I finally got the wheels in.

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I thought I had figured out the science behind the wheel sizes and offsets with spacers using the tire/wheel fitment tool but.......

The brakes fit but I am worried that I am almost maxed out with room to push these out any further with spacers due to clearance with the outer fender. I know it is hard to tell right now without tires, but if I mount the tires then the wheels are non-returnable, how-ever I am pretty set on this set of wheels (this is the only offset available so I have to make it work with spacers). The tires are a set of 285/30R20 for rear and 235/35R19 for the front. Do I need to roll my fenders? If so where do I rent/buy one of those fender roller devices? I am also going to be lowering by cutting the springs and using MikeR camber arms and sway bar links. I am trying to get the perfect fit as others have done without or at least minimal rubbing.


The backs are 20"X10" with 40mm offset and pictured have no spacer (these should not fit according to manufacturer). These do fit but I have only 9mm clearance between the inner lip of the wheel and the inner wheel well at the closest point (circled in red in the picture below). I held a make shift plumb bob against the inside of the fender at the point where the factory fender roll apex is and it is flush with the outside of the wheel. I had bought 20mm spacers for these wheels, but don't think I need them that wide because they are not only too wide for comfort but also the limited clearance at the outer fender.

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The fronts are 19"X8.5" with 43mm offset and pictured have no spacers but I AM contacting the upper suspension arm with the inner lip of the wheel (these are suppose to fit according to the manufacturer). I have the same plumb line from the same inner rolled apex area of the outer fender and it is flush with the outside of the wheel as well. I had bought 5mm spacers for these wheels, but looks like I need wider ones to clear the inner suspension bracket.

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I found this place in Dallas to rent a fender roller for $50 with a $25 deposit. Gets to SA in 1 day ground.
RollYourFender.Com - Rental Info - Fast, Easy, & Affordable Professional Fender Roller Rental

here's one for sale for $270
Fender Roller Tool, Fender Rolling Tool For Sale With How To & DIY Instructions



Anyone have a set of 10mm, 12mm, and/or 15mm hub centric spacers they would let me borrow and/or buy?

more pictures of the issues
http://photobucket.com/wheelfitment

 

Jesse,
I have a set of 10mm spacers and ball seat bolts for factory SRT wheels. I dont know if you can use the bolts, but you can borrow the spacers if you like.

I am running 19x9.5 ET35 rear wheels and 18x8.5 ET35 front wheels. They are AMG 810 replicas and I dont need any spacers for the wheels to be out near the inside edge of the fender and clear on the inside by the suspension.

 

I'm running 18x9 ET 30 on the front and 18x10 ET 25 on the back. In the front I rubbed until I heated the contact points and hammered them in a little. I rolled the front fenders some when I went to a 255 on the front. In the rear the rubbing existed on the inner wheel well where it tapers down. Again, I heated the metal (after the rubbing exposed it) and massaged it out of the way. (battery disconnected) I didn't roll the rears but it looks easier than the fronts. Be careful with the tabs that the fender liner attaches to. If your not careful they will make an impression on the outside. Take your time to get the metal hot with a heat gun. I'd say 3 minutes of heating the area. That way the paint won't crack. I found some good tutorials on youtube that really helped with the progression and angles with the roller and how long to heat the metal.

I think you can get them to fit if your willing to spend the time and effort. That means finding or making the exact size spacers and rolling or reforming the metal where necessary but the only way to know for sure is mount them and start adjusting. BTW, the wheels move inward at the top as the suspension compresses. Good luck, I love the wheels!

Les

 

Just to make you feel better, I am running:

19 X 8.5" 35 mm Offset front wheels, 235/35 X 19" 10 mm spacer (25 mm effective offset)

20 X 9.5" 35 mm Offset rear wheels, 275/30 X 20 15 mm spacer (20 mm effective offset)

Eibach Sport springs, Adjustable rear arms (I made them )

Doing the math (crayon and matchbook time!)

You'll need 20/25 mm spacers in front to make it like mine (23/18 mm effective offset).

