Wheel Mod Question for C43 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Tump · #1 06-02-2003, 10:31 PM

Hi all!

I'm in the process of customizing my C43 AMG and need help calculating the exact thickness of the wheel spacers needed for my current wheel set up.

The O.E. wheels on the car are stagered: 7.5" J x17" AMG Monoblock Aero II's, 17 H2 ET 35 in the front and 8.5"J x 17 H2 ET 30 in the rear.

I replaced these wheels with a set of AMG 2 piece wheels (Five Spoke, AMG # A203 4001302, 8.5" J x 17 ET 34) at all four corners.

Because the new wheels are not staggered, besides the slight visual impairment (the front wheels look larger than the rears because they are now wider than the OE wheels), I think the steering has been rendered a little bit too sensitive. Any road surface imperfections will push the steering slightly to the right or to the left, depending, even though the car's cornering ability has definately been imporved.

What I would like to do is use wheel spacers on the rear wheels to set them out from the front wheels in the same proportion as the OE set up, but I do not know how to calculate this.

Is it as simple as using one inch spaces to give me effectively 9.5 inch rear wheels and 8.5 inch front wheels? (preserving the 7.5"/8.5" one inch difference) or should I use only one half inch spacers on the rear wheels, as someone recomended to minimize the extra stress & strain that wheel spacers may place on the suspension components?

Any help you can offer would be appreciated. I'd also like to know where I can purchase one half inch spacers if necessary. (The only source of MB spacers I know about will not make spacers thiner than one inch). (Picture of car with new wheels is too big to attach).

Thanks

Denlasoul · #2 06-06-2003, 04:33 AM

Marc:

I dont believe spacers can help you in this particular situation. Spacers are mainly used to change offset of the wheel. For example, your stock wheels (rear) have a 35mm offset. Now if you bought a wheel (same size and width) with a 25mm offset, then your wheel will sit in the fender 10 mm closer to the hub. To fix this, you can add a 10mm spacer to achieve the 35mm offset and thus making your wheel look stock again.

In your case, the wheels are the same size (height and width, front and rear) and gives the car a more uniform look. Because the wheels are the same width, it is very difficult to get a "wider" rear tire look. You probably can buy slightly wider tires for the rear, but I think to achieve the look you want you will need two rear wheels that are wider, that is 2 17x9.5 wheels.

If you used a one inch spacer, your car's wheels will stick out one inch further away from the hub. Basically, your car might look like the rear wheels are sticking out of the fenders.

My suggestion is to find 2 rear wheels that are the same except have 9.5 inch widths.

Any one have a better idea or can shed more light?

Good luck,
DLS