18X8' Rims

[jooneth]

I have recently replaced my 16'' stock rim to 18X8 rims and I am experiencing some drift. My steering wheel wanders and drifts towards left by itself and it's hard to control. It is quite rapid and espeicially when I put on my brakes. I have already taken my car to Bob Jane twice for wheel allignment but they said the rims may be too wide for my car.

Does anyone have the same rim size as mine or bigger and experience the same? BY the way my tyre is Kumho 225/40. Any tips?

[yfin]

What is the offset of the rims?

And is the car lowered or is it stock ride height?

[jooneth]

Well I am not sure what the offset of the rims is..... check this url
http://www.tempetyres.com.au/products_closeup.asp?part=&part_no=799
But it tells nothing about offset. I remember the guy from bob jane said something about offset. Is there anything I can do to stop the steering wheel from drifting?

And the car is just stock ride height.

[yfin]

Hmm, well it shouldn't be all over the road like you describe. If you have changed the offset significantly it can impact how the car tracks. Do you have any photos of the rims fitted to the vehicle? Does the edge of the tyre go past the body of the car?

Also, have you tried the vehicle on a perfectly flat road like in a car park?

I would also rotate the tyres and see what happens.

[akina]

ahhh siff trust Tempetyres :p

yes... their cheap but kills out the performance.

Mind u the euro is 16"x7" stock.

[jooneth]

I dun have photos yet coz i recently got them. And yes the edge of the tyre sticks out a little bit. Is that bad????
On a flat road, it's ok but it drifts still out of the blue. When I rotate the tyre, I dun see any problem. It's just when I try to go straight and steering wheel tends to drift away from the straight line.

[--eskimo-eg--]

you might have a 'toe' problem, most prob its misaligned and not at 0 degree, all i can suggest is to go to other more reputable workshop, they shouldnt be drifting ard like that even if theyre wide rims

[vippy84]

check the thickness of the tyres.. are they equal?
i installed my 18" rims for my car recently and one of the tyre isnt equally on the same thickness.. therefore, it drift to the side which has thicker tyre thread...

[yfin]

Mind u the euro is 16"x7" stock.

bit smaller - 16x6.5


And yes the edge of the tyre sticks out a little bit. Is that bad????
On a flat road, it's ok but it drifts still out of the blue. When I rotate the tyre, I dun see any problem. It's just when I try to go straight and steering wheel tends to drift away from the straight line.

call them and ask them the offset. If they put the correct offset it should be flush with the body.

Rotating the tyres means you actually swap the position of each rim on the car - you definately need to try this. Bob Jane should do it for you if they fitted the tyres.

[albii]

Sometimes it happens when you put on a much wider tyre with directional tread.Some directional treads are more coarser than others especially if there is a definate V in the tread which causes the problem.
It's called tramlining.
I used to run 225/40/18 and now changed to 235/40/18.
Wait a while and let your tyres run in a little as it will get better.
BTW..rotating will not fix anything as all tyre sizes and rim and offset sizes will be the same on all 4 wheels.

vippy84...try putting the offending tyre on the back seeing as you have front wheel drive and that should fix the problem.

[Cranial]

I've just got some 18x7.5" rims and planning to put 225/40/18 on them. Wouldn't putting in 235/40/18 change the overall diameter of the wheel+tyre, meaning your speedo would be off?

[jooneth]

bit smaller - 16x6.5



call them and ask them the offset. If they put the correct offset it should be flush with the body.

Rotating the tyres means you actually swap the position of each rim on the car - you definately need to try this. Bob Jane should do it for you if they fitted the tyres.

I just checked with tempe tyre and they said the offset is +38. What does this mean?

[sameol3]

I've got buddyclub rims which are 18x8 offset of +42 so the front does stick out a couple of millimeters on 225/40/18 and no problems to what you are describing...i had problems with steering wheel wobble but that was due to wheel wasnt balanced properly.... but no problems with the width and drifting to one side...

+38 is less then recommended, from wat i remeber it std is like +55 on the stock rims and should be around +45 to around +55...correct me if im wrong..

[yfin]

S
BTW..rotating will not fix anything as all tyre sizes and rim and offset sizes will be the same on all 4 wheels..

You would be surprised the difference swapping the position of the tyres can make. Sometimes problems of drifting dissapear. I saw it with my car.

[albii]

I've got buddyclub rims which are 18x8 offset of +42 so the front does stick out a couple of millimeters on 225/40/18 and no problems to what you are describing...i had problems with steering wheel wobble but that was due to wheel wasnt balanced properly.... but no problems with the width and drifting to one side...

+38 is less then recommended, from wat i remeber it std is like +55 on the stock rims and should be around +45 to around +55...correct me if im wrong..

Spot on....+45 ito the standard +55 is right on a euro.

[jooneth]

Spot on....+45 ito the standard +55 is right on a euro.

