Hey, I've dug through about all the past threads there are and I cannot find out just what the heck an offset and spacers are and why they are used. I realize this may be pretty basic stuff here...but I'm just getting started with this forum and Maxima's and am trying to figure it all out as I go along. Any help would be very much appreciated! Thanks.

Stuart

 

Stickys, Google, and the many pages of info. in this forum are your friend

 

you can search the internet for details..... in a nut shell .... offset is the distance from the center of the wheel to the hub (mounting point) 0 offset is deadcenter .. positive offset put the hub closer to the outside..... neg offset puts the hub closer to the inside.... spacers are not needed if you pick the correct offset

 

Simply put, lower the offset, further wheels stick out. Like z32 said, you don't need spacers if you get the right offset rims.

 

thanks guys, thats pretty much just what I was lookin for.

 

What would be the ideal offset to get the wheels closest to the corners without having to use spacers? Would this also depend on the width of the wheel? Thanks.

 

offset depends on the width of the rim..... a wider rim needs less offset to sit even with the fender...... and if the 5th gen is like the 4th gen.... you need a diff offset front and rear to make all 4 sit even with the fenders..... on my car 17x9 +34 is perfect in the rear.... but it sticks out a little in the front.... 17x9 +38 to +40 would be about right in the front.... I haven't tried those offsets yet so there may be other problems with clearance on the inside
use the offset calc at the top of the page.... you can measure the amount you want to move you wheel and play around with offset until you find the right set up.... example if you want your wheel 2" closer to the fender... you would need to reduce the offset on your current wheel 2" (aprox 50mm) so your 17x7 +40 would now be 17x7 -10 (example only) but to get the same rim position with a 17x9 would take a diff offset...since it is 2" wider to start with at the same offset +40 you should be 1" closer to the fender already.... your new offset would be +15..... rember these are for example only

 

Thanks. That's is a great explanation. Man, I love this site!!!!!!