Wheel Offset Discussion Thread... How far can we go?
 

Ok, So I was on my350z today and I was trying to inquire about a set of Work Wheels. The response I got was that the 370z had no where near the same room in the wheel well as the 350z and that the wheels would not fit! I thought to myself riiiighttt.

So lets take a look at what we have to work with and how far we can go with offsets.

I want this to be an educational thread for everyone! No flaming as we are all here trying to spread our knowledge :tup:

So stock sport wheels are:

19 x 9 +47
19 x 10 +30

at stock camber this leaves us with about 3/4 inch of room to the outside of the rim and the inside of the fender on the rears and about the same for the fronts.

We have seen that 15mm spacers on the rears put the rims close to flush with a few mm's to spare. I believe the fronts could do the same...


So the real question is at what size and offset have we gone too far? :happydance:

Ok by my calculations if you want flush with 0-5mm extra room on stock alignment and you want to up your wheel width sizes here are your specs:

F 19 x 9.5 +39
R 19 x 10.5 +21 or 22

F 19 x 10 +45
R 19 x 11 +28

I think 9.5 30mm, 10.5 15mm would look good, give or take a few mm. I have seen front 10.5 22mm, but with a lot of negative camber.

"Filling the guards was a set of fat and nicely offset SSR TypeF 19″ wheels. A whopping 10.5 inches all round with +22mm front, and +15mm rear offsets. Stretched over these were ADVAN Neova tires in 255/35 and 275/30 sizes."

R 19 x 11.5 +34
R 19 x 12 +56
R 19 x 12.5 +62

These sizes and offsets are taking into assumption unlimited room toward the inside of the wheel...

If anyone wants to double check these numbers that would be great!

Good Observation!!!

The next step for us is to see how much camber is needed to move x amount of extra mm's inside the wheel well... I hope that made sense :rolleyes:

Stock Front Alignment:
http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...alignment1.png

Stock Rear Alignment:
http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...lalignment.png

So the question is which Camber setting do we use as the actual camber?

LOL I figured it out :D
With the front wheel at:
/ = highest suspension travel point: -1.41 degrees
l = Sitting: -.67 degrees
\ = Fully decompressed suspension: .41 degrees

With the Rear wheel at:
/ = highest suspension travel point: -2.16 degrees
l = Sitting: -1.67 degrees
\ = Fully decompressed suspension: -1.17 degrees

does anyone know the formula or a calculator to find out how "x" degrees of camber induces a "x" amount of tire position change?

Using trig. I figure that for our stock alignment the top of the rims sit from zero:
Front:
/ = 5.92mm inward
l = 2.79mm inward

Rear:
/ = 9.14mm inward
l = 7.11mm inward

now we take into account for tire sizes:
http://www.the370z.com/attachments/w...set-offset.jpg

using stock tire sizes on the "new rim sizes" here are the new stock camber positions:
Front:
/ = 8.38mm inward
l = 3.96mm inward

Rear:
/ = 12.91mm inward
l = 9.42mm inward

From Zero Camber this is the amount of change you can expect to see with stock tires.

Front camber positions at full / :
@ 2 degrees: 11.83mm inward
@ 2.5 degrees: 14.78mm inward
@ 3 degrees: 17.75mm inward

Rear camber positions at full / :
@ 2.5 degrees: 14.12mm inward
@ 3 degrees: 16.94mm inward
@ 3.5 degrees: 19.76mm inward

well,right now i drop on Tanabe coil over all the way down,about 2 1/2 front 2 1/2 rear.
Camber is super carzy,look like -2.5 front,-2.0 rear.
I did a 20x9.5et20+20x11 et21 already and there is still so much more room.
This is the set i'm going to be doing i 1 week when i get my car back from doing a body kit.
20x9.5et10+20x12et28 Venaci VS124
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...Picture360.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...Picture356.jpg
I'LL POST SOME PICTURES SOON:tup:

Are those the only wheels you have? They are on like every single one of your cars. I looked up venaci wheels and I couldn't find a website or anything. Obviously it comes down to taste and what not. I really don't like those wheels. What I do appreciate is you testing out sizing, thats such valuable information regardless of whether you are all go or all show. Thanks VIP.

-2.5 & -2 is not that extreme but it is up there. Thats some seriously good news :D

any other vendors want to chime in?

Venaci is a new line of wheels we pick up from Japan TAS show,there are more wheels on the way.In about next week i will post some pictures.
For show 20's for sure.When i'm running at the track i'm planning to run 19's.
Here is the other Venaci wheels also.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...Venaci/G10.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...aci/VSMesh.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...naci/VS420.jpg;)

I'll post some pictures up this weeks when they are on the car.:tup:

I like That first Set! Can you PM me the details on options and Pricing ;) maybe we can work something out :D

Spacers for Sport Model Wheels
 

I located this thread while trying to find help with choosing wheel spacers for the factory Sport package wheels. Am I the only one who thinks these wheels look great?! To top it off, Nissan is finally giving us 19" diameter below the Nismo package and on all 4 corners to boot. I have to admit I wish they were about an inch wider. That's what leads me to the question. Have some of my bold 370z brothers installed spacers for thier Sport Pkg wheels to fill out the fenders better? I heard mention of 20mm somewhere else and 15mm as quoted here but I expected to find a whole thread discussing all the details on this mod. We tend to be a great bunch for digging into the details.:ugh2:

One (maybe two) have gotten 15mm spacers on, I know they were getting 20mm for the rears soon to see how they looked. Link

So that's where I needed to look :rolleyes: Thanks for the redirect.

I have 15mm spacers front and 20 rear on the nismo wheels, which are the exact same specs as the sport package wheels, and they are nowhere near rubbing.

guys we can go MUCH more agressive on the 370 than most of you are thinking. Run the numbers through an offset calculator and compared to the OEM sport setup you can extend the fronts ~40mm and the rears ~30mm. If you want that flush/aggressive look offsets need to be in the 10-15 range typically on 9.5"/11" setup. Anything less than 275 in the front shouldnt rub and out back your good for 305+

Same thing for me, 15's & 20's and no problems.

DannyGT (if I didn't butcher his username, sorry if I did!) is running 19x9.5/10.5 +22 all around on 275/305 tires.

My take on this is that we can run a lot more aggressive sizes than this. Then again, it depends on what you're willing to do to get to that point and what you're using your car for. A lot of wheel sizes fit, it just depends on if you're willing to do a mild tire stretch, or add a lot of negative camber. It also depends on your ride height as well. I mean, even in the Civic world (I know that world is definitely taboo on here ;)) the stock sizes were 17x7 +45, but my friends and I have been able to successfully run 18x9 +29 so it's all in the minor details.

I hope that made sense. I'm still waiting on my suspension setup to do some measurements to see where I can push the boundaries. :D

Ultimate Spacer Sizes for Sport Pkg Wheels
 

So, final question for jmlenz and Minicobra1: Can you say for sure, from your experience that there is no chance of tire to fender contact with 25mm wheel spacers on the rear and 20mm in the front? I'm now talking to Lou to place an order and just want to be sure. I don't want to put 15mm front and 20mm rear only to say afterward, "Man, I could have gone wider for an even cooler look". Put another way, Minicobra1, now that you have 20mm rear and 15mm front, do you wish you had gone up one more size? I know you also lowered your Z. I probably won't be lowering mine. I don't think that loweing these cars would provide any more cleanance; do you think it does? Did you have to modify the plastic inner fender well liner to clear the tires during full-up-travel or trim the 'sandwiched' seam on the rear inner fenders? Thank you guys for sharing all your experience. - With insight gained from some of the threads in the audio forum, I'm installing a complete DVD/Nav/Blu-tooth/backup-camera, speakers, sub and amp next week. You guys are now helping me make the best choice for this next mod. FoesFlyDennis

My Oversight
 

I should have been asking Mike those same questions.
... thanking you for chiming in too.:bowrofl:

Time out. Thats not what that chart you posted up means at all. The min nominal max is just the approved range that the camber can be set at while the car is sitting on the ground. It says clearly at the bottom to measure value in the unladen position.

