Can someone please explain . . . . .

[Billy_smith]

off set please the full monty like, how you measure it, wot means wot etc. looking for a new set of wheels but dont understand this business cheers

[Savvi]

I'm willing to answer your question if you can explain what your meaning 1st

[Smudger105e]

I think what he means is off set when you are looking at wheels. Its to do with where the part of the wheel that bolts to the hub is compared with the wheel rim itself, I'm sure someone on here will be able to advise where the measurements are taken from...

[Trevmk3]

may help, may not

 

http://www.balancemotorsport.co.uk/imag ... iagram.jpg

[Fiesta Steve]

I believe the measurement is taken from the centre line of the wheel to the mounting face.

 

This determines how far the wheel sits in or out of the wheel arch.

 

It can make a 6" wheel fill the arch or look lost in the arch depening on which you go for.

 

When you start trying to fit wider wheels the offset becomes more critical, too far in and it'll catch on the inner, too far out and it'll catch on the outer.

[Billy_smith]

I'm willing to answer your question if you can explain what your meaning 1st

 

 

 

I think the answer is: full electrics, aircon , power steering etc etc ?

 

pmsl! yeh sorry forgot that bit! yeh wheels mate sorry thanks for the advise

[Vista]

As Steve said

 

Inset or outset

This is very important. Ignore this and you can end up with all manner of nasty problems. This is the distance in mm between the centre line of the wheel rim, and the line through the fixing face. You can have inset, outset or neither. This determines how the suspension and self-centring steering behave. The most obvious problem that will occur if you get it wrong is that the steering will either become so heavy that you can't turn the car, or so light that you need to spend all your time keeping the bugger in a straight line. More mundane problems through ignoring this measurement can range from wheels that foul parts of the bodywork or suspension, to high-speed judder in the steering because the suspension setup can't handle that particular type of wheel. This figure will be stamped on the wheel somewhere as an ET figure.

 

Inset and outset are subsets of offset and the relationship is this : positive offset = inset. Negative offset = outset. Typically you can get away with 5mm-7mm difference from the vehicle manufacturer specification before you'll run into trouble with the wheels fouling the suspension or bodywork. So for example if your stock wheels have an offset of 42mm and you can only find replacements with a 40mm offset, that 2mm difference ought to OK.