You'll need 20/25 mm spacers in back to make it like mine. (23/18 mm effective offset).

You adjust/massage the spacer thicknesses, but I think they come in 5 mm increments.

Mount the tires-Measuring the wheels hanging in space really doesn't help. The suspension swings out a bit in extension.

What you have should work with correct spacing. My rears were tucked in a bit before lowering-now they're as close to flush as possible. Check my gallery.

 

Thank you both for your input and encouragment.

Mike, could send the spacers with the links and camber arms and I'll return them once I figure out the spacing? My bolts are tappered so I can't use ball seats. Discount tire is letting use a variety of length of bolts to determine fitment. If I can't find a 12mm and 15mm set of spacers I may just have to order some.

Les, thanks for the input. I think I will just roll the fenders like you said. Could I ask a huge favor of you? When you get time could you measure the clearance in two areas for me? The first is the clearance from the inner lip of your front wheel to the upper control arm. Second, the inner lip of the wheel on the rear to the closest part of the inner wheel well? The area that is towards the front of the rear wheel well in front of the shock just above the trailing link as I circled in red in the picture above?

I know you drive your car hard, have fit various size tires, and have similar width wheels with what I just got. I think this will help give me a baseline of clearance that works just so I can get the tires mounted and fine tune some more.

 

Just to make you feel better, I am running:

19 X 8.5" 35 mm Offset front wheels, 235/35 X 19" 10 mm spacer (25 mm effective offset)

20 X 9.5" 35 mm Offset rear wheels, 275/30 X 20 15 mm spacer (20 mm effective offset)

Eibach Sport springs, Adjustable rear arms (I made them )

Doing the math (crayon and matchbook time!)

You'll need 20/25 mm spacers in front to make it like mine (23/18 mm effective offset).

You'll need 20/25 mm spacers in back to make it like mine. (23/18 mm effective offset).

You adjust/massage the spacer thicknesses, but I think they come in 5 mm increments.

Mount the tires-Measuring the wheels hanging in space really doesn't help. The suspension swings out a bit in extension.

What you have should work with correct spacing. My rears were tucked in a bit before lowering-now they're as close to flush as possible. Check my gallery.

 

Thanks Max,

I see your wheels are flush with the outside of the fender. You don't have slicing/rubbing of your tires with the outer fender? Did you roll your fenders?

I also didn't show or mention this but I jacked up the lower A arm of the suspension until the car raised off fthe jack stand to put a load on it and try and represent normal ride height; at least for the rear.

Again, it isn't even lowered yet.

Looks like I just need to trust that I can make the wheels work and get the tires mounted. Cut the springs to lower it, then start playing with spacers......

 

With the spacers I spec'ed above, I had more trouble with the inside of the rear tires rubbing the liner! When I lowered it and adjusted the camber correctly, that went away and as you can see it came out pretty nice.
I posted this in detail because it looks like your choices are darned close to mine. You have wider rear tires and 8 mm more offset all around than mine. Correct for the offset and you'll be golden.

I did not roll my fenders. And the tires are well inside the wheel lips-no problem for the fenders. If you compress the suspension that far, you have other issues!

Get them mounted and go to it! Take your time, but make it snappy!

BTW-the pics in my signature are old-there are new ones in my gallery.

 

Great looking wheels. I ordered the same style for mine but in silver. Sadly, after waiting nearly three months for the rears to ship out.. A shipping snafu has caused them to be dropped off at a Estes shipping hub in Oklahoma!
Im going to be running 18x8.5 up front and 19x9.5 out back. I have a pair of 12mm H&R spacers in case I need to push them out towards the fenders in back. I anticipate a little rubbing up front with the extra width,during full lock to lock turns. All in all should be fine.
How certain are you that they use conical lug bolts? I was told by TSW that all of the Max wheels in a 5x112 bolt pattern used ball seats as they were going to be designed to use the stock Audi/VW/Mercedes lugs. Of course, this was before the Max wheels were anything more than a "coming soon" teaser pic last fall.
Good luck with everything! Going to look great when you get them mounted up!

