[TrevorSmith]

i am new to the focus community and i am looking for winter rims and tires and i found a sick deal on rims but the guy says they have are 15x6 with a 35mm offset and a 72mm center bore. i know the 15x6 and the center bore are ok but the 35mm offset scares me a bit. i've been reading and the stocks are 52.5mm or something like that. i was just wondering of anyone has tried to put this low of an offset on a focus before or is the deal too good to be true. the winter tires i will be getitng will be as close to stock height as i can get and the car is a bone stock 2005 zx3 if that makes any difference

thanks in advance

----Trevor

 

[Geezer]

That offset (35mm) is considered outside the usable envelope. For comparison purposes, stock offset is in the 52 mm area. 45 to 49mm works with most stock size (including SVT) tire wheel combos and with modest lowering. When rubbing issues are reported with these offsets it usually correlates with drops below 1.5 inches and the use of too wide of a tire. Some have gotten away with 42mm even 40mm but we start hearing numerous reports of rubbing regardless of tire size. For reasonable assurance, especially if your car is lowered or you intend to lower it, stick with offsets of 45mm or greater.

 

[3rd foci]

Try www.focuscanada.net.

 

[TrevorSmith]

so even with a regular size tire or as narrow as you can get on a 6inch wide rim and no intention of lowering, you guys think that it is unusable?

 

[Geezer]

so even with a regular size tire or as narrow as you can get on a 6inch wide rim and no intention of lowering, you guys think that it is unusable?

Would I be willing to gamble on it? No, its a crap shoot at best.

 

[thenorm]

i ran the numbers through my wheel backspacing spreadsheet.

stock 16"x6.5 wheels (52mm offset). the outside edge of the wheel is 1.2" from the hub face
on my TD 15x7 wheels (45mm offset) the outside edge is 1.72" from hub (i rub a tiny bit, but i have 225/50R15 tires and i'm 2.5" dropped)

your 15x6 wheels 35mm offset the edge is only 1.62" from hub.

so in theory, it should have 0.1" more room than my 7" wide wheels. I say go for it, but get a narrow tire, 195 or 185. and let us know how it goes

 

[WD40]

I'm with Geezer...it's a crap shoot at best.

The 35mm wheel is going to be ~3/4" closer to the fender.
TrevorSmith, do you have that much room available?
Do you often travel with passengers, or have a lot of extra weight in the car regularly?
^^^Both the above will make chances of rubbing that much worse.

There's also the 72mm hub bore on the wheels you're considering.
They would require the use of hub centering rings to properly mount the wheels.
The fOCUS has a 63.3mm diameter hub bore.

BTW thenorm, standard fOCUS 16" wheels are 6", not 6.5"

 

[TrevorSmith]

im thinking i might give it a go, and try go for a 185 tire, because they are for winter adn snow and the skinnier the better right

 

[Mr.Bergner]

The skinnier and taller the best is what I've always heard.

 

[WD40]

At the least, find a shop that's willing to mount one tire up, so you can check clearance before doing the rest.

If it were me, I'd find something more compatible with the car though.

 

[thenorm]

BTW thenorm, standard fOCUS 16" wheels are 6", not 6.5"

thanks for the correction.

even though it may be close to rubbing. if he can get those wheels for an exceptional price, he might be willing to put up with the occational rub.