Hello all,

I've been doing mad research about wheels, tires, and suspension for the for the xB, as our new '05 is due in any time now...

If it's one thing I've learned over the years in getting the right look for my car projects, it has to be the stance of the vehicle. The way the car sits on it's wheels and suspension sets the overall tone for the vehicle IMHO. Such things as offset, wheel design, tire shape and tread patten say alot about the way the car will look when it's done. It's all in the details...for me anyway.

So for the little xB, I think I have my "look" already picked out (still working on the deatils), but I would like to run some offsets and observations by those in the know...

From all the info and pics on this site I've been able to dig up in the last week of searching, I'm coming to the following conclusions:

Most 4x100 wheels are made in Honda friendly offsets, which are normally too high of an offset to make the wheels look remotely flush with the fenders on an xB.

Most 7" wheels come in a 40mm offset

Most 7.5" wheels come in a 42mm offset (which will rub on the inside suspension arm in the rear)

-10mm in the rear (per side) would get the rear track more in line with the front.

If my calculations are correct, the outside edge of a 7.5" 42mm offset wheel is 4.35mm closer to the fender than the 7" 40mm offset wheel.

Since this is going to be my wife's daily driver, she has set provisions on my choices, as in - it can't be too low, it can't rub with 4 full sized adults, it can't ride like crap, it can't have a staggered offset because of tire rotating, and it can't look like it has ruber bands for tires, etc, etc, etc. Trust me, she is well aware of my antics, which is all fine by me because I already have a "daily driver" that is barely acceptable for road trips, my WRX. I want something road trip friendly as well.

So I'm thinking with those rules I'd have to go with 17's. Now that's fine, as long as I can get the look that I want. I want to have some meat on the tire, so I don't think the normal 215/35/18 would have worked for me anyway - to thin, unless it's dropped but that also conflicts with the rules stated above.

However, as previously stated, a 7" 40mm wheel is already starting 4.35mm inward from the fender compared to a 7.5" 42mm wheel. I thought of using H&R spacers with longer studs to get the look I want, but I really do not want the hassle of changing back when I run the stock tires for winter. I will consider however, the onetongarage hub spacers for the rear, which seem ideal for my application. So that leaves me with a 7.5" wheel.

I like the way the TRD 18's fit in the front wheel well, but they are a little too tucked in on the rear for my tastes, not to mention I couldn't get the 35 series tires past my wife.

I thought of going with a 17x7.5, 42mm offset wheel, with the onetongarage 10mm hub shims in the rear. This with a 215/40/17 tire and a drop of about 1.5 inches.

I've seen pics of 7.5" 42mm wheels on the rear, with 3mm spacers, but not with 10mm spacers. Can the experts out there give their thoughts on this combo and how well it would fit into all the "provisions" above?

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

I don't like any of those sizes. Just my opinion though. How much money do you have in your "provisions"? 8)

I don't like any of those sizes. Just my opinion though. How much money do you have in your "provisions"? 8)

Never really thought about it so I'm not too concerned - I'd rather have something that fits my needs above all else. With that said though, I don't want anything too drastic that takes months to get, like one-off custom offset wheels, etc. I'm dealing with many hard to get specialty parts from overseas for my WRX as it is and I don't want to go through that again...the waiting kills me. I've already missed many major shows and lost a brake sponsorship because the items weren't ready in time....

I'd basically like to use off the shelf parts, nothing to hard to find, etc. Remember, this is the wife's daily driver, not a full show car, so I'm just trying to gauge what I can do to please both of us.

So far, I've found some wheels I like that are 16x7, 35mm offset, and 17x7.5 42mm offset, which has a difference of .35mm to the fender.

I suppose in liew of giving all the backround info, I should have just asked if anyone has the factory 18" TRD wheels, with Tein S-Techs, with 10mm spacers in the rear, and if they rub. Not that I'm going to use those exact parts, but the overall tire placement in the wheel wells will be similar to what I think my combo would end up being like...

Anyone have that combo?

No need to worry. The xB has plenty of space under there. You won't get rubbing unless you increase overall tire diameter and/or lower more than 2 inches. I am on 17x8 25offset, 205/40 tires (slightly smaller, slightly stretched), and dropped 2in on Goldlines. No rubbing with 5 people in the car! If you are not in a rush, there are few readily available low offset wheels, you just have to look around.

Did you see this guy's post about his new wheels? He lists his offsets and I think his are custom but you might be able to find something close.

http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=31051

Sorry, I was going to post up a pic of mine last night but one minute I was offloading images from the cam, the next thing I know I waking up on the futon at 4:30AM. I'll post some up tonite when I get home.

