This should be a pretty clear-cut answer.

I have 18x7 +40 wheels with 215/35/18 tires.

What's the largest rear spacers I can run without rolling the fenders and without rubbing?

 

I dunno, but I do have the exact same question being that i have the exact same setup..... Help us out!

 

I have 18x9 +33 wheels on the rear, and I also have a .5" spacer. I needed it to clear the control arm. Anyway, I don't know what that would convert to...but I'm sure that you would be able to use that size.

BTW - I did have to roll the fenders and I do rub still a little, so keep that in mind when making your decision. I would think though that you could probably get away with a .5" spacer.

Just for more info...I have 18x8 +38 in the front with no spacers. No rubbing or rolling of the fenders.

 

I've seen 25mm spacers with a similar set-up, but have no experience first hand.

 

Well, a .5" spacer is about 13mm.

So essentially, you're running a 18x9 with a +20 offset.

I was originally going to go with a 25mm spacer, reducing my +40 offset to a +15, but I think i'd probably have to roll the fenders. I think 20mm might still rub, but I'm uessing a 15mm would be just fine.

 

Anyone have a definitive answer?

 

Ok Sushiboy,
I think I have the answer.
I have been emailing Van at onetongarage, and he has given me some great info...

We can run 20 mm worth of offset in the rear, and would be wise to run either 5mm or 10mm in the front. To keep things looking even, the rear should always be spaced out 10mm more per side than the front because they sit in further from the fenders than the front tires do.

There are two ways to run 20 mm offset in the rear. First, you can use a 10mm wheel spacer, and also a 10mm rear wheel spacer shim. The spacer shim goes BEHIND the rear brake assembly. The other way is to use two spacer shims behind the brake assembly, and no wheel spacer at all. He said that he has seen a bunch of people doing this and it works out great. The advantage of using both spacer shims is that you don't have to put the longer wheel studs in the rear hub.

For the front, you can use a 5mm wheel spacer the way it sits. If you want to use a 10mm spacer up front, you must install the longer studs. There's a great sticky around here about installing front wheel studs. Looks VERY easy. You can actually do it without removing the hubs.

Van also made a good point that for looks, you might want to do a shim/spacer combo in the rear, and a spacer up front. The spacers he sells are available in a variety of colors, and if you have an open wheel design, you would be able to see matching bands of color behind all four wheels.

I HIGHLY recommend onetongarage.com for the parts. It has been very clear to me in my research that they know what they are talking about and make a high quality product.

In the end, I think that I'm going to go with 10mm wheel spacers front and rear, in addition to the 10mm wheel spacer/shim in the rear. With our 40mm offset wheels, this will give me a total of 20mm offset in the rear, 30mm offset in the front. I'm going to order them silver, then send them out to be anodized green for our RS 3.0!!!

 

So a wheel with 20mm offsets (or a +40 wheel with 20mm spacers) won't rub, eh? Can anyone else verify this?

When it comes time to buy, I'll probably go with 10mm OTG spacers, or if I go more, I'll get the H&R studded 15- or 20mm spacers. However, I don't want to buy 20mm spacers and end up rubbing.

I am also a bit concerned about running +40 up front and +20 in the rear. I don't know if that'd look funny or not. I know the solution would be to buy spacers for the front, but that's more money.

So the rear wheels are sunk in about 10mm more than the fronts? So 10mm rear spacers will equal the front wheels?

 

dude... that last line that you just wrote is ALL you need know.

all that other stuff is just insane unless you are TRYING to move the wheels WAY out.

Just even the back wheels up with the front and be done with it.

 

Okay -- great. So then, will 10mm rear spacers even things out?

 

Yes, 10mm will even the back wheels with the front.

And no, my above post does not move the wheels "way out". It puts them as far to the edge of the vehicle WITHOUT having to roll your fenders or modify anything. It is not a "roller-skate setup", nor does it require any camber to fit. It would look how most people would want stock to look.

Do the math, 10mm is 1 cm. 1cm is equal to a tiny bit more than 3/8". If you were to run 20mm worth of offset in the rear, you are only moving the tire out by about 3/4". Look at a ruler- then look at your car. Last I checked, 3/4" isn't "way out" on anything.

 

Thanks for the response. The main thing I am concerned about is rubbing, and frankly, I don't know how much it'd take to rub.

 

I'm running a 7 inch wide wheel with a +31 offset in the rear. Along with the OTG shim of 10mm, I essentially have a +21 offset in the rear and am FAR from rubbing. I'm lowered on Tein S-Tech springs as well.

 

Are you running front spacers, too?

Looks like I'll probably go with 20mm spacers in the rear, then.

 

I'm running 15x7 +31 front and rear w/OTG 10mm shims in the rear only.

 

I thought you were gonna buy staggered offset rims. I remember giving you dimensions and now you need Spacers/shims?

 

Who, me? I already have wheels/tires ... (see sig). I've had my 18s (which I'll probably end up keeping) since late July 2005. If I asked about staggered fits, it would've been either before I got the car or before I bought the wheels.

 

I have 17x7.5's with et45, running 10mm shims plus 5mm spacers out back, nothing in front. Rears would probably rub if I added another 5mm, but a little rolling and I'm sure it would be no problem to go out another 10-15mm.
The tire width and sidewall shape are also somewhat of a consideration... My last set of tires had more of a rounded sidewall more prone to rubbing, my current Fuzions are flatter-sided and slightly stretched, gives a little more clearance.

 

I think I'm going to order up some H&R 15mm rear spacers next week. I don't think a +25 rear offset (40mm wheel plus 15mm spacer) will rub on an 18x7. I hope I'm right!

 

Well, I went and measured. Again, I have 215/35/18 Falken Ziex 512 tires on 18x7 wheels with a +40 offset, and I'm sure a 10mm would fit. A 15 would probably fint, but I'm not 100% sure it wouldn't rub; I think it'd be close.