 

Can't add to anything that hasn't already been said, but those wheels look gorgeous.

 

Thanks for the wheel compliments, they just point out how dirty the inner wheel wells are

Max, thanks for doing the math on our differences. I have 20mm spacers so I will have the tires mounted this weekend and try my spacers for fitting.

MikeR, I will fit the 20mm spacers tonight and this weekend so you may not need to let me borrow your 10mm spacers afterall.

Silverwolf, you had the same problems that I had waiting on these. I was calling every two days to get status updates. I was told this is the first set sold in Texas at least. I had the hardest time spening money too, discount and TSW tried talking me out of them several times. Where did you get your spacers from? I went with H&R hub centric. I was nervous about the 5mm ones (that I thought were going to be needed) since they aren't offered in hub centric. Also, I not only verified with the manufacturer (through discount because they don't spec it out on the website) about tappered/conical as well as verifying when I installed them. Very few aftermarket wheels have the mercedes factory ball seat wheel bolts.

The center cap works on the rear but not the front. The hub/bearing cap sticks out too far. I don't know if I shlould leave the TSW cap off and just paint the factory hub/bearing cap black, or try and find a lower profile one.

 

The spacers will fix the center cap issue. You will probably have machine the bore of the front spacers to fit over the grease cap.

Look in my gallery for the sketch I made and posted for the dimensions.

 

you guys must be seeing something im not. the edge of the rims are almost even with the rear fender lip and your going to add a 20mm spacer? rolling the fender will give you maybe 5mm so the rim itself will stick out 15mm past the edge of the fender not even counting the tire.
the xfire has very low et settings and im not sure why you ordered the rims with such high et. adding the extra width of the rim isnt helping. before mounting them maybe a return and start over with different offsets? adding extra width on the rim changes the way the rim fits inside the wheelwell as opposed to the oem setting

btw if you want a hubcentric 5mm spacer buy a 10mm hubcentric spacer and have 5 mm machined off the back. im not sure if you see the upper control arm bolt in the front but adding 1/2" in width and huge et its very likely you will have issues with the bolt hitting the tire

 

I was doing the same thing! I was checking wheel inventory on Tsw.com daily,waiting for them to arrive! I almost gave up and ordered TSW Nurburgring's instead.
I have the H&R hub centric's as well. I got them from Velocity Mania in Richardson,TX. Ordered the wheels through JW Motorsports in California, As they wanted to help me make certain they would work more than just sell me what fit off the shelf so to speak.
My fronts have a 32mm offset and 35 in the rear. I'll let you know how fitment is if they ever get here. Estes says they should be here in the next day or so. (Doubt I'd ever recommend them for shipping ever again) I know my wife is growing tired of the pair of 295/30/19 coffee tables in her living room!

 

A 30 offset on the front puts the rim and tire in the exact center of the space available. A 245 was perfect but I wanted to try a 255. With a 255 and 30 offset I had a tight fit with a credit card (1mm) to the suspension bolt and I would hit the inside of the front fender on big bumps or under heavy braking. 30 is where you should be trying to end up IMO. I filed the nut and arm just in case and rolled the fender. With a 235 you shouldn't have any problem with a 10 or 12 mm spacer. A 235 isn't wider than a 9" rim. The rear, I think you need a 15 mm spacer. I'll take some pictures and measurements when I can but really, if your car is like mine I don't need to. A 285 is a little, but not much, wider than the rim. Well, in an 18 anyway. Borrow the 10mm spacers, you'll see.

Les

 

Max, you have tons of photos in your gallery, I'm still looking. The spacer did fix the depth problem caused by the grease cap, but the cap doesn't fit now because the cap is for a smaller bore and falls inside the wheel. Must be the wrong size cap. And guess what the 20mm H&R spacer fit perfectly over the grease cap, no machining needed. Strange thing is that the spacer fits perfect on the front and back hub and perfect inside the wheel bores. The wheel bore didn't fit perfect over the hub and comes with a hardwarre kit to shim the bore to fit better (I guess not using the hardware kit shim helps fit audis and VW's that have a larger wheel bore?) Weird, but it works.