My wheels are 17 inch, running 215/40s +40 offset and I just added the rear shims from onetongarage.com. They sit perfectly flush with the sideskirts now.

Here's a "before" pic:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/thescionicman/4_toed_shoe.jpg

Here's the after:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/thescionicman/BOX%20XOB/withOTGshims.jpg

I'll try to find two that are the same angle if I can...

SuperCrunchyAction - I checked out that link...very nice!

TheScionicMan - Sweet ride you have there! I can't wait to see the pics with the spacers...I think your set up with the onetongarage spacers would be close to the set up I plan on using, but with 2 differences.

1) I looked up your wheels on the net, and they are 17x7 if I'm not mistaken. I plan on using a 17x7.5" wheel, with an offset of 42mm. That means the 7.5" wheel will be 4.35 mm more flush to the fender to start with. So if I got the onetongarage spacers, it would be like your wheels with a 25.65mm offset in the rear. If yours is already flush with the fender at 30mm, do think it would stick out if they were out 4.35mm further?

2) Also, a 215/40/17 will look slightly more stretched on a 7.5" wheel than on a 7" wheel. Actually, the sidewall should be pretty flat and boxy, instead of tucked in at the rim bead like on a 7" wheel if ya know what I mean.

So I think I pretty much narrowed it down to the following optiions:

16x7, 36mm front, 26mm rear with 205/50/16's

or

17x7.5, 42mm front, 32mm rear with 215/40/17's

I'm leaning towards the 17's because the wheel design in the 16's that i like will make them look even smaller than 16's...

If anyone has one of the above combo's I'd love to get some more input or see some pics if you have them. I've seen some awesome 16's and 17's in the photo booth forum, and in the registry section of this site, but many times the owners don't list the exact tire size or offset...

I still can't wait to see your "after" pics ScionicMan, so please post them when you can...

I edited my previous post so the pics would be side by side, but wanted to bump it so you knew I put the after pic up. I'll try to find a better before pic and then take a pic at the same angle, but I think you can tell by the front side of the skirting.

So I think I pretty much narrowed it down to the following optiions:

16x7, 36mm front, 26mm rear with 205/50/16's

or

17x7.5, 42mm front, 32mm rear with 215/40/17's

I'm leaning towards the 17's because the wheel design in the 16's that i like will make them look even smaller than 16's...

If anyone has one of the above combo's I'd love to get some more input or see some pics if you have them. I've seen some awesome 16's and 17's in the photo booth forum, and in the registry section of this site, but many times the owners don't list the exact tire size or offset...


With the right setup (width and offset), you can actually make 16s look bigger. With a 7.5in wheel, you can actually have an offset of around 25-30 and 215/40-17 tires for a "set it and forget it" setup. Did you checxk the Tread and Butter FAQ? Also, if you search the forums more, you'll see plenty of examples showing how much space you have...
Here's another awesome example:
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9632&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

i had lowenzahn 17X7 +20 offset all the way around..the front flushed out well and the rear sat in just a tad... w/ vans shim spacer in the back it dropped it to roughly a +10...fender had to be rolled, but it was sweet after that....sorry dont have any pics....blktoybox will have pics of his ride w/ it shortly as he now has my rims. man ishouldnt of sold those rims lol

Awsome examples guys!!!

ScionicMan, even though the angles are different in the 2 pics you posted, you can definitely tell the difference...It looks incredible!!!

I ordered Van's 10mm spacers last night!!!

I'm pretty confident I'll be going with the 17x7.5, 42mm offset wheel and a 215/40/17 tire. That should put the rear offset at 32mm with the spacers, which should be ideal for what I'm trying to acomplish.

I skipped the idea of the 16's because after playing around in Photoshop, the 16's I liked just looked to small. Ganted, I've seen 16's that I really did like, but the spoke design on these particular 16's made them look really tiny since the spokes don't come nowhere near the edge of the rim.

I actually like the smaller wheel look, and I think 17's will be perfect. I'm looking for a 17" wheel whose design or spokes are sorta flat, and come to the inner edge of the wheel lip...there are a couple of designs I'm considering at the moment - I just have to see how heavy they are...I don't really want 25lb wheels if I can help it...

Keep up the discussion guys, this is some awesome info!!!

Be careful with the spacers. When I had first came along earlier this year.,Many guys were complaining of vibration. Yes they were using Honda type wheels. With this in mind I also had begun researching wheel offsets that will alow me not to use spacers. I think I have come up with a radical setup not quite for you but I think just gettin 17x7.5 or 17x8 in a +30o or a bit higher will get the desired look. Keep in mind tough would be a custom build but well worth the wait. look here for a 17x8 +25 and 17x9+20.
http://members.cardomain.com/jdmjim