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18 x 19 need spacers???

Joined
20 December 2003
Messages
21
Location
Salem Oregon
I just got a set of wheels that had to be custom for my 91 NSX. When I went to the Les Shwab the tires dont fit they sit on the calipers. But if I put on spacers they will fit, Im just afraid that the tires will stick out of the car too much. Any one else run into this problem?? :confused: :confused:
 
whiteNSXs said:
If I read it correctly, your "custom" wheels are simply NOT built correctly. Custom wheels are built to fit your wheelwells and calipers.
Steve

I agree. Custom built rims generally are a perfect fit for the application since it is specifically built for that vehicle. With that said, my off the shelf 18/19" SSR GT3 rims bought from Tire Rack clear my calipers and don't stock out of the fender well. I think you need to talk to the company that built your custom rims and get a refund or have them correct the fitment problem.
 
Could not agree more. "Custom" wheels mean they are made to fit to your specifications. If they do not, do not accept them. You should not be using spacers after buying custom wheels IMO.
 
ChrisK said:
I agree. Custom built rims generally are a perfect fit for the application since it is specifically built for that vehicle. With that said, my off the shelf 18/19" SSR GT3 rims bought from Tire Rack clear my calipers and don't stock out of the fender well. I think you need to talk to the company that built your custom rims and get a refund or have them correct the fitment problem.

^ What he said ;)
 
ibNSXtcN said:
I called and told them, and they said the wheels come with spacers, naturally I could not find them.

Well, even if they did provide you with spacers it still is NOT a custom built rim for your application. That means it doesn't fit your car unless you use spacers. Would you mind telling us who made these custom rims for you? It sounds like they are using a generic rim application and making it fit the NSX with spacers. It doesn't sound like they built the rim itself since they would be able to get the perfect width, offset, and backspacing for the get go. What's the point of paying extra for a custom rim if you still need spacers?
 
If they hit the calipers this has not much to do with the size/offset - it seems like that design of spoke is just not conducive to the NSX calipers.
Changing the offset would only move the hub in or out wrt the rim; reducing the diameter would possibly have some effect on the spoke design shape. You may be stuck with having to use spacers.
 
ibNSXtcN said:
The company name is Eurotronix and the phone number is 310-329-8998. They are based out of Cali. These are the wheels here on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...tem=7920906798&category=43958&sspagename=WDVW
I don't know. These wheels clearly were stated to be for a S2000. The front wheel SIZE is OK but obviously they gave you something that has fat lip which taxed your spoke clearance. You should ask for the High Disk version with more caliper clearance.
Steve
 
ibNSXtcN said:
I called in and ordered the wheels by phone. The Ebay link was for reference.
But I thought you said these are custom made for your car from the beginning. Would you mind telling us the actual sizes and offsets of your wheels and if they are of the super-low, low, or high disks application?
Steve
 
D'Ecosse said:
If they hit the calipers this has not much to do with the size/offset - it seems like that design of spoke is just not conducive to the NSX calipers.
Changing the offset would only move the hub in or out wrt the rim; reducing the diameter would possibly have some effect on the spoke design shape. You may be stuck with having to use spacers.


This is true, but if it is being built as a custom set up for the NSX, the company can not only play with offset but they can use a high disk application for brake clearence or a low disk application for maximum lip. They can play with that for maximum lip that clears the brakes. That is the same like our SSR GT3 rims that some of us have. Some when with the 8" front with a medium disk and need spacers but have more lip, while some of use went with a high disk with little to no lip but clears the calipers.
 
D'Ecosse said:
If they hit the calipers this has not much to do with the size/offset - it seems like that design of spoke is just not conducive to the NSX calipers.
Changing the offset would only move the hub in or out wrt the rim; reducing the diameter would possibly have some effect on the spoke design shape. You may be stuck with having to use spacers.

