Hub centric and offset questions, are they an issue? Options

[SiKBOY]

Its time for me to get a new set of wheels, mainly because mine have dents in them I've already had them repaired once before.
I am looking into getting a set that will actually fit my car and not too concerned about looks. I know that most people that get wheels dont care about if they are HUB centric and they dont get the correct/same offset as the originals but I want to know if it affects the handling of the car or not or if you can get some kind of adapter to make aftermarket wheels to be hubcentric. I know you can get spacers to make negative offset wheels to come out more but I heard that spacers arnt recommended.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

[ghostdog]

hmmm, not sure about the hub centric question. but as far as offset goes I know our celis can fit between 30 and 43 offset. as for handling, I don't see how offset would affect it besides a more negative offset sticking further out. as for spacers, I think as long as you install the studs included with the kits and stick with reputable companies such as H&R you will be ok. just my 2 cents from having researched the topic recently.

[Zephyr]

Dude!

We all need to do some looking into this hub size issue. I've put two sets of wheels on my 96 and both had issues with the hub not fitting properly. Three or four different hub centric rings and centric lug nuts didn't fix the problem. I called Toyota and asked about hub sizes on the different generation cars and they are all different. One set of wheels worked on my 91 but couldn't center up on my 96.

If the hubs don't center up, at speeds over 45 or 50 mph, the steering wheel starts to vibrate horribly as does the car. There's not really a handling issue to deal with, as it will still steer and corner properly, but it does feel like the car is about to explode as you're riding down the road.

The funny thing about the hub issue is the shake will be there one minute and not the next. For just a little while the wheels seem to be centered up and they ride smooth, but you take a turn or make a lane change and they move a little bit, and just that little bit at 70 miles an hour is enough to shake the snot out of you as you drive down the highway.

I say all of this from experience. I've spent the last two months spending almost all of my time away from work in tire shops and the Toyota service center waiting room trying to figure out what that horrible vibration in my steering wheel is. Four shops plus Toyota say it's the wheels not centering up. I put the factory wheels back on and the car is smooth and perfect, except for the appearance...

Why do car manufacturer put such ugly ass wheels on their cars? Mine is doomed to have the factory wheels unless we can figure out just what rims work on our cars.

Maybe we can start a thread asking what rims people have that DON'T have the vibration issue and select our wheels from that group.

[SiKBOY]

Zephyr, Ive done a bit of research on wheels, My current 17"s are NOT hub centric. They are way off actually. I havent really had the issues of vibration though at higher speeds. I only have that problem when my wheels were not balanced and my rims were buckled. I do think that its important to get hub centric wheels with the correct offset so the car will handle like its supposed to. I dont know if anyone else with aftermarket wheels are having the same vibration issues that you are having but it is bizzare that when you put your stocks wheels on, its all good.

Im pretty sure that you have got the wheels balanced and you are running correct tyres as well. I dont know what else could cause the vibration problems. Do any of your tyres have flatspots?

[95STHATCH]

i'm having the same problem. Feels like I waisted 1500 dollars on wheels and tires.

[Zephyr]

Yeah... It's so funny. I've posted about the problem before and everybody always says "check the balance" or "my wheels vibrated until I got the balance checked".

This problem goes way beyond balanced tires. I should know, both sets got balanced about four times each. We even swapped tires thinking the rubber was bunk. And, yes, the tires were the right size. All the shops were looking for any reason besides the rims, which started out being a used set I had on my 91 GTS that worked fine on that car, but they couldn't find anything wrong with the car. So we took those wheels off thinking they were messed up, being used and all, and I bought a new set, brand new, even making sure they were 15's instead of 16's thinking the car didn't like plus size wheels and lower profile tires. Same problem. It's got the wheel shop so baffled that they've agreed to get me my money back for the whole thing. They offered to try another set of rims on an even swap, but then they decided they'd just get my money back to me to avoid the risk of another set not working either. It boils down to the wheels just not fitting the car, so I get a refund.

I wish someone could figure it out, cause those last wheels I had, which are on my profile pics, really make the car look sweet, and the factory wheels suck a fat one.

At least I've got my smooth ride back though. Maybe with the money I got back from the wheels, I can buy the TRD springs I've been wanting...