How much wheel offset is too much?
Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 10:56 am
I've been reading up on suspension geometry, wheel offset, scrub radius, etc., etc., and I understand the theory pretty well, but I have a practical question for anyone out there who's played around with their wheels a bit...
I sourced some zero-offset 15x6 wheels off a Toyota Landcruiser and stuck them on my van with some 235/75/15 snow/off-road tires, and I *really* like the way they look. Clears the wheel arches (after a bit of attention with a sharp knife to the bumper
), widens the stance a bit but not enough to draw unwanted police attention, and seems to drive/corner/track-straight just fine.
I understand that by moving the wheels out-board about an inch I have increased the load on my outer wheel bearings and all that good stuff. I already have a worn wheel bearing I think - I used to hear it rubbing away when I turned right (loading down the left wheel), now I hear it all the time unless I turn left (unloading that wheel). I'm prepared to fix that and make sure that they continue to stay well greased and happy.
But given that these tires are my "go-play-in-the-mud-and-snow" set, I'm curious if anyone has had premature component failure from having a setup like this.
A lot of the internet forum discussion about offset changes are from the racing/track crowd and concern funky handling characteristics when cornering/changing direction at high speeds under heavy lateral loads. Not really my worry...
But I don't have enough serious off-road experience (read: breaking stuff) to know if I am setting myself up for disaster here. I have to believe that the wheel/suspension/steering setup on these beasts is overengineered to take a fair amount of abuse, but like the title says - how much is too much.
Any experience out there running oversized wheels with no problems? Big problems? Thanks,
Tony.
I sourced some zero-offset 15x6 wheels off a Toyota Landcruiser and stuck them on my van with some 235/75/15 snow/off-road tires, and I *really* like the way they look. Clears the wheel arches (after a bit of attention with a sharp knife to the bumper
), widens the stance a bit but not enough to draw unwanted police attention, and seems to drive/corner/track-straight just fine. I understand that by moving the wheels out-board about an inch I have increased the load on my outer wheel bearings and all that good stuff. I already have a worn wheel bearing I think - I used to hear it rubbing away when I turned right (loading down the left wheel), now I hear it all the time unless I turn left (unloading that wheel). I'm prepared to fix that and make sure that they continue to stay well greased and happy.
But given that these tires are my "go-play-in-the-mud-and-snow" set, I'm curious if anyone has had premature component failure from having a setup like this.
A lot of the internet forum discussion about offset changes are from the racing/track crowd and concern funky handling characteristics when cornering/changing direction at high speeds under heavy lateral loads. Not really my worry...
But I don't have enough serious off-road experience (read: breaking stuff) to know if I am setting myself up for disaster here. I have to believe that the wheel/suspension/steering setup on these beasts is overengineered to take a fair amount of abuse, but like the title says - how much is too much.
Any experience out there running oversized wheels with no problems? Big problems? Thanks,
Tony.