VKBSC3

Hey all,

Some of you may have seen my thread about some 18" LS460 wheels which I had purchased from some fool who told me they were GS350 wheels. The obvious problem with this miscommunication was that the bolt spacing on the newest LS460 wheels had changed to 5x120 with a +32mm offset (offset is according to information I've found in the LS forums on here). Basically I thought I was buying a 5x114.3 wheel but was unpleasantly surprised when I realized what had happened. I know, I know..I should have researched the wheels better but for the money I thought I was golden. It was an honest mistake! Who was I to know that Lexus had changed the wheel spacing for the first time in decades?

Anyway, after multiple failed attempts at getting my money back I decided I was out of luck and decided to see if I could run adapters to fit these wheels to my car anyway; I had seen it done with 5x120mm BMW 6-series wheels before, so I thought why not? I took the wheels to KC Trends, the apparent best-of-the-best wheel specialist in the Kansas City area, and had them do a test fitment (I was a little skeptical when they told me they didn't know what my wheel locks looked like, but the Bently Continental GT they had on display surely meant they were dealing with high end vehicles ). After about ten minutes the tech came back and told me that the verdict was that the wheels would never fit with spacers and that I should trash them ASAP. I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure wheels off of a $70,000 car aren't garbage

Now here's where my lack of wheel experience comes in and hopefully where somebody can help me out. According to my research the 16in stock SC wheels on my car are 7 inches wide with a +50mm offset, meaning that the mounting point of the wheel is 50mm towards the wheel-side (in other words, towards the street), correct? If so, this means that with the stock offset of +32mm in the LS460 wheel is then 32mm towards the wheel-side. However, the LS460 wheel is also 0.5in wider...so would this mean that the offset in relation to the stock SC offset is roughly +45mm?

Based on these assumptions, I don't see why these wheels would not fit with a wheel adapter that has a thickness of 1 inch since my wheels are already so sunken into the wheel well (ca. 2 inches). If anything it should make the wheel more flush with the fender. What am I not seeing here? Is my understanding of wheel offsets just plain wrong or is this guy just trying to stay away from a possible ghetto-rigging of wheels

I'm pretty much over these wheels, but they would look really good on my car so if I can get them on with adapters I'd be willing to pay the extra money for the adapters. I'm getting absolutely no nibbles at them and am thinking about just throwing them on the LS forum for $200 so somebody can have a cheap set of winter wheels! Gah..I knew I should have bought the G35 19" Rays with tires listed for $800 in my area...curse my cheapness.

Any help on the matter would be appreciated, and at the very least I'd like to know if I'm completely stupid as far as wheel spacing and offsets go

BartleDoo

iTrader: (1)

Assuming that the LS wheels are 7.5" +32, then the equivalent offset difference would be 32-50-(.5/2)(25.4) which would be approx. -24. So the wheel lip would sit about an inch out from stock without an adapter. With an inch adapter you'd be at about 2 inches which would be about a mm or 2 from where my front 18x9.5 +33's sit. The wheels will poke a little in the front with 1" spacing or be flush if slammed. Is it really worth it for those wheels? No. The adapters will probably cost more than the wheels which aren't even special.

good2go

iTrader: (6)

If you're stuck on using those wheels, I don't see any reason why adapter can't be made to do the conversion... but as was just mentioned, they won't be cheap. Try calling these guys and see what they have to say:

http://www.motorsport-tech.com/wheel_adapters.html

tuterz

iTrader: (11)

where in kansas city do you live?.. i have some wheel adapters you can try on..

good2go

iTrader: (6)

You actually have a spare set of 5x114.3 --> 5x120 adapters just laying around. Seriously????

TLDriver

iTrader: (4)

I got some IS300 wheels sitting around.. I would trade for your 5x120... I can always use an extra set for the bmw.

tuterz

iTrader: (11)

yea i do.. because when i went to pull a set of ls400 bbk off of a ls400 i saw what i thought were spacers but they turned out to be wheel adapters...