Hello all, new member from Kansas City here. After looking for 2 months, I found & bought an '04 TL with clean Carfax, 6MT + Navigation with 67k miles. After perusing these forums, I decided I wanted some MRR HR2 wheels, and lucked into finding a gorgeous chrome set on ebay complete with tires. The fr are 19x8.5 w/35mm offset, the rr are 19x9.5 w/45 mm offset according to the seller.

The seller said they'd clear the calipers easily, and I concluded from my research here that these would fit, so I got them, but when I tried mounting the front rims, they wouldn't clear the calipers. As a temporary fix, I bought some cheap parts store spacers that are about 8 mm thick, allowing the rims to clear the calipers. I've driven the car about 40 miles since, both in town and on the highway, with no major issues except for a minor vibration.

I'm uncomfortable with this set up, as I don't feel like the lug nuts are threaded far enough onto the factory studs for long term use, so I'm considering some hubcentric spacers with built in studs to alleviate this. However, the front wheels already stick out slightly with the 8mm spacers, and the smallest width spacers I can find with built in studs are 15 mm, which will increase my "sticking out" issue.

The only solution I've found is one I don't like: buy a 10 mm hubcentric spacer without studs and remove the old factory studs and have new longer ones pressed in. The expense of that solution when all is said and done is more than I'd like to spend.

I'd like to hear your suggestions, especially from anyone who has these same wheels, as I seem to recall reading that some people with these wheels had no need for using spacers (probably their offsets were better matched than mine for this car).

I have pics to post, but it says at the bottom here I don't have that ability/right (low post count?). Thanks in advance for your input!

Doug

 

Did I ask the question wrong? Too much info? Too boring?

 

Buy ichiba v2 hubcentric spacers with built in extended studs problem solved they have 15mm and 20mm

 

That was my initial thought, except that the wheels and tires already stick out slightly beyond the fenders with the 8mm generic spacers. Do I want to make that problem worse? Can't imagine it would look right or be good for the tires/suspension long term.

These are THE wheels I wanted for the car, so going with different wheels won't be an option for me.

 

How much clearance between the caliper and wheel with the 8mm spacers? Can you go with a spacer that is not as thick?
If not, only other alternative is to replace the studs........ Not an inexpensive job.

 

Clearance with the 8mm spacers is only a couple mm. It's a close fit.

I hear ya on replacing the wheel studs. I really don't want to go there if I can help it at all. But I'm not seeing many other alternatives right now.

On the bright side, the wheels look absolutely killer on the car. But ultimately, gotta have some peace of mind.

 

Apparently 10mm spacers don't come with built in studs--I'm assuming due to durability concerns with the 10mm thickness.

I found these two items that both seem to have identical specs, but one says it won't fit my TL, while the other says it does:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ichib...item5640756733

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ichib...item5640756733

 

those will fit they are right space between lugs and the hub size is correct.

can u take a pic of the caliper and the rims? id like to see... also did u check the inside of the rims to make sure they are what seller claimed?

 

I have a pic of the spacer, hub, and wheel on the car, but I apparently do not have permission to post attachments. Is there a post count minimum before that's allowed?

 

hmmmm i didnt think so?? just post a link to the photo album if you have photobucket or something??

 

If you check the Ichiba site, the 10mm spacers are designed for TL/TL-S 99+.
http://www.ichibausa.com/tl35l96.html

 

Let's see if these work:

http://yfrog.com/ngspacer2j

http://yfrog.com/n5spacer3j

http://yfrog.com/03spacer1aj

http://yfrog.com/4owheels3j

 

What size are those tires?

 

Fronts are 215/35/19s, rears are 235/35/19s. I know they are not the ideal size, but I bought the rims with these tires already mounted and they are almost new, so I'm going to drive them carefully (non-winter use) until they need replaced, at which time I'll get some that are a little bit wider.

 

yea i hope u plan on lowering your car with those tire sizes it looks really awkward...

 

That is definitely in the plan, but I want to fix this issue first while I shop for some lightly used lowering springs. Thinking somewhere in the 1" - 1.5" range.

 

how much is that spacer making the rims clear by? a 5mm spacer wont work??

ur probabvly guna need to lower the car 2" + to make it look right... id deffinately switch out tires thats a lil sketchy for my liking to be driving on.

 

The wheels only clear by 2-3 mm with the 8mm spacer, so a 5 either won't clear, or will be too close to be safe.

I agree the tires are a bit thin, but I work from home and will use the stockers for winter tires, so I'm going to roll the dice and get some miles out of these.

Someone suggested to me to use the kind of lug nuts where the beveled "acorn" end is slid up the shaft of the lug nut, allowing you to turn it onto the stud a couple more turns before the acorn end meets the wheel. I may try that and just leave these generic spacers on there if the car doesn't vibrate. Dunno what else to do.