lumyeinjun

iTrader: (1)

I did a test fit of my 18x9 +29 wheels just now and WOW! Brembo clearance is DEFINITELY a non issue with my specs. I could stick my finger between the spokes and the caliper lol. I will post pictures when I get the chance.

Makes sense though. The outer clearance of my wheels is 1.14" greater than with the stock offsets, therefore I would assume that the Brembo clearance would be somewhere in the range of 1" more than stock. Is there some sort of error in my thinking? Going on with this, I don't see how dtown's F14s could have less clearance than OEM being that the wheel is .5" wider AND has a lower offset (better for big brake clearance)

lumyeinjun

iTrader: (1)

Here's a picture of the Brembo clearance with the stock 17x8 +45 type-s wheels:


And here's a picture of the Brembo clearance with the 18x9 +29 Forgestar F14 wheels:

The cards that were almost snug with the type-s wheels would need to be several times their thickness to have the same gap as the type-s wheels.

I could fit my fingers in the gap between the spokes and the calipers.


Needless to say, I have much more caliper clearance with the Forgestar wheels. This should be expected though, as the Forgestars are 1" wider and have a lower offset than the stock wheels. When I calculated the clearance change, I found that my Forgestars would stick out 1.14" further from stock. I think I'm seeing something along the lines of 1" extra clearance at the calipers, so everything seems to be adding up correctly.


simply beautiful.

lumyeinjun

iTrader: (1)

I wonder what the offsets of dtown's wheels really were
If the wheels were 19x8.5 +35, I would expect at least a few millimeters MORE clearance at the calipers than with the stock type-s wheels. The Forgestar spokes are not monsters. They're thin and lightweight.

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

Well, your wheel is an inch wider, so that pushes the wheel a half inch further out than stock, or 12.7mm, then add the extra 16mm from your lower offset (45-29). In theory, that would give you an extra 28.7mm of clearance, but don't forget the F14 is more concave than the oem wheel, and the inward curving of the spokes eats up clearance. And since the wider the wheel, the more the concavity, sometimes a wider wheel won't give you the additional clearance you would expect. This is why I was thinking the 8.5 and 9 would need roughly the same offset to clear, but I guess that isn't so. Another reason I was thinking along those lines was because I found a thread about an STI running a 9.5 and only clearing by about 1 mm with a +34 offset.


Thanks for mounting them up though! Are you thinking you may keep them now?

lumyeinjun

iTrader: (1)

no problemo! I also wanted to make sure they would fit for any buyer who might have the Brembos it's good to know!

And sadly I will not be keeping them I cant bare the thought of "what if my wheels weighed 17lbs" it's just something I have to do for myself so the thought doesn't haunt me forever I'm thinking about getting 17" enkei rpf1 wheels, even though the look kinda clashes with the TL :/ still in the decision process, but I don't know a better lightweight wheel for the price!

TL-Sexi07

Here's a pic of the 19x8.5 brembo clearance. This is with the 10mm spacer installed. It is a very close fit..I can prob get 2 credit cards maybe 3 between the gap...



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Quick cell phone camera shot of the wheels on the car. I added 5mm spacers in the rear shortly after this pic. I will try and get some better shots next weekend



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lumyeinjun

iTrader: (1)

ride looks great! glad you finally got them to fit The Brembo clearance looks scary though

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

Damn, that looks good! Very European.


Anyway, I'm starting to think that the 18 and 19 must be somewhat different in their design since an 18x9 +29 clears with tons of room, but the 19x9 +25 barely clears. I found a thread with an STI where a guy had 19X9.5 +34 and cleared with like a mm to spare, which is right in line with Shark's 19x9 +25 having ~1/8 inch. But the guy with those wheels said Peter at Forgestar told him the 18x9.5 +44 would clear fine! Gotta be something different in the spokes/center bore between the two diameters.

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

^you're getting 18's right? What offset and size again?

I forgot about this thread but I WILL measure mine tomorrow and report back.

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

Yep, 18x8.5, +33F/+29R.

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

Actually, I meant Silver Surfer's having ~1/8!


Hey Randy, I can tell you have a ton of room on the 18x9 +29, so do you think the 18x8.5 +33 will just make it? I figure if you have at least 12-13 mm clearance on the inside part where TL-Sexi07 is very close, then I'll be ok. 6.35 mm (half of the 1/2" wider wheel) plus your extra 4mm offset will put you 10.35 mm further out from the caliper, so if you've got 12-13 mm there, I should be good!

Silver_Surfer

Let me clarify my measurement. The 1/8" is the distance between the brembo and the center area of the rim. The space between the spokes and brembo has plenty of clearance. Hope this helps you.

lumyeinjun

iTrader: (1)

crap I didn't measure the distance between the hub center (disk area) of the wheel and the brembos. From the photos, it looks like Mike had a problem with the center of the wheel, not the spokes. Just realized that after Silver Surfer pointed it out I'm not sure if I can answer your question, Don I'll try to look at the photos I snapped on my laptop to see if I can see the distance between the wheel's center and the Brembo caliper. The wheels are all packed up because I'm shipping them out pretty soon

For now, we can try to approximate the clearance we have from the third and fourth picture I posted at the top of this page. Maybe you can increase the contrast and brightness of the photo to try and see where the caliper ends behind those spokes. I'll try to look at the other pics I have when I get home.

lumyeinjun

iTrader: (1)

Alright well these aren't the best angles, but it's all i've got. Sorry Don



Bad angle. Can't even tell how much clearance there is from the side of the caliper to the wheel center :/ At this point all I know is that it clears, sorry man.

