Offsets Explained

One of the questions that seems to be floating around in the aftermarket wheel and tire industry is about offsets. What is offset and how does it work? Which offset will work best with my car or truck, and what offsets can I run to make my wheel and tire package a little more aggressive? We plan to