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Wheel (rim) questions

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Tom183, Jan 3, 2010.

  1. Tom183

    Tom183 New Member

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    I'm looking at snow tires/wheels from Tirerack and they are suggesting rims with offsets as low as 35mm and widths as high as 7" in the 5x100mm bolt pattern. They don't have rims which match OEM (15"x6" with 45mm offset).

    Q1: What risks are there to a smaller offset, other than the obvious (the wheel sticking out a bit more)?

    Q2: What are the risks to using a wider rim?
     
    #1 Tom183, Jan 3, 2010
  2. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    The steel wheels I got stick out about 1/4" more than the OEMs. With the mud guards I put on, I don't see any obvious problems.

    If the wider rim has a deeper offset, there shouldn't be any problems. If not, at a certain point I suspect you would start scraping the wheel wells. There is a good about of room in the wells though.
     
    #2 spiderman, Jan 3, 2010
  3. mindmachine

    mindmachine Member

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    I bought a set from the Tire Rack with 38mm offset and 6.5" width, no problems. Actually I replaced the OEM wheels with these for my all season tires and I love them. The Tire Rack guarantees their fitment suggestions based on your car, so if you have a problem they will take them back. The difference between 45mm and 38 is only 7mm or .27" and they do not stick out beyond the edge of the fender. You can look at them in my photo album.
     
    #3 mindmachine, Jan 3, 2010
  4. Tom183

    Tom183 New Member

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    I guess I should have said the 15x7's have 45mm offset, while the 15x6.5's have 35-38mm offsets. The smaller ones are noticably cheaper (although there is a set of 15x7's that only weigh 14lbs for less than $100 each...).

    My concerns with the smaller offset would be: does this shift the center of the load and is that bad for the bearings or anything else underneath?

    And my concern with the wider wheel would be: does this affect the tire's ability to stay on in emergency cornering or anything?

    No doubts that what Tirerack recommends will fit, but they are in the selling business so I'm just being careful about the long-term consequences they wouldn't worry about. The offset is the bigger concern, I think.
     
    #4 Tom183, Jan 3, 2010
  5. Tom183

    Tom183 New Member

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    Went with the more expensive rims due to the closer (42mm) offset and lighter weight - I just don't know what the long-term effects might be from a 35mm offset, and would rather not find out the hard way. the 17" rims are also 7" wide, so I'm not worried about that dimension. The cost was somewhat offset by going with a cheaper snow tire, got great reviews but probably not so good in rolling resistance and tread life as the more expensive ones - hopefully the lighter rims will help offset that a little.
     
    #5 Tom183, Jan 4, 2010
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