Spirit R/T wheel offset confusion

Hey guys, I have been reading different threads in here for wheel options and most of what I read says 35mm offset for wide wheels is the best option.

I want to buy some 17x8 wheels for my Spirit but I have issues figuring out the offset. With the 35mm offset that most people say it's perfect, the online calculators say that the wheel will get 30mm farther out compared to the 15x6 40mm factory wheel.

I want the wheels to be 'flush' with the fenders, or even a few mm in, but I don't want the wheels be outside the fender, so I measured the distance between the lip of the front wheel and the fender and there's 10mm, my factory wheels are almost flush to the fender so I just can't understand how a 30mm farther out will make it perfect, it will stick out the fender.

Anybody know if I'm doing something wrong here or something I'm not considering/understanding? I plan on using 225/45 tires for those 17x8 wheels.

Also, this is completely stock, no lowering springs yet. Should I install them first and then measure again?

Thanks!

If you have the wheels, mock them up and see what you really get.

You only have so much room to work with in the wheel well, which I've not personally dealt with... yet. But, from what I recall, you need the larger off-set to help clear the strut, which is often the limiting factor, and a big reason why folks go to coil-overs (amongst many other benefits). You may want/need to "roll the lip" of the fender to gain additional clearance, as some do with a baseball bat.

Hopefully someone with direct experience will chime in, or you can try the search function, I know there has been more than one discussion on the subject...

Mike

the wheel dosen't have much room to move towards the strut - that's what the offset number is all about

a wider wheel is going to be wider ..

of the few cars on the sites I've seen with 8 inch wheels they all hang out

if you tried fitting a seven inch wheel I think you would have a quick success
eah , maybe with a 235 tire though

225's came on a 6.5 wheel..kinda skinny for an 8 inch wheel

when chrysler put the 6.5's on the cs daytonas they added 1/4 inch to both the inside and outside but there's not much room on the inside as the 15x6's (&205) already hit the manual trans end covers with the inner sidewall

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zin

If you have the wheels, mock them up and see what you really get.

You only have so much room to work with in the wheel well, which I've not personally dealt with... yet. But, from what I recall, you need the larger off-set to help clear the strut, which is often the limiting factor, and a big reason why folks go to coil-overs (amongst many other benefits). You may want/need to "roll the lip" of the fender to gain additional clearance, as some do with a baseball bat.

Hopefully someone with direct experience will chime in, or you can try the search function, I know there has been more than one discussion on the subject...

Mike

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I don't have the wheels, I'm looking for options on the web but I don't want to mess up buying a set of wheels that will go past the fender. I've read lots of post about 17x8 wheels but they only say that 35mm is the key to that size of a wheel, but maybe that only means that it will clear the strut but will still be out the fender.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dr. Johny Dodge

the wheel dosen't have much room to move towards the strut - that's what the offset number is all about


of the few cars on the sites I've seen with 8 inch wheels they all hang out

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That's what I wanted to hear. Based on the 10mm clearance that the Spirit has, and the online calculators, wheels will hang out by 20mm. Maybe guys in here are saying that 35mm is the key to fit the wheel without rubbing the strut, but still hang out which is what I'm trying to avoid.

I'm thinking right now that the only available options is going with coilovers and getting a higher offset, like a 45mm offset, or just sticking with a 17x7 wheel.

My brother has a Jetta GLI with some BBS 18" x 7.5" ET38. I will borrow them to see how those ones fit and do some math from there.

Thanks for the input guys

Remember that offset is measured from the wheel centerline, so a 6" wheel with a 35mm offset is going to have 1" less backspacing than a 8" wheel with the same offset.
As your choice of wheels goes wider, you are going to need less offset to clear the strut.

Here is a handy tool.

https://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp