Hello everybody!

After lengthy research on offset, wheel, and tire size a thought popped into my head that perhaps some of the more knowledgeable people on the forums may be able to help out with. Lets give it a go:

At a +8 offset we really don't know what load balance Toyota designed our hubs for, unless we know where the balancing point of the wheel is. The reason I am saying this is because I ran out and took a look at the 14" stock wheel and it appears that more of the mass is on the outside of center compared to many wheels being sold today. The mounting surface, where offset is calculated from is behind an inch aluminum and the there is no lip at all... the bulk of the spoke design is close to the outside.


I was thinking of using this wheel in 17x8 (f) & 17x9 (r);

http://sportmaxwheel.com/sportmax_006.shtml

It has a 35mm offset so it would require a 25 mm spacer (adapter) pushing its' mass out further from the hub + the spacer mass. The 9 inch has 2.5" lip and perhaps less materials in the spokes. Is it a possibility that the ratio of mass on either side of the hub mounting surface is close to stock with this set up?

Am I cooked or does this make sense?

cheers and thanks

the mass of the wheel really isn't that important since the wheel is supported by the ground. That aside, the wheel weighs what? 20-30 lbs wheras your car weighs 3k lbs/4 wheels so 750 lbs per wheel(ish)

What you want to worry about is the offset and size in that you want the center of the wheel to be as close to the factory wheel offset as you can. THAT's what will load the bearings differently.

thanks, that makes sense. i think i was mentally addressing the issue from the point of applying 300+ ponies to the wheels through the hubs. still having a tough time with what factors are used to calculate the extra force applied to the hub. for example, would not using an adapter move the centre of the wheel back to the correct spot? guess i should not have dropped first year physics :(

would anyone have a rough idea of the extra wear to the wheel bearings, percentage wise? has anyone using high offset seen any adverse effects after long use?

torque is a rotational force and doens't factor in the same way. that's vastly more of a lug nut # and pattern width. as far as bearing wear goes, more power won't do much unless your bearings are already damaged. as I think about it more, additional torque won't really even factor into the hub because the torque is always transfered via the lug nuts where they meet the wheel and the offset will really affect the forces within the wheel itself.

Not using a wheel spacer/shim will move the centerline back toward the factory spot but you have to consider rubbing of the spring and strut when you do so. overall, what you do with the car will affect bearing/hub life more than anything else. Drifting and auto-xing will adversely affect your bearings 1000x more than a 5mm spacer on the wheels.

would anyone have a rough idea of the extra wear to the wheel bearings, percentage wise? has anyone using high offset seen any adverse effects after long use?


I've been running 0 offset 8 inch rims with comp tires for years, and have not had any wheel bearing problems. Most auto-xers try to run as wide a wheel with as much (-) offset as can fit.

I haven't seen or heard of abnormal bearing failures so far. If this is for your street car, a 17 x 8/9 with a net +10 offset should be fine. I run a 9/10 combo with -13 offset. The wheels are pushed to the edges (and a little beyond)

thanks for the replies all. now who can photochop those rims on a black 82 :cool: