Offset dilemma and shock advice

N

Nebz

Member
Location
Orlando, FL
Need help,
I bought wheels for my 05 FXs 24 x 9.5 (+15 offset) tires are 285/30/24. I put them on and sure enough I had rubbing, I'm at stock height not lowered. After taking each wheel off one by one I found the right front was rubbing on the shock/strut. I bought universal 5/16 inch spacers but I could not get the lugs on with the spacer. I'm assuming that if I install spacers than it will work, it looks like most of the posters go with 25mm all the way around. Will that work for me with a +15 offset? I noticed a post that said 5mm is the way to go for a spacer but that seems small.
Part 2, or would my rubbing go away if I replaced the stock shocks and struts with a kyb set? I haven't been able to find any info to see if the strut has a smaller diameter than stock. I just turned 80k miles so I know shocks/struts etc ... Are in my future.

Thanks in advance for advice and now that I finally have a mod or two I can create my garage.
 
Post up some pics of where it rub. A couple pics from the outside into the wheel well top of the tire to show how much space between the top of the tire and the bottom of the strut perch. A couple pics of the side for tire/wheel flushness to the fender.

Without pic of where your tire rubs the strut, I can only guess that your tire rub on the strut perch, not the body/side of the strut, right? Base on your wheel and tires sizes, you shouldn't be rubbing on the body/side of the strut tower because you actually get more space with between the tire and the strut with +15 offset in comparison to the stock wheel. If that's the case, going with coilovers will most likely solve your problem.
 
Thanks for the info. I put my stock wheels back on so I could drive, unfortunately when I was taking off the last wheel my lock stuck in lug nut wrench and after finally getting it out it will not fit on the lock nut. So, I have to get a new security lock and then I can start over. In the meantime I will re check the wheel off set since it should work.

The rubbing looked like it took place about two to three inches down on the strut cover, sorry for not knowing the correct terminology. Ill try and get a picture of where I think it was happening.

Thanks again for the help and information!

---------- Post added at 09:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:00 PM ----------

would the bore size be an issue? the rim has a (74.1) bore size.
 
This won't affect your fitment problem, but you should be running hub centering rings with your wheels to go from the Infiniti bore of 66.1 to your aftermarket wheel size of 74.1
 
Thanks for the info! Man I only bought these because they were previously on a fx. So would I need this? Hub centric 25mm spacer V2
imagejpeg


---------- Post added at 10:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:23 PM ----------

Photo didn't show up, it's a 25mm Ichihara hub centric wheel spacer

---------- Post added at 10:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 PM ----------

I think I found the rings thanks for the info!
 
Do as la_fx35 said before you decide on spacers, he knows his stuff on wheel fitments.

Good on the hub rings, you need them for sure.
 
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If the wheels are already +15 offset, then a 25mm spacer is way too much. 9.5" +15 at stock height will already stick out a little bit from the fender, especially with a 285 tire. I know that my +15 offset 9" fronts stick out when I jack the car up, they only tuck under because of camber. Adding 25mm to your offset would be just bad. Replacing the struts won't do anything since the KYB's are the same size. Going with coilovers might help since the spring perch is much smaller.

If you're only rubbing on one strut, then getting 5mm spacers will likely fix it. If you needed more than 5mm to clear, you would not be able to drive. You're probably only hitting on one strut because camber settings are never perfect on both sides, so that one is just a touch closer. The 25mm spacers everyone uses are for stock wheels which have like a +40 offset and are 8.5" wide, not 9.5" wide and +15.
 
Thanks shadow, that info helps. I do have camber wear on the inside tires so that could definitely be the issue.

When you say stick out past the fender do you mean at the top of the fender well? When I had the wheels on they were tucked in the fender. I looked on the wheel to make sure and I noticed a stamp that said 15, no idea if that was referring to the off set but it was the only mark that would make sense for that. All of the info I have found on the wheel says the offset is 15. I'll need to take pics and post email once I can get the lug locks off.
 
At stock height, a 9.5" wheel should stick out past the fender if the offset is indeed 15. The guys who run 25mm spacers on stock wheels have an 8" width and an effective offset of +15 with the spacers (+40 stock and +25mm spacer). Their pictures show that as being flush at stock height. So with a 9.5" wheel, you've got another 18mm or so on each side in width which should stick out. If you're tucking into the fender at stock height and running a 285 tire, there's not much clearance on the inside.
 