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

No problem, man. The way you can fit your fingers behind the spokes so easily makes me pretty comfortable since I only need a hair over 10mm more than you, assuming 4mm for the +33 and 6.35 mm for the difference in wheel width (half inch divided by two). And that's assuming the difference in wheel width actually does affect clearance. I would think it does though.

Worst case scenario, if I'm a few mm short, I can always put the +29's up front, then put the +33's on the back with 10mm spacers; I'll definitely need to roll the rears for that though. I won't be happy since that's extra expense I didn't want to incur. We'll see what happens. I'm a little over three weeks out from ordering, and when I spoke with Forgestar a month ago, they said they were turning them out in the 4-6 week range now and averaging closer to four.

Congrats on selling the wheels! I wish you'd ordered the damn gloss GM though, because they'd be on my car right now, especially with the early Spring. I saw your sale thread a few days before I ordered mine.

lumyeinjun

iTrader: (1)

haha it's all good! i'm just glad that there will be more TLs with Forgestars on them still the best looking wheel for the 3g imo. Keep this thread updated with how your fitment comes out! and yes, it takes FOREVER for Forgestar to get the wheels to you. 4-6 weeks is a prettyyyyy optimistic estimate on the seller's part lol, I got mine in about 8-9 weeks

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

Wheels arrived Monday, and the +33 cleared the Brembos with ease! Didn't have a ton of extra room, but I'll say with full certainty that an 18x8.5 +35 would still clear, possibly even 36 or 37, but I'd have to precisely measure to claim that. More room than TL-Sexi07 has though. I've only opened three of the four, but they look good; a little darker than I expected after looking at pics of Shark's wheels, but that's good; I like them dark.

And the best part, the +33 came in at 19 lbs 15.5 oz and the +29 at 20 lbs 1 oz! Also got the shipping confirmation on my Conti DW 235/40-18 and that states 85.2 lbs total, so a welterweight 21.3 lbs per tire. 41 lbs all in is a huge drop from 53-54 lbs. Car should be noticeably quicker.

lumyeinjun

iTrader: (1)

Wow, congrats man! Can't wait to see them on!

Now I might considering going back to the Forgestars. I just might go for 18x8.5 +35 if your fitment has room, 19lbs is alright with me! Either that or i'll go to the rival's side and get TSW Nurburgrings; I want the darkest gunmetal possible imo the Forgestars have the better shape, I just wished they had a darker gunmetal option available (something similar to the ADVAN RS dark-gunmetal).

Be sure to take pictures of the clearance between the wheel's hub and the vehicle's hub! I believe that's where TL-Sexi07 had clearance issues.

But again, I'm happy for you man! Even if we disregard the possibility of a gain in acceleration, I feel that the improvement in the "tossability" of the car is well worth the money spent! Plus those F14s are beautiful haha

Silver_Surfer

How flush are your wheels to the fenders?

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, +35 should come in a little under 20lbs. and will definitely clear. I was actually going to go with the TSW's but the silver looked cheap to me, the bronze looked ok, but I'd probably get sick of it, and the matte gunmetal was cool, but I wanted a gloss finish. Plus, they start at 19.5 lbs in the 18x8.5 in the highest offset, so they'll probably come in a little heavier than the F14's in a comparable offset. Maybe not by much though? On my +33, the pad measures 20mm, where as TL Sexi's measured half an inch. I still say his offsets must be in the mid 40's; makes no sense to me. But then it's weird that my +29 measures 27mm pad height. I wonder if my other two are actually +26 or doesn't it work like that? I wish they'd just stamp the damn offset somewhere on the wheel.


All I've done is a test fit so far. I've got the tires and TPMS but haven't had them mounted yet. New lugs are on the way. They won't be nearly as aggressive as your 19x9, +25. Picture stock 8" wheels with 20F/25R spacers and mine will be a couple mm shy of that look as far as being flush.

jsonkimz

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to resurrect this thread. I'm trying to figure out some fitment questions with the F14's.

I have a 2005 TL and want to get either the 18x9.5 or the 18x9 F14's. I seem to differ from most on the forum... I want to get AT LEAST a 255 series tire and I want the same setup on all four corners. I'll probably add a 5mm spacer to the rear to make all four corners even.

The fitment that I'm looking for is aggressive and "flush" (flush with the TIRES, NOT the wheels). I will adjust my suspension drop accordingly. I know that with a 255+ series tire that I will probably have to go "flush" to the tire.

SO my question is: is this fitment possible? If so, with which wheel? I'd prefer to do the 18x9.5's if it's possible. What offsets would I need with each setup?

If you guys could give me an estimate on the best setup for the wheel and tire size combos below that would be amazing.

Forgestar F14's
18x9 Offset ???
18x9.5 Offset??
255/40-18
265/35-18

What offsets and wheel/tire combination would work best to get the look that I want??

Thanks, guys!

Silver_Surfer

If you are going with 9-9.5" width wheels with an aggressive offset ( +20 to +30 ) then you should not be running anything wider than 245 tires. 245 is probably ok in the rear but will rub up front if you don't roll your fenders. The front probably needs 235 or 225 with slight stretch. If you want all 4 corners to be the same then you probably need to run 235 or 225 tires all around.

jsonkimz

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the help. I probably didn't phrase my question the right way. I don't care about having aggressive offsets. My main goal is to have 9.5 inch wheels with the widest tire possible and have my tire be flush with the fender. What offsets do I need to accomplish this? I'm fine with having a higher offset.

I know that with the stock offsets (45) and an 8inch wheel that it's roughly 20mm in the back and 15mm in the front from being even with the fenders. So I understand that if I wanted to keep an 8 inch wheel then I could just get ones with approximately a 30 offset and that would bring me close to even. How does adding a 9.5 inch wheel change this equation.

Again, thanks for the help and patience! I know I'm not asking this in a very clear way.