I do not understand. Using spacers does just that: corrects the offset so that the wheel fits the car and clears calipers/springs/... Why do you say :
D'Ecosse said:
If they hit the calipers this has not much to do with the size/offset
? it's obvious that his wheels have the wrong offset and needs spacers to compensate (as you state in your last sentence) :confused: .
 
Common fallacy that offset will resolve this issue:
Offset is the realtionship between the centerline of the wheel's rim & the backplane of the wheel hub where it meets the brake disc. When a 3-piece wheel is built to different offsets, generally they are made from stock parts - the center disc (or spokes) & different sizes of inner & outer rims, which also conribute to the overall width. Generally, the disc is fixed, although some high-end vendors (as ChrisK points out above) have alternative discs for large brake applications. When you change the offset it usually has the most impact on the outside lip size.
Picture the rim of the wheel moving across the top of the spokes, but the spokes themselves don't move at all with respect to the brake disc & caliper.

Applying spacers does nothing to correct the fundamental offset of the wheel - it just simply moves the wheel away from the brake hub so corrects the interference problem. Changing the offset design of a given wheel will move the rim out (or in) but still leaves the disc of the wheel in the exact same position wrt to the brake hub. In other words, the spokes don't change shape just because the offset changes.
The interference of the disc to the brake caliper just comes down to that particular design so generally, unless that wheel manufacturer has a different array of spoke sizes, then it won't fix the problem. There may be some difference between a diameter change however as the spokes will differ slightly, even though they look the same.
The primary purpose of offset is to position the wheel/tyre in the correct location of the wheel-well. Narrower wheels have a greater tolerance for different sizes of offset, but wider wheels need to generally be "just right" as too little or too much will cause either interference on the inner fender or make the rim stick out beyond the body plane.

If you look at pretty much all NSX after-market rims, you will find it pretty much impossible to get a large lip on the front rims for this reason - if you get bigger brakes, that makes the problem worse. One typical example of this is the Volk GTC that comes in different "faces" for front & rear to allow a bigger lip. The discs look quite different when you see them together. See picture at the bottom

Excuse my rudimentary drawing :D
These are the same wheels but just with different offsets - you see the caliper still is in the same location wrt the wheel spokes.


...............Offset 1......................... Offset 2
 

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D'Ecosse said:
Common fallacy that offset will resolve this issue:
Offset is the realtionship between the centerline of the wheel's rim & the backplane of the wheel hub where it meets the brake disc. When a 3-piece wheel is built to different offsets, generally they are made from stock parts - the center disc (or spokes) & different sizes of inner & outer rims, which also conribute to the overall width. Generally, the disc is fixed, although some high-end vendors (as ChrisK points out above) have alternative discs for large brake applications. When you change the offset it usually has the most impact on the outside lip size.
Picture the rim of the wheel moving across the top of the spokes, but the spokes themselves don't move at all with respect to the brake disc & caliper.

Applying spacers does nothing to correct the fundamental offset of the wheel - it just simply moves the wheel away from the brake hub so corrects the interference problem. Changing the offset design of a given wheel will move the rim out (or in) but still leaves the disc of the wheel in the exact same position wrt to the brake hub. In other words, the spokes don't change shape just because the offset changes.

I was with you up to this last paragraph. Adding spacers (or adapters) will move the entire wheel/rim out (not in) and will indeed clear caliper or springs. I'm not talking about interchangeable 2-3 wheel pieces here. Just what would happen with a 1-piece wheel or a 2-3 wheel piece without changing anything. Your drawing clearly shows two different wheels with two different offsets. With the same wheel and spacers(in blue), it should look more like this: (excuse my poor drawing skills as well) :D
 

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D'Ecosse said:
Applying spacers does nothing to correct the fundamental offset of the wheel - it just simply moves the wheel away from the brake hub so corrects the interference problem.
No explanation necessary on how a spacer works - It's pretty obvious a spacer will "fix" the problem - I already indicated that as quoted; the whole point is he shouldn't have to use spacers if a custom wheel was purchased specifically for the application.
 
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