Really glad I could help SciFly! I'm still on my steelies, but I've done a lot of research trying to find wheels for myself.

 

Fly, why not get the 16x7's in 38?

All of those sizes in the table are a long way from flush, But, the lower the offset, the more flush they'll be, the wider your track. The nice thing about the 38mm offset is, you'll hav ethe center of the wheel where the car wants it. Plus the +1, 16 inch wheel and tire will make your handling improve be reducing sidewall roll (depending on tire chosen). Just my thoughts. PLUS I'm ____ed that you didn't look me up in other channels to ask ME these questions

 

I dint know you were hip hop on this topic or I'd have come hat in hand for Truth.
OK, I am on very thin tires as it is: the F1's in 195/50 have sidewalls as low as I care to go with. The width of the tire is modest but wider than stock. A wider tire adds weight and reduces fuel economy slightly and a larger wheel adds weight, too. And I -have- the new F1's and would just swap them over.

I like the overall smaller size of this F1 on 15's for the cheapness, the handling (there's a vast difference in handling characteristic compared against the tall, stock tire). It makes the xB noticably zippier in acelleration and braking. I drive Ray's car for a reminder of what I gained/lost: Lost: cushy ride. Gained: zippedy do dah and a lower car to boot.

 

All of what you say is true. I run 16's and fat (rel) tires and notice no change in mpg, though. I don't get it. But, I'm a grandpa type driver anyway. I really like the slug ones you posted in the other thread too.

 

hah.. but what is a "slug one"??? Go check the choppy thread for me as keyboard slugger

Am having a fine time.

 

I have a copy of Brake and front end magazine which is a professional magazine that my husband gets and there is a article about custom rim and wheel bearing abuse. It says that if you increase the width of a wheel you also need to adjust the offset so that the wheel is close to the original wheels to prevent problems with improper loading of the wheel bearings. A positive offset will move the laoding from the inner bearing to the outer bearing. It also increases the torsional load on the bearing. A large change in offset can cause a bearing failure. It is true for both front and rear-wheel drive applications.
Anyway, that was a quote. It is several more pages which I won't copy but point I am trying to make is that I just saw a post about someone with a XB and wheel bearing noise so I just thought I would throw this info out there. Many don't know that they can do damage with pushing their wheels out to flush with the fenders. The wheel weight also puts a suspension parts at risk for failure. So if you are worried about warranty issues just keep this in mind. They do have a web site if you need to read the entire article. www.brakeandfrontend.com

 

It is amazing that more people don't know this. The offset on the stock xA/xB wheels is +38 I believe. The OT spacers are a much better idea I would think than a 10mm difference in offset in the long run.

 

I totally understand that, but I've always run wheels with aggressive offsets on all of my cars, 6 total cars in the past 6 years, without any problems or noise.. I see it as one those things to worry about when it comes up. Im not going to run wheels that dont look good on the car just because im worried about some Wheel bearings.

To me, its just the "Cost to Floss." HAHAHA!

 

Is XB fitment the same for XA?

 

What they are saying is that you should use the same offset as factory no matter what wheel width you use because it keeps the load on the wheel bearings the same as original.

If you use the wheel spacers (that go behind the wheel) at 10mm you actually are creating 10mm less offset than without them, changing the load on the wheel bearings. If you buy a +43mm offset wheel and use a 5mm spacer you end up back at the stock offset of +38mm. The 10mm rear shims don't change the loading on the wheel bearings because they mount inboard of the bearings.

 

I do believe xA and xB have the same fitments. I could be wrong though.

 

Thats what I meant. If you push the hubs out an extra 10MM with the hub spacers, that would relieve you from getting different (lower) offset rear wheels to flush them up, therefore retaining the correct load on the bearings.

 

I though so, but I just wasn't sure if you were talking about the wheel spacers or hub spacers.

 

I would love to get 15x8 wheels with 0 to negative offset! That would not be flush but with some fender flares it could be right?

 

I've got 17x7 +13 in front
and 17x7 +6 in the rear
daily driven no problems.
bboxd was pretty dead on.

 

Ok here is what I am looking at for my box.

16 x 8 + 35 offset with 205/45/16's
and I have 10mm shims in the rear right now, stock up front..what ya think ??

 

ok gurus im looking at putting 17x8's up front and 17x8.5's in back unless 9's will fit w/o body work.im on s. techs but ordering cusco super lows soon.what off sets would get me just shy of flush please help

 

you would want to go with some pretty posative offsets. I have 0 offset and I stick out almost a full inch or two

 

My buddy has 17x7s with 38mm offset 205/40/17s on tein stech springs and on his rear he has the otg shims and he can tell where it rubs sometimes on the inside lip but he dosen't hear it and it dosen't cut the tire. I'm going to run the same set up but I ordered 7 1/2 inch wide wheel, he said if it rubs in the rear we can fold up the inner lip no problem.

 

This supposedly being true, what would be better/safer for that flush, aggressive look: a lower-than-stock wheel offset or a closer-to-stock wheel offset w/ shims/spacers?