wheel offset
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2000
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From: Norway
wheel offset
When I started restoring my F-100 eight years ago I relied on a Norwegian guru who was supposed to know everything about the F-100. It was he that said I could bolt on a Volare front right to the frame. So I am reseeing some of his advice.
I have 6.5"x15" hubs and will be using 225X15" tires. My Norwegian guru said that I had to have an 1/2" negative offset up front and a 1/2 positive in the rear.So I took a set of my hubs and altered them.I have read this forum the last past years and have never heard this before. Having different offset in the front and back makes a spare tire problematic.So two questions: Have I been screwed again? If so what offset should be used for all four hubs? I have a 9" N rear so the bolt pattern matches the Volare front.
I have 6.5"x15" hubs and will be using 225X15" tires. My Norwegian guru said that I had to have an 1/2" negative offset up front and a 1/2 positive in the rear.So I took a set of my hubs and altered them.I have read this forum the last past years and have never heard this before. Having different offset in the front and back makes a spare tire problematic.So two questions: Have I been screwed again? If so what offset should be used for all four hubs? I have a 9" N rear so the bolt pattern matches the Volare front.
Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,688
Likes: 4
From: Southern Oregon
Your offset, or backspace, is apparently 1 inch different front to back. For the purpose of seeing how your setup will work regarding a spare, switch one of your front and back tires/wheels. If there are no interference problems at either location, you could use a wheel with standard backspace as a spare. Also, you can use a narrower wheel and tire, getting a tire that is as close to height as possible. I have 215R60 X 15 rear tires on 7 inch wide wheels, and front is 195R60 X 15 on 6 inch wide wheels. Backspace is 2 1/8 inch. Plan to use a spare 195R75 X 14 tire with 5 inch rim.
Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 3,005
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From: Santa Clarita
There are several internet sites such as tire rack.com that explain how to check and measure offset. If you have the rim, measure the distance from the lug holes to the edge of the rim, subtracting .5" for the tire lip ( I place a straight piece of metal across the wheel and measure it that way). That will tell you what your current offset is on the wheels. + or - offset is determined by whether the distance is to the left of the center of the rim or right. Center of the rim is 0 offset. I don't know what measurements this guru guy gave you, but my advice is to measure it or have someone at a tire place measure it for you. I have a +4.0" offset on both front and rear rims. I could of gone with a 3.5" offset in the front, but I wanted the rims to tuck in more giving me more clearance from the edge of the fender well and also giving me a different look that I prefer. Anymore, I would have problems with steering clearances.
Last edited by imlowr2; Apr 15, 2006 at 11:35 AM.
Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,688
Likes: 4
From: Southern Oregon
Here is another site for measuring wheel backspace: http://www.rsracing.com/tech-wheel.html#backspace
