new to wheel offsets

[Gipson]

I have a set of four wheels I'd like to fit to my golf, all look identical however three have a +44 offset and one of them has an offset of 40, am I correct in thinking the offset is in mm and that +40 offset will stick out slightly more? If that's the case I would like to try and get two wheels at +40 and two at +44 (front and rears). is that simply a case of adding a 4mm spacer to one of the +44's

am I on the right track here haha?
Thanks in advance

[team_v]

You are correct.

I don't know if they make a 4mm spacer, generally they are only in 5mm increments.
If you get 2x40's and 2x44's you could just run the 40's on the rear for the staggered look.

[Gipson]

Thanks team_v I will probably have to get one made up,
then will put the two higher offsets on the front and the two lower (one with spacer) on the rear.
cheers for that
Dan

[Jarred]

yep, you're right there.

I hope you're not running coilovers though, cause those specs will most probably foul on the struts.

[dylan8]

its not all about the offset. the offset is based on the width.
find the specs of your current wheels (width and offset) and the same for your new wheels. then run it on the offset calculator you can find here on the forum.
If your new wheels are the same width as each other, run the 40 offset on the back. the rear of the cars can generally have more room to push them outwards towards the arch. the offset and/or width doesnt have to be the same front and back

[Gipson]

yep, you're right there.

I hope you're not running coilovers though, cause those specs will most probably foul on the struts.

Indeed I am not at the moment
I imagine they would be fine even with coilovers though, as they're almost identical specs to mk3 steel wheels which seem to go fine with coils
will most likely be changing to lowered springs though

[gareth_oau]

try this website,

you can play with widths and offsets and see how it affects your inner clearance and outer gain

Wheel Offset Calculator

(and also be aware that spacers may not be legal in your state and may affect your insurance)

[straight_fresh]

you could get 4mm machined off the +40... im pretty sure iv said that right, but more importantly, what wheels are they!!!???!?

[dubbed_up_daz]

that ^ would make it et36,if all four wheels are the same width youll need to run a 4mm spacer on the 40 and youd be better running it on the rear. Offset is the distance 'from' the hub face to the centreline of the wheel so if you machine the hub face you are decreasing the et

[dylan8]

that ^ would make it et36,if all four wheels are the same width youll need to run a 4mm spacer on the 40 and youd be better running it on the rear. Offset is the distance 'from' the hub face to the centreline of the wheel so if you machine the hub face you are decreasing the et

taking 4mm off the 40 wheel would make it a 44 not 36. or are the paint fumes getting to me...

[rayray086]

you could get 4mm machined off the +40... im pretty sure iv said that right, but more importantly, what wheels are they!!!???!?

that ^ would make it et36,if all four wheels are the same width youll need to run a 4mm spacer on the 40 and youd be better running it on the rear. Offset is the distance 'from' the hub face to the centreline of the wheel so if you machine the hub face you are decreasing the et

That's NOT right. 4mm machined off the mounting surface of a wheel at ET40 will INCREASE the offset to ET44. A +40 offset means the mounting surface sits 40mm away from the centre of the wheel, towards the outer rim. Machining 4mm of material off the mounting surface will increase the distance of the mounting surface of the wheel to the centre by 4mm, hence changing it to a +44. Or just think of it this way - if adding spacers ("adding material") lowers offset, then machining off material should mean an increase in offset.

dylan8 also has a point about offset being dependent on the width, but we're assuming here that all the wheels (ET40 and ET44 variants) are of the same width?

Edit: dylan8 beat me to it! The paint fumes are doing you good mate.

[Gipson]

hey daz wouldn't adding the spacer on the 40 effectively push the wheel outward more increasing the amount it pokes and decreasing its offset?

wheels are a set i've had sitting about for a while, decided to polish them up and get them on until I get time to clean up the bbs
i'm strangely addicted to them

[Gipson]

and you two both beat me to the line haha

[rayray086]

Awesome wheels, space them out for sure!

[straight_fresh]

yes, putting a spacer on the +40 will make it +36... i thinnk your best bet would be machining the +40 down 4mm, i thought those wheels had potential, colour matched slots would make them look awesome!