So you are saying +38 is too much less than what it should be???? Is this is so, why did they fit these rims in my car??? Is there anything you can do to fix this?

[akina]

they fitted it on ur car so they make $$

not much u can do about it now. should have done a little research b4 u do anything. as i said b4... siff trust tempe tyres.

[tony1234]

they fitted it on ur car so they make $$

not much u can do about it now. should have done a little research b4 u do anything. as i said b4... siff trust tempe tyres.
Agreed.Tempe tyres:thumbdwn:

[mugen88]

Its the wrong offset, return them and get a set that is the correct offset.

Get this done ASAP and dont waste any more time as they put the wrong one on your car.

Preferable offset should be btwn +45 to +55 on a 8inch wide rim.

Let us know how you go.

[tony1234]

Its the wrong offset, return them and get a set that is the correct offset.

Get this done ASAP and dont waste any more time as they put the wrong one on your car.

Preferable offset should be btwn +45 to +55 on a 8inch wide rim.

Let us know how you go.
Correct.i was also told this.Bet.+45-+55.i've got +48 on 17s after 20k no problems.

[hengis]

just keep 'em.
that's a sacrifice i'd make to have that much dish =P

[yfin]

I just checked with tempe tyre and they said the offset is +38. What does this mean?

Basically it is the distance between the centre of the rim and the hub. If you change it significantly enough you will find it changes the handling characteristics of the vehicle.

+38 offset extends the outside of your rim by 3.8cm compared to stock. Reduces inner clearance by 2mm.

A good compromise for an 8" rim would be a +45 offset. You don't want to go too high an offset with such a wide rim or it will reduce clearance to the caliper and strut by too much. So the wider the rim - go with a lower offset than stock (but not too low).

Play around with this calculator and you will see how it works. In your case I think you got bad advice about which were suitable rims for your car. Some tyre shops focus too much on whether rims will "fit" as opposed to whether they are suitable.

http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp

http://www.1010tires.com/images/WheelOffset.jpg

[jooneth]

Basically it is the distance between the centre of the rim and the hub. If you change it significantly enough you will find it changes the handling characteristics of the vehicle.

+38 offset extends the outside of your rim by 3.8cm compared to stock. Reduces inner clearance by 2mm.

A good compromise for an 8" rim would be a +45 offset. You don't want to go too high an offset with such a wide rim or it will reduce clearance to the caliper and strut by too much. So the wider the rim - go with a lower offset than stock (but not too low).

Play around with this calculator and you will see how it works. In your case I think you got bad advice about which were suitable rims for your car. Some tyre shops focus too much on whether rims will "fit" as opposed to whether they are suitable.

http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp

http://www.1010tires.com/images/WheelOffset.jpg

Hey, Thanks for the detailed explanation. I should've used this forum before I bought the rims, but I had a few issues with login just before I bought the wheels and couldn't post anything.....

When they fit the wheels, I saw them putting some hub cap (not sure what you call this) just before they fit the wheels in. By looking at this picture u posted, that hub cap stuff seem like they make some clearance between the rim and strut......but not too sure...

Please give me some advise on what I need to do..... Should I go back to tempe tyre and ask them to replace it? I already did some scratch on the rims.....

Also, a few days ago, I heard some scratching noise from front right wheel.... sounded like something was touching... could this be the wheels touching the strut??

[akina]

the hub cap ur talking about is probably the spacers. They fill in the extras to make ur offset increase. However IMO, I wouldn't recommend it and its bad for the wheels itself, killing the performance. But it does the purpose of the looks.

Not sure about the scratching noice ur talking about tho.

[jooneth]

the hub cap ur talking about is probably the spacers. They fill in the extras to make ur offset increase. However IMO, I wouldn't recommend it and its bad for the wheels itself, killing the performance. But it does the purpose of the looks.

Not sure about the scratching noice ur talking about tho.

I just remember, it's called Hub Rings. Supposedly you have to have these when you have aftermarket tyre. Don't think Hub Rings would fix that drift issue.

And I have just emailed Tempe Tyres and asked whether they can do anything about..... I am even thinking of reporting this to consumer's affair if they ignore my request....

[tony1234]

I'd take them back because they sold you rims with an offset that is not suitable for the Euro(45-55 is the recommended range)and you're having ride and handling problems.

[yfin]

hub centric rings make sure the rim fits on properly and centred. If you didn't have them fitted you might find at high speed there is vibration.

Don't believe your rims can touch the strut - it is only a 2mm difference. But it could rub the outside guard (unlikely unless you lower the car).

What I would do is call up the local RTA in your state. Ask them what is the legal change in offset and size in your state. There are rules about those things.If the tyre shop fit an illegal size for your state you could do something about that if they didn't tell you. Could put some pressure on them to fit a proper sized rim.

[tron07]

Never seen any euro with deep dish rims such as yours.... first thing comes to mind is if the offset correct???