All,

As you may know, I purchased 17 inch coupe rims for use with my snow tires that I ordered, Blizzak LM 22's. I have an '04 6MT with the standard Brembo setup. After placing one of the front rims on my left front tire, the wheel spokes barely clear the brembos. I can spin them, but the clearance is less than the width of a dime. Back wheels are not an issue. Tire setup is 225/50 R17 in front and 235/50 R17 in rear. Rims are labeled 17 X 7.5 for front and 17 X 8 for rears.

For those with experience, is this enough clearance? Would any flex occur jeapardizing impact? Should I get spacers for the front wheels? Would I then have to get spacers for the rears even though the clearance there is fine in the rears? More importantly, has anyone run this setup? If you do recommend spacers, what size and where do you prefer ordering?

Here are the pictures of the clearance. All pics are small and 56K is fine. I appreciate any tips. Also, incidentally, I take it that my tire pressure monitoring system light will be on when running with these rims since they presumably do not have the sensors within. I gather this won't be an issue?

 

i don't have much experience in wheels, but why don't u get spacer !!

 

Just get a 1/8" spacer for the fronts. No need to put anything on the rear.

 

i'd put some spacers on the front. the offset for the 7.5" rim is different than the rears. The difference is barely notibable, but if you look you'll wee it.

 

Yeah, that is scary to me. I definitely need to do more research.

 

I would be worried about the minimal clearance in the fronts. Because of what they throw on the roads for ice etc. I'm thinking if they use rock chips laced with salt, the rock chips may scratch the brembo calipers if they are caught up in inside of the rim.

 

A width of a dime is too close for comfort. I don't know how much a wheel will flex under hard cornering, but 2mm isn't much and I wouldn't risk damaging those nice brembo calipers just for convenience. I'd say definitely get some spacers. At least for the fronts.

 

way way way way too close for comfort. You should have went for the oem 350z 17". The clear brembos perfectly.

 

Silver: I had the chance to get those rims, which already had the Blizzak's on them for about $700 + shipping. I did not think the 350Z rims cleared. Oh well. I did pick these 17 inch rims up for $212, but after purchasing the tires, it all came out about the same anyway and I'll have a brand new set of snow tires.

I contacted an Indianapolis tire shop, who then contacted a supplier to inform them of my intended setup. The solution was that I use a .125 (1/8) inch spacer for the snow tires. Spacers were cheap, so I think I'm set.

UPDATE:
I called around to a couple of specialty wheel shops and received a couple of different answers on the maximum size studless spacer that can be safely used on our wheel hub and the one that would best suit my application. One person said 5 mm (.2 inches), another .25 inches, and another 3 mm (.12 inches, almost 1/8 inch). I've decided to go with the 1/8 inch spacer and not the .25 inch because the 1/8 inch supposedly minimizes vibration more and allows more turns on the thread. One of the guys I spoke with thought that as long as the spoke clears, I would be fine since the caliper is at a fixed position. I still don't want to take the chance and therefore will go with the 1/8 inch spacer.

 

I had about a dime's thickness between my Mayas and Brembos and had no problem with flex or hitting. But I would feel better with an 1/8 inch spacer. You need to find a hubcentric spacer to minimize wheel wobble.

 

Thanks, I could not find a single place that was selling a 3 mm hubcentric spacer. I wasn't sure if they made them until I saw a seller on ebay that sold one, but it was for a different lug pattern. I'll keep my eyes open, however, for now I'm going to go with one of the many non-hubcentric 3 mm spacer to use on the front wheels for minimal snow driving. I'll report driving impressions when I receive them.

 

good luck

 

UPDATE:

The 3 mm spacers were a success for the front 17 inch coupe wheels (my snow rims/tires). The spacers were thin enough to assure that the protruding hub still catches within the wheel while leaving enough space so the spokes are comfortably far enough away from my Brembo calipers. I installed them and took a successful test drive at high speeds. The ride was extremely smooth (better than my 18's!). Here are some pictures of my front wheel. I did not need spacers for the rear.

Unless they are hubcentric spacers, I would not recommend spacers that are any thicker than 3 mm for this application because (1) its unneccessary and (2) it will force the wheel further from the hub, which will result in more of the weight of the car on the lugs instead of centering the wheel and its weight on the protruding hub.

 

I think you have those spacers intalled incorrectly, you need to remove that extra 10mm bolt, and reinstall the spacers so that the spacer is centered on the hub.

 

Thanks for the tip, I meant to ask about that. What is the function/purpose of the 10 mm bolt?