Staggered Rims on an AWD????

[gsxawd99]

Hey guys, I have an 99 GSX and a buddy of mine wants to sell me his 20" Axis Mods to replace my 20" Giovanna's, I'd like to do it because I really like to wheel style with the nice big lip, but the problem is that the front are 20x9, but the rears are 20x10....Will having a bigger, heavier wheel in the rear screw up my AWD harmony???? I know I can't change the overall heights of the wheels, the dealer told me that but I'm not sure about the weight difference.

 

[98spydert]

I know different wheel or tire diameters will screw you up but i wouldn't think the width would an effect on the AWD. Hopefully someone can conferm.

What width are your currant wheels? How the hell do they fit in there?!?! I was looking at your gallery. Do they rub on everything and any bump on the road or what?

 

[gsxawd99]

I am more worried about the weight difference rather than the width, I figure a 10" wide wheel's gonna weigh a bit more than a 9" wide one....I use a 15mm spacer to keep from rubbing the control arms, but I rolled the fenders and have the Kaminari wide-body kit on their to make it look nice almost like stock, I like it a lot better than flares only...it still looks pretty stock, just with bigger wheels, obviously not for performance, but I don't race or anything so....

 

[jtmcinder]

That 20x10s weigh more than 20x9s is the least of your problems when running 20s on a DSM.

Are you putting the wider wheels on the rear because of your updated differentials?

- Jtoby

 

[MackZ24]

Actually, I was doing a search for this same question over the forums and I could not find a concrete answer. We know you can't run different diameter wheels because the difference in wheel speeds causes the LSD to burn up, but will 1" wider wheel on the back cause the same conditions? jtmcinder, I don't know if the "updated differentials" was sarcasm saying that it will not work, or if he actually posted somewhere else and did update his diffs, but I'd like to know the answer if anyone could provide it?

 

[HokieDSM]

I don't think you can do it. Rim Diameter aside, running 20x9s in the front and 20x10s out back would mean you'd have to run different tire sizes, and unless you can manage to get two tire sizes that are EXACTLY the same in terms of Rolling Diameter, you'll destroy your center diff.

The weight is a completely other issue - but you're already running 20's, so you're probably already seeing a pretty hefty loss due to the weight of those rims. You can make up for it with performance mods, but judging from your profile, I can't imagine your car being all that 'swift' right now.

Do you have any pictures updated from the ones in your gallery? I'm not one for huge rims, but I am curious to see how the car looks painted and whatnot.

 

[TommyDSM]

How about different size tires? Like 215/45-17 in the front and 225/45-17 in the rear. Will that screw anything up?

 

[jtmcinder]

jtmcinder, I don't know if the "updated differentials" was sarcasm saying that it will not work, or if he actually posted somewhere else and did update his diffs, but I'd like to know the answer if anyone could provide it?

I doubt he has updated diffs, so, yes, it was sarcastic. Here are the issues involved:

If anything, wider rims will increase lateral grip.

DSMs start out with terminal understeer.

So, if you have different-width rims, you want the wider ones in the front, not the rear.

- Jtoby

 

[MackZ24]

jtmcinder, I thought I noted a hint of sarcasm!
HokieDSM, you make a very good point. It would probably be very hard to get two tires with the exact same rolling diameter, in fact, damn near impossible. I was just wondering as I thought it might have been a good idea for a track only car with an updated 65/35 split diff. Anyways, thanks a lot guys.

 

[92spoolin']

So I'm bringing back this thread because I've really been wondering if you were to get a 9.5/8.5 wide 18 inch rim if you ran the same size tire say a 245/40/18 or a 255 would it really throw it off that much or would the fact running the same tire even it out enough. I've been looking for a decent lip look for the car and just have been tossing around the idea any help would be great.

 

[knochgoon24]

You're better off getting 4 of the same rims and 4 of the same tires, then use spacers to even up the fender/tire clearance front to rear.

 

[Tanro]

Well correct me if I am wrong but if you use the same width tire on two different width wheels would the blowout/stretch affect to accommodate the wider wheel not create a difference in sidewall profile?

 

[92spoolin']

I'm not for sure set in stone on even trying it I was just tossing around the idea. I was thinking about trying to go with the widest tire I could do just to prevent from stretching the tire to much. I just was thinking it would be pretty interesting and a different look to have a staggered lip setup.

 

[Evil94Evo]

Buy two new wheels of whatever size say 18"x8" and on the front run a 40 offset and buy two new wheels of the same size 18x8 and run a 15 or 20 offset and there ya go, staggered wheels. And no worried on stretched tires etc.

 

[knochgoon24]

That's probably the best way to go to get the staggered lip look.

Watch your offsets and tire size though. You really don't have a ton of room to play with.