How Is Offset Measured?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Your wheel offset is the distance from where you mount your wheel to the wheel’s center. The centerline is the literal “center” of the width of your wheel. This centerline is also known as a 0 mm offset. That’s important to note because

your wheel offset is always measured in millimeters

.

What is a 5’2 offset?

For example, a 5+2 offset means there is

5” from the back/inner bead to the mounting plate, 2” from the mounting plate to the outer bead

.

Is offset measured in mm?

Offset is the distance between the centerline of the Wheel and the hub mounting surface.

Offset is measured in millimeters (mm)

. It tells you where the wheel is positioned in the wheel well. The amount of offset will vary, depending on the wheel design.

What does 20mm offset mean?

A 20mm offset means

the wheel face is more toward the outside of the vehicle than a 1mm offset

.

What does 45mm offset mean?

For example, an ET45 wheel measurement has a positive offset of 45mm, which means that

the mounting face is 45mm in front of the centre line

. Conversely, a wheel with ET-12 will have a negative offset where the mounting face is 12mm behind the centre line of the wheel.

What does 30mm offset mean?

A stock wheel, no matter what OEM manufacturer, is going to run a +high offset, typically in the +30mm to +40mm range. This

allows the wheel to “suck-in” under the vehicle more, keeping your center of gravity under the cockpit and reducing overall machine width

.

Is 10mm offset a big difference?


10mm isn’t a huge amount

. On some cars it makes little difference. Tough you say. But if you want exact fit…see if the dealer still make it right.

What offset is 4.5 backspacing?

Back- spacing 3.25 in. 4.5 in. Wheel Width Offset (mm)
5.5 in.


0


32
6.0 in. -6.4 25 6.5 in. -12 19

What is 10 mm offset?

Well, 25.4mm is equal to 1 inch. So

3/8′′

is 10mm.

How do you know if offset will fit?

Put simply, to find if your wheels will fit your car,

measure the distance from your wheel’s center point to where it is mounted

. This is the offset. Add that to half your wheel’s width to find the back space and subtract it to find the front space. Compare this to your wheel well to see if it fits.

How much offset is 2 inch spacers?

So for example, if you are using 2 inch wheel spacers on stock wheels with 60 mm offset, that will give you

+ 9 mm offset

(60 – 25.4 x 2 = 9.2).

What is a +35 offset?

What is 18mm offset?

How much offset is too much?

The perils of bad offset

Tire rub is even worse, as it will very quickly rip up the inside sidewall of the tire, an area where the damage is very hard to detect until the tire blows out. This is why that ideally, you don’t want the new offset to be

more than 5 millimeters away from the old offset in either direction

.

How much offset difference is OK?

It’s best to allow an

1/8-inch

of play for potentially wider tires. See all 11 photos Offset not only affects how far the wheel/tire sticks out of the fender well but also its proximity to suspension components like knuckles, and control arms.

What does 6.5 J mean on wheels?

When you’re looking into the sizing of alloys you’ll see it shown like this: 15 x 6.5J. The first half (15) is your wheel diameter, simple enough, while the second half (the 6.5J) is

the wheel width

. By width we mean the section between the mounting flanges on the wheel.

What does et 44 mean on a wheel?

“ET44” means

a 44-millimeter positive offset or 44mm off center on the roadside of the rim

. “ET” comes from the German word “Einpresstiefe” which means “insertion depth.”

What does ET on wheels mean?

In practice, the ET-value is

the number in millimetres that the centre line of the wheel deviates from the mounting surface

(on the wheel hub). As a rule of thumb: the higher the ET, the more a wheel is positioned inwards; the lower the ET, the more a wheel protrudes outwards.

What does a zero offset mean?

Zero Offset is

the amount of deviation in output or reading from the exact value at the lowest point of the measurement range

. The zero offset can be expressed in measurement or signal units, or as a percentage of the full scale range.

How do I choose wheel offset?

Is positive or negative offset better?


Positive offset creates more backspace, while negative offset reduces backspace

. The example shown here is 6 inches wide with a 3 inch backspacing. This would be the equivalent to a zero offset wheels since the mounting surface aligns with the centerline of the wheel.

Does positive offset push wheels out?

Check out the diagrams below for a visual illustration of each offset type. You can see how

a positive offset will tuck the assembly further under the fender

, while a zero or negative offset pushes the wheel out towards or even past the fender.

Does negative offset help with rubbing?

On these trucks, moving the wheel outboard almost always causes more rubbing. The exception is if you have a wide enough tire on the stock wheels, the tires can rub on the radius arms. To avoid rubbing, look at 20×9 wheels with +18 mm offset or perhaps 0 mm offset.

Going negative is just going to make it worse

.

How much is a negative 44 offset?

BACKSPACE 3.25′′ 5′′ 9′′ -44 0
9.5′′


-51


-6
10′′ -57 -12 10.5′′ -63 -19

What does 5 inch backspacing mean?

5 inches refers to

the distance between the inner flange and outer flange

. Next, divide the width in inches by 2 to find the centerline. The width of this wheel is 9.5 inches, so its centerline is at 4.75 inches. Then, subtract the centerline value from the backspace value to find your offset in inches (5.25-4.75=. 5).

How do you calculate backspacing and offset?

Offset is simply the distance from the hub mounting surface to the center of the wheel. In other words,

Offset = Measured Backspace – Calculated Wheel Center Distance

. In this example, we already know that our Measured Backspace = 5 3/16 inches.

David Evans
Author
David Evans
David is a seasoned automotive enthusiast. He is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering and has a passion for all things related to cars and vehicles. With his extensive knowledge of cars and other vehicles, David is an authority in the industry.