you right now that they wont be.. they will be in the mid 40's to mid 50's so you may find they will stick out too much and you will need thinner adaptors. or alternately to cut away some of the arch lip and run arch extensions or have the arches rolled and pulled combined with adding negative camber to tilt the tops of the wheels inwards.

if its not too late to cancel your prder for those spacers id advise you cancel and get your money back and try to get some 10 at most 15mm spacers if possible as you wont have nearly as much headache making it work. if your STi wheels are something around say ET43 for example (should say on the wheel somewhere, probably on the back) then ET43 - 25 = ET18 which is rediculously low for a new age, or any impreza to date. for reference here is ET20 which is still not quite as far out as ET18 would be:

http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/unknown518685484271.jpg

thats gonna stick out a retarded amount with those 25mm spacers.

dabiscuit

Cheers for the advice. I'll ask my dad, he should be able to halve them to 1cm or 1.5cm.

I couldn't find any thinner ones for the same price! I am sure the offset on the 18s is 55

DmcL

just make sure 10 or 15mm will be strong enough though.. if the offset is 55 on the wheels you could shave 5mm off and leave the spacers with 20mm of material which would be stronger and leave you with an offset of ET35.

dabiscuit

I understand how it will look, but how does the offset the result of the vehicle, what does the offset refer to?

Is it 25mm plus 35mm offset? meaning the outer most part of the wheel would be 60mm from the hub?

kevfawcett

iTrader: (7)

That's not true. As he has STi wheels which are 7.5" wide? they will actually sit 19mm further in to the arches than the picture you posted

Not true. As long as the tyre tread is under the arch line (which they will be) it's legal. For reference, the wheel and other rotating parts such as wheel nuts or studs can protrude upto 30mm legally.

The offset is where the wheel mounts to the car, in relation to the wheel centre line. Your offset of 55mm means the wheel mounting point is 55mm towards the rear of the wheel, from the centre line of the wheel. An offset of 0 is dead centre and a negative offset, et -10 for example is 10mm closer to the outer edge of the wheel.

Kev

dabiscuit

Kev,

Cheers I understand now. My dad has confirmed that he could cut it if need be anyway.

Looking forward to receiving my spacers. Be good to get my 18s on. I have a sneaking suspicion that the wheels put on my car are knocking the calipers.

Is this even possible? I'm getting a knocking noise from what sounds like the wheels when going slowly (less than 5mph), pulling away and turning tightly.

kevfawcett

iTrader: (7)

Which wheels do you think are knocking on the brakes? If you have standard wheels and standard brakes they definitely won't knock on the brakes

What could your Dad cut?

WRXrowdy

iTrader: (2)

Offset can be either positive or negative. Most road car wheels are positive offset.
If you were to draw a line down the centre of the wheel between the inner and outer rim, the offset is the distance from that centre line to the face of the wheel that mounts to the hub.
The width of the wheel rim will also be a factor in how far the wheel will stick out, so an 8 inch rim with 35 et will not stick out as much as a 9 inch rim with 35 et.

I would trial fit the spacer and wheel before shaving any material off them first

DmcL

@ kev, i dont know the offset of his wheels so i was giving examples of how adding spacers will lower the offset and push the wheel further towards or past the arch lip.

if wheels are standard then id say the knocking may be a CV joint or something tbh.

regarding offset andwheel width.. an 8 inch wide wheel with offset of ET35 will have the outer lip of the rim in the same place as a 9 inch wide wheel would with the same offset. the only difference is the 9 inch wheel will have an extra inch on the inside of the wheel towards the inner arch. this is why it gets tricky if you want to run wider wheels/tyres and clear standard suspension/struts or have no rubbing on full lock at the back/inside of the arches. as wheel width increases you will start to need to add offset depending on how much room you have to go inwards if that makes sense..

dabiscuit

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=2239019

This is where I found the wheel offsets.

got all of monday and tuesday to fiddle so will have a look

Sorry, my dad is an aircraft engineer for a global aerospace manufacturer. they can cut pretty much anything. i sound like a petulant child, Im 31

kevfawcett

iTrader: (7)

He said in his 1st post that the wheels both had an offset of 55.

The bit I've made bold is wrong. For the example you gave, the wheel would have half an inch extra either side of the centre line

kevfawcett

iTrader: (7)

The wheel offset should be stamped or cast into the back of each wheel. It will probably say et -55

Edit : Do not cut your wheels, you do not need to, and if you do they might not have enough 'meat' left on them for the required strength. Also, they might not then clear brakes if you fit them to another car without the spacers

WRXrowdy

iTrader: (2)

Not to mention split rims, where you can change the dishes for bigger lips, the offset doesnt suddenly change! . . but I digress

dabiscuit

No no no, would never cut the wheels. I meant the adapter. I have ordered 25mm adapter, but as you can see in the thread have been warned wheels may end up too wide, but my dad would be able to cut the spacer/adapter to whatever thickness I needed. Could strengthen it too if need be.

I couldn't find a thinner adapter for 5x100 to 5x114.3 for anything less than £250 a set

kevfawcett

iTrader: (7)

Of course the offset changes. If you have a 8" wheel with an offset of 50 and you add a 1" wider outer rim you will have a 9" wheel with an offset of 24

24.6 to be exact

kevfawcett

iTrader: (7)

You'll be fine with 25mm adaptors, as long as you don't have really wide tyres on

WRXrowdy

iTrader: (2)

Lol, yeh . . . having a bit of a thick moment!