Ok so today I went to the dealership and asked the service tech about getting some new rims. He said that for the LS430, you should go no wider than 8" because of rubbing on the front shocks and rear struts. Is this true? I want to get some new 20"s and it's pretty hard to find a 20x8. Any insight?

 

it's all depends on offsets and tire size, I have 9.5 in the front and have no rubbing issue.

 

The dealer does not want you to modify your car at all,they'll tell you whatever they can to stop you from doing so & if you do modify your car then anything that goes wrong with your car is because you put in that aftermarket air freshener

 

Not sure how new you are to the Lexus Scene but my first recommendation would be to get to know some of the techs that work at Lexus and own/modify them. Here in Houston, Texas I have a couple of good friends that I graduated with that have worked for Lexus since 1992. I get them to do all my work, service, maintenance, etc. and these guys always steer me straight and save me lots of $$$. It's all about relationships... I have 20 x 8.5 on the front and 20 x 10 on the rear and I have no issues at all. If you do get rims, make sure the offset is correct, they will clear the big brakes in the front (if you are looking for wheels on an LS), and that they are hub centric. Don't skimp, get the best you can afford and you will be glad you did.

 

the tech's don't know what they are talking about, actually even some wheels shops don't know what they are talking about.

 

20x8 ??? haha, what would that look like, a horse carriage? Dopey dealers, they'll say anything to anyone to make a customer not steer outside of Lexus.

 

20x9.5 in the front with no issues whatsoever. As stated by others it all depends on the specs of the wheels (offsets, brake clearance, etc.). My experience with Lexus techs is that if it's not in the so called company "manual" it can't be done.

 

The rear tire rubbing against the strut is cause for concern only if you plan on driving the car slammed. I have conservative 20x10+44's on the rears on 275/30's but I kept getting bubbles on the inner sidewalls of my rear passanger tire. I thought the tires were defective but I eventually found out it was because the tire rubs against the rear air strut when driving too low. The tire ate away at the shroud covering the strut and all the friction generated enough heat to separate the sidewalls of the tires causing enormous bubbles. I've shelled out over 1000 just to replace rear passenger side tires.

 

i saw an h2 last summer with 26 inch rims that could not have been wider than 8 inches. it was the most ridiculous set of 26's i have ever seen. it had all these custom shop stickers and advertisements all over it. that was bad advertisement in my opinion

 

Alright guys thanks for the insight. Now talking about offset, I know (from what I understand) that a high offset is necessary. My question is, how high is high? I'm pretty new to the scene (this is my first car). For a 255/35/20 rim in the front, what kind of offset am I looking at? What about a 275/35/20 in the back? (Going for the staggered look) Unfortunately there are no good places around here to go. I've been to 2 recently and neither were of any help. Looks like I'm gonna have to resort to the knowledge on the boards here. Not that it's a bad thing...

 

with that size up front i can tell you that you cant do an aggressive offset, it will have to be just a slight offset. in the rear you can do a very aggressive offset, as long as your not lowered to much with that size you posted up... as for exact numbers i forgets but i had this size tire on my rear with an aggressive offset and it was fine, but i had 235's up front though...

 

dukie man what kind of fit do you want ? u wan an aggressive fit that will require fender and quarter mods? or do u want hassle free fit ? what do u want ? and 275 35 20 with ANY SIZE wheel will be too big of a tire. Did u mean to say 275 30 20 ?

Here's a pic of my current wheels. IMO they are beautiful and fitment is so strong and lovely.

 

mikemareen what are your specs (wheel, tire, offset) and lowered what exactly, and body/ fender mods???

 

front is 20x8.5 +22 (5mm spacer making the net offset +17)and rear is 20x10.5 +27

fenders are pulled and rears are completely shaved ( just the way I like it < some of you will get that on the way home haha )

 

damn mike.. so you went from fat tire stepped lip 19s to a set of 20x9.5s with staggered offsets to some aggressive lexions with fender mods... nice the progress. btw.. are you running a 245/30 on the front? I had a 20x8.5+17 and there was no way a 245/35 would fit under the fender w/o shredding tire