For the guys with the spacers, are you guys using the spacers with the built in studs? Or did you guys knock out your stock studs and replace them with extended studs? Or still using the stock studs? :ugh2:

Spacer Design
 

I know from reading another thread that Minicobra1 used these spacers: Amplified Motorsport - AmplifiedMotorsport.com - performance audio auto accessories
They require replacing the original studs with longer ones that come with the kit. He also clarified that this is the only style that will work on the front wheels because there is no relief in the back of the wheel's mounting flange to clear the other style spacer's studs/nuts (the ones that hold the spacer to the car's hub). To me it makes more sense to stick with the same style spacers that Minicobra1 is using. You don't have to remember to check torque on a second set of lug nuts that are concealed behind your wheels. Also, they are lighter and presumably stronger (provided the new studs are very strong).

MiniC, I hope you don't mind me chiming in here. I've just been following your mods pretty closely. Dennis

Based on the feedback of many other members here with aftermarket wheel/suspension and/or spacer setups I would say you should have no issues with your intended setup. Since you say you are not lowering that def makes it easier to run a wider spacer too. Some aftermarket wheel 370z-specific fitments push the wheels out over 30mm from stock so yes running a 20/25mm spacers should be no prob.

and for the question regarding the spacers...I would always recommend going with spacer type that replaces the factory wheels studs and does NOT use the built in stud types.

Thanks JMLNZ,
I'll post photos after I do it.
I also noticed that Lou doesn't list 25mm spacers on his site, only 20mm or less.
I'll look around a bit.
It may be a few weeks though.
New audio/video system is happening this week.

Im no expert but with a little bit of negative camber, like you guys mentioned, around -2 or -2.5. I could see getting around 10 to 15 on the fron and back, depending on wheel width.

Posting this up here but do you guys think 19 or 20 doesnt really matter in 9.5+0 F and 11+5 R will fit with say -2.5 degree camber front and -3.0 degree camber rear?

If you're willing the stretch the tires far enough, you can make almost any wheel fit within a reasonable range of course. It's not about the wheel size, it's more about tire choice.

The front fenders will need to be rolled/shaved/whatever method you prefer. It also depends a lot on your ride height.

The best method to do is to lower your car to the height where you want it. Grab a ruler and measure your inner and outer clearance. It'd make it easier if you got your car aligned to where you wanted it too before you did some measuring. Take that info to a wheel/tire calculator and see what widths and offsets you can do.

:tup:

I would run 255's up front and probably 285's in the rear. I am waiting on coilovers at the moment but I am thinking 2-2.5in drop front and rear. We shall see :D

Ok so I thought I would bring this thread back from the dead with a few updates :D

Ok so after tons of reading and several calculations as well as using VIP's Offsets as a guideline to what will fit at -2.5F and -2.0R camber here are some wheel widths and offsets we can run and have the same stance as VIP's Setup...
Stock:
19x9 +47
19x10 +30

VIP SETUP:
20x9.5 +20F from stock this extends out 33mm
20x9.5 +10F from stock this extends out 43mm
20x11 +21R from stock this extends out 27mm
20x12 +28R from stock this extends out 27mm

So as long as we maintain our outer extension relatively close to these numbers you can expect the same camber and tire sizes.

I am proposing a few additions to the sizing and offset club that will retain the same camber settings :D

Front fitments:* VIP is probably close to MAX camber in the front with their setup *
9 +4
10 +16
10.5 +23

Rear Fitments:
10 +3
10.5 +9
11 +15
12 +28

Now if you feel adventurous you can add a lil more camber to the rear and run these offsets: * this will extend your wheels in the rear 1/2" outward pushing you closer to -3 camber *
10 -9
10.5 -3
11 +3
12 +16

Discuss and let me know if you guys want more calculations or possible sizes...

:tup:

i dunno if this helps anyone, but i'm running 19x9.5 +12 on 255's and 19x10.5 +12 on 285's with a 5mm spacer and its perfect imo. i had a 10mm spacer before but it started to rub once my coilovers settled.

what were your suspension settings? i.e. camber and toe?

I am looking at a set of HRE's being sold with a setup as follows :D

19x10 +29
19x12 +10

:tup: the guy has 2 sets available for a good price too :D