My wheel offset is wrong, wheel spacers maybe?

[Saint]

Hi there, 1990 300TE
Quick irrelevant background. I struck a curb real hard with this car. It ruined one of the aftermarket chrome wheels. They are 10 years old anyway...and could have used replacing. I cannot find one to replace the ruined one...so I landed a deal for a set of complete wheels. I believe these are actual MB wheels, and I am not sure what they came off of..maybe an ML. The tires are near new, but are General Grabber ST 255/65R16, which will be great on my other vehicle...but too big to even try on the 300TE. I finally got around to the tire shop to swap off these tires with these very nice Goodyear Eagles 205s.

I went to put one on to see the fit (not done with repairs yet) only to discover that the offset is off by about one inch. Front wheel hits the shock..rear wheel hits that stabilizer bar thing.

This was a very big disappointment. I thought I crossed my Ts...but alas...another damn road block. I have about $700 tied up with the 4 wheels and 8 tires.

What are my choices...and what is really the practical way to go?

Can I get 1 inch wheel spacers all around and that would solve it...if they even make wheel spacers for my car?

Do I just sell the wheels with tires...hoping to recoupe most of my money and just start this whole process over again? I still need wheels and tires.

I did a rough measure from the back side of the stock wheel and this new wheel. I measured the distance from the hub to the edge of the wheel(the offset). The stock wheel measure almost 6 inches, while the new wheel is a pretty solid 7 inches.

Let me know what you guys think. I included a pic of the wheel with the new tire on it...and right next to it is the new/old tires that were on it till today.

[Ralph69220d]

If it were me, I'd get wheels that fit. I'd be afraid putting "shims" in would end up with broken lugs.

[sbourg]

I agree with Ralph. If you got a great deal on the combo, you should have little trouble selling just the wheels for what a used set of the right fit will run you.

Steve

[e320_Coupe]

The offset should be stamped on the back of the wheel somewhere. Look at all the markings. It will be easier to sell them if you know what they are.

[lkchris]

You can get the correct wheels for your car--Mercedes 15-hole--very reasonably on eBay.

[Saint]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the input. I do see that you can buy spacers that would correct this, if I decided to go that way. They are not cheap (of course). I have known guys who use spacers on their trucks..and I have never heard of that being a problem. It seems the dangers I have been hearing about are from people who think that spacers sound like a bad idea...me included. I cant seem to find someone who either had them, and it went bad...or they at least knew someone...and it went bad.

I did talk to one guy who makes these, and he was very clear. For Mercedes, the spacers MUST be hub centric and wheel centric. He said with most cars, hub centric is good enough...but Mercedes are touchier, and might shake if they are not wheel centric as well. I am looking to sell my wheels now

I have a complete set of original MB wheels for the car. I think they are boring IMHO.

[manny]

If you go with spacers, don't forget to get longer wheelbolts.

[neanderthal]

i would never use a spacer on a mercedes except in a dire emergency.

[Saint]

Originally Posted by neanderthal

i would never use a spacer on a mercedes except in a dire emergency.

Ok...this was my point. Why do you say that? Have you heard something...or know something? I would really like something concrete...at least an "a buddy of mine heard about a guy who flipped his truck when the spacer caused the axel to snap" Anything?

Spacers bolt directly onto the hub...then you bolt the wheel directly to the spacer..for the bigger ones...like I need. For the smaller spacers...shims really...yes, longer bolts would be needed.

Let me say that I am going to sell my wheels and start the buying process over again.

This spacer debate thing is really interesting though. I dont like the idea of spacers, nor what I perceive to be added stresses in places that maybe were not designed for it. I have yet to find an example of a failure though. Just lots of people..including myself...who dont think it is a good idea.

[MTI]

I think that most of the objection to the use of spacers are reflecting a philosophical point of view, not an engineering/safety objection. You'll need a hubcentric spacer specifically for bolt pattern, thread and hub you're using, not a universal spacer.

[andmoon]

Hubcentric spacer MAY be used but why? Sell the rims and get ones w/ the correct offset. I have some nice 16x8 et34s for sale

[Saint]

Here are all the numbers I could find on the wheels. Maybe someone could dicypher these. I cleaned off the brake dust to read..and brothers...these babies are like new. Wow..and they dont fit

Has the MB star and the number...
1634010202

E16X8 (then some strange "j" looking symbol) 62

HT (part of the mold) and stamped underneath it is the letter "S"

AWT 16

GP 1203 (this looks hand stamped. I would assume a production date or sell date maybe)

andmoon...got some pics?

[manny]

Well.....time to put this spacer issue to rest.
In Germany EVERYTHING you add/change on a car has to be approved, documented & inspected by their Technical " Police " called TUV.
When your blasting down the Autobahn at Warp Speed, you don't want things falling off your car.
There are LOTS of people running spacers on their cars !
The consensus is, while it is not a good idea to use them in the front ( but they are approved ), you can use them.
I know for a fact, that Porsche uses or has used them on the rearaxle on some models.

[G-Benz]

From the pic, they certainly look like the same wheel set as on my ML320. The General Grabbers are the cheapo set of tires for the ML as well.

[Saint]

Just checked tiretrack, and these General Grabbers sell for 85 a piece. That is pretty good price...especially for suv/light truck tires. But...have you read the reviews? The current reviews are pretty glowing. The older reviews are tough. Wonder if they improved the tires or something.

The current reviews have pretty good things to say...from how quiet they are...to how well they handle snow conditions. Frankly..pretty good reviews for such a cheap tire. The older reviews...scare you away from these tires