Krazy, these wheels are available in 43mm or 35mm offset for the 19"X8.5" and only in 40mm or 45mm offset for the 20"X10". Like I said, I am set on these wheels, not looking for a different kind that would take less work that are actually made for our cars...... yes hard headed. I even called TSW and Tenzo and tried to get them to custom make a set but they were not even interested. I am trying the 8.5" wide wheels in front becuase so many members have done it successfully (like Les) with the perfect spacing.

Silverwolf, I wish I could wait to mount my tires until you have fit yours for compairison.

Les, thanks for the info again! After putting the 20mm spacers on tonight I think your right on. I can have the rear 20mm spacers turned down to 15mm and I should try to 10mm spacers to verify before I buy them.

Here are pics of the front wheel, jack under lower "A" arm to load it lifting it off the jack stand. The wheel has the 20mm spacer on with it. Clearance from the upper control arm to the inner wheel lip is now 20.5mm. I guess it was about .5mm clearance before, I just heard the build up of road grim on the upper "A" arm touching the inner wheel lip last night as I spun the wheel around. With the 20mm spacer it looks way too far out now. It sticks out 12mm past the outside of the out fender......

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And here is the back with the 20mm spacer and now have about 28mm clearance from the closest part of the inner wheel lip to inner fender wheel well. Looks to be about 3-4mm outside the outer fender, but these pictures didn't have the jack loading the lower "A" arm though....

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You may not have to wait much longer for me. After seeing yours, I got too impatient and drove up to Atoka,OK and picked my wheels up from Estes. Now comes the fun of transporting them along with the stock wheels to the shop to swap out the tpms sensors and get these tires mounted.
I didn't get any hub centric rings with mine oddly. The tsw wheel bores are 72.1. Guess I'll get them at the shop. Get your tires mounted already!!!! Lol! I'm dying to see how they look!

 

Update:
Just got home and after test fitting the wheels, I can confirm that the 35mm offset on the front clears fine and the center caps fit as well. This is with 18x8.5's. I have a minimum 1/2 inch of clearance between the inside of the wheel and the suspension.
I think your are going to need 12mm spacers on your fronts to get the clearance for the caps and the suspension while keeping the wheel under the fender. Wish you were closer to me as I'd be happy to let you try them out.
My current stumbling block is that my front lug bolts are too long now. Suprisingly, 40mm shank lug bolts work perfectly on the rears with a 12mm spacer due to the reduced thickness of the TSW's at the mounting pad. Hoping to get everything mounted tomorrow. I'm too tired from driving all day and I have to go look at a new house in an hour.

Pics will follow of course.

James, If you want any specific measurements/pics from my set up, Let me know. I've got to track down my camera and my metric tape measure!

 

Wow you are motivated! I would appreciate pics with measurements if you could. Thanks for all the input, it really helps. I can't get this thing mounted up or rolling until my crossdrilled/slotted rotors and pads come in from Freakingfastsrt6 in about a week.




I did some quick math for the 8.5 wide wheels for the front based on what I have and seen and heard from you guys;

Les - 30mm offset sits perfectly in the center

Silverwolf - 35mm offset has about 1/2" clearance not fit with tires yet.

ME - 43mm offset touches the upper control arm but does allow the wheel to spin(see picture at very bottom for the slight contact with this setup).



If I add a 10mm spacer to my 43mm offset then I would have effective 33mm offset (close to silverwolfs).

If I add a 12mm spacer then I would have a 31mm effective offset (close to Les).

If I add the 20mm spacer then I have an effective 23mm offset (sticks out too far past outer fender as seen in above photographs).

If I return my front wheels and re-order 19"X8.5" with the 35mm offset it will be just like silverwolfs and could still use a 5mm spacer to center perfectly like Les states.


Does this math with offsets look right?????