I'M GONNA HIT SOMEBODY!

[jbarbaresi]

my new wheels that i've been waiting a week and a half for finally arrived today, and wouldn't you know it but they don't clear my damn spec v brakes in the front! i had a 15 minute conversation about this on the phone with the distributor when i ordered them and he promised me they would have the clearance. now that i called him back he says i need to pay for the shipping back to return them! don't get me wrong, he's trying to help me out by shipping me a set of 5mm spacers for free but if those don't do the job what the f@ck? i'm not trying to have a spec v with wheels protruding out past the fenders, that looks rediculous. anyone got any advice for me? will a 5mm spacer look stupid or do i just have to try it and see?

[VMPhil]

try it and see how they look if not then sent them shyts back or just sell them yourself.

[jbarbaresi]

i tried putting the wheel on again to measure the spacer i would need and it's nowhere close. i need another 1" at least to clear the brakes and there's no way in hell i'm offsetting those wheels that much. the damn distributor wants me to pay shipping back and a 25% restocking fee after he's the one who assured me they would fit! am i the only one who thinks this is rediculous? they make another version of the exact same wheel, both are 18"X8" with a 40mm offset. if one version has a 3.5" lip and the other has a 1.5" lip, the only difference is the curvature of the spokes on the face, right? wouldn't that create a little more clearance for brakes? take a look at the pic and let me know what you think.

[gotak]

As posted in the other post. You need 50 MM offset. 40 is still 1 cm short which is way more then you should use spacers for IMHO.

BTW Those pics shows nothing as they aren't engineering drawings. Also one of the wheel's 4 lug. Your car has 5 lug pattern.

[jbarbaresi]

gotak, a 40mm offset would be fine if the face weren't designed the way it is on the deep lip wheel, probably even on the regular lip. i know i need a 5 lug pattern this is the picture they had posted on the manufacturer's website, i didn't take it. i wish that was the reason it wouldn't fit. with a 50mm offset on an 8" wheel i'm still gonna need about a 1/2" spacer to counter the extra width of the wheel. unfortunately it's also hard to find a wheel with that high of an offset in an 18"X8", 40 is much more common.