The offset on the wheel would be stamped "ET15", "ET40" or "ET 45". Pics worth a 1000 words Nebz :laugh:
 
Gotcha on the pics Andy, I'll do that and post them.

---------- Post added at 10:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:44 PM ----------

On the hub centric rings - I found rings on eBay 4 PIECES BRAND NEW HUB CENTRIC RINGS 74.1 MM ->67.1MM. This is what i need for the wheels that I have since they have a 74.1 bore correct?
Sorry for the seemingly basic questions.
 
those rings are what you need. sounds like you also need spacers, regardless of what numbers are stamped wherever, the wheel rubbing on the inside of the strut obviously means you need more offset no matter what the numbers say. exactly how much is the question. I'd guess on the conservative side at 15mm which is sure to work fine and solve your problem, but that requires extended studs, can't do a bolt on 15mm. can you do more than 15mm? maybe, but more info is needed.


are you sure all 4 wheels were the same offset?
 
They do make a bolt on 15mm spacer. I have a set from B2, not sure who else makes them, probably Ichiba would as well.

turbocad6 said:
those rings are what you need. sounds like you also need spacers, regardless of what numbers are stamped wherever, the wheel rubbing on the inside of the strut obviously means you need more offset no matter what the numbers say. exactly how much is the question. I'd guess on the conservative side at 15mm which is sure to work fine and solve your problem, but that requires extended studs, can't do a bolt on 15mm. can you do more than 15mm? maybe, but more info is needed.


are you sure all 4 wheels were the same offset?
Click to expand...
 
Shadow, does the stock protrude pass the 15mm spacer with your setup? I don't think the 15mm spacer thick enough to clear the stock stud to allow a flat mounting surface. Your wheel must have holes/pits next to the mounting holes so that the protruding stock studs can clear the back of the wheel to allow a flat mount surface against the spacer.
 
yeah, the recesses behind the rims are not deep enough for the extra stud protrusion you'd have with 15mm spacers... of course aftermarket wheels may have a deeper recess but that's not so common as far as I've seen... usually with the stud length you need to go at least 20mm and even then may need to touch up the ends of the studs slightly, depending on the wheel itself...

be very careful with a 15mm bolt on spacer, it's possible to tighten it and think it's fine but the wheel may be just seated on the studs instead of flat to the hub which would make for an unsafe combo... with any bolt on spacers you have to make sure that the studs are not contacting the wheel and that the wheel can compress right up to the hub and sit flush to the hub with no interference with the inner studs.
 
Yes, the stock stud does protrude from the spacer. I'm running aftermarket wheels that clear the OEM studs, the design is such that the mounting surface curves around the studs. So basically I can still see the OEM studs. I was worried before getting them, but no issues. Of course all aftermarket wheels are different, so some won't clear.
 
yeah, stockers def won't work with 15mm, and most aftermarket wheels also won't, but of course some do as yours have even more clearance there. in general and in most cases a 15mm won't work as a bolt on spacer though which is why I gave that warning. as been said before, seeing it would def help deciphering exactly what will and won't work here, I'm only going with safe conservative general recommendations at this point to try not to steer this guy wrong with just the info given
 
I also run the 15 mm spacers with built in studs, mine are Ichiba V2 spacers. Yes the studs protrude but I have lots of room with my aftermarket Enkeis.
 
Well I finally had a few minutes to retry the wheel. And I figured out it was the caliper gouging into the wheel. I did get my hub rings like GEE suggested and I see why I needed those. It looks like I need spacers and I should be good to go. Thank you gentlemen.

---------- Post added at 10:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:55 PM ----------

So the grinding was the caliper on the wheel. The 24 x 9.5 wheel sits tucked in just like my stock wheel. I took pictures but can't get them to load from my iPad. I measured a 1 inch recess on the stock (rear drivers side) and after market wheel (front drivers side) from the tire to the inner lip of the fender. The after market wheel has a flat surface to mount to the hub. After reading through the comments it sounds like I need 25mm spacers in the front, considering I have a 1 inch space to become flush in the front and I would not need to modify the studs using a version 1 ichiba spacer. Same spacer for the rear, correct?
 
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