I realised that my car (2004 RX330) had the factory alloys and that they were 17 inch wheels. However I was under the impression that they may have been 7 inches wide, but to my dismay discovered that they are actually only 6 inches wide. The shock / horror of this realisation made me, well .

I am now going to put a plan in place to eventually get these wheels upgraded to something with a bit more of a foot print. I am thinking 8 inches (most likely) and would like to go 9's, but I figure that will come down the cost between the 2.

I had a look at the wheels and realise that they are very close to the actual strut, not really leaving that much room. I suspect this is where the offset comes in to allow the wheel to be pushed out a bit further from the hub (not very good with the term or how it works). I live in Australia, so it is illegal to get hub extenders or anything like that.

What sort of offset would I need for 8 inch or even 9 inch wheel widths. These scrawny tyres are getting to me as they are so anaemic.

 

How about the 5 spoke upgrades that we have here? They are 18's. And if you select the Alenza's they are bigger in footprint compared to other 18's.

I have seen probably 1 RX330 with the standard 17's around here. Not many realize that 17" is the standard for the RX.

 

Hey Mandyfig, I have looked at the 5-spoke 18" wheels that came stock on the RX350's (and the late 2005 330's) although I believe they are still only 7" inch in width. I'm thinking it may need to be a custom wheel, that looks similar to the factory wheel but with a width of 8 inches. However to do that I do need to know what offset I can use to fit 8 or 9's.

 

Anyone? What offset would I need to use to fit a set of 18 * 8 wheels or even 9 inch wheels?

 

Looks like I would need to use an offset of anything between +30 and +35 (the stocks are +50) to fit 8" inch wheels or 8.5" rims (depending on dish).

http://www.streetdreams.org/wheel-fi...ortby=&start=0

 

try offset in the teens

 

The stockers are actually ET35...

My dad runs an 18x8 set with an ET 35, no clearance problems with the 235/55R18 tire as per OEM specs. Mind you there's about 5mm of clearance between the rear strut and tire, but it fits as it should.

 

You can do 8 inch width no problem with 18' rims. If you want 19 or 20's, you will have to make sure you don't run into clearance and handling issues.

 

01LEXPL are you able to take pictures of the back of the car? I would just like to see what the tyres look like from behind the car compared to the stock 17 * 6" rims.

That's good to know that 8's would be fine. I will probably look at maybe getting an offset closer to 30 to give me a bit more room between the tyre and the strut, and to possibly running a slightly wider tyre than 235's.

 

^^I'd be able to take pics, in a month or so once i put the summer's back on. Its on the OEM wheels & winter tires now.