offsets and spacers for alloys

[dridgy]

ok my merc alloys have a offset of 47, ive been told to use various size spacers for these wheels ie 5mm, 10mm, 12mm 15mm even 20mm.
now i know the standard offset is 39 and on the brickyard it says on some standard t25 alloys the offset was 30.
so i have between 30 to 39 to play with.
which would leave me to use spacers up to 17mm.
i was thinking of using 15mm all round.
But what if i was to use a 20mm spacer would that then make my tyres wear unevenly and affect the handling characteristics of the van because it would then have a offset of 27 ?
The reason is, i would like to have a big a gap as possible between the wheel and the front hub arm and rear trailing arm.
As it looks like the wheels will be very close to these.

cheers
John

[kevtherev]

The reason is, i would like to have a big a gap as possible between the wheel and the front hub arm and rear trailing arm.

John

so what?

they ain't never gonner meet!.

and if you don't keep within the suggested ET then your bigger gap will become a damned expensive one... Rapid tyre wear......... stressed steering components.....stupid handling

Volkswagen spent a hell of a lot of money getting the geometry right....so stick with it eh?

[Westy.Club.Joker]

Depends on the wheel rim / tyre width, this will affect the clearances at the front between the suspension arm and also the wheel arch lip.Also any lowering will come into play with the clearance. It can be a case of fit `em and see what you need spacer wise.

Get some washers that fit over the wheel studs (just on 3 studs will do for checking), make up what thickness spacer you think you`ll need using washers on the studs, then put the wheel on and try for clearance, fine adjust to get what you want, then buy that thickness of spacer to suit.

[dridgy]

thanks for the reply westy

thats a great idea, ill try that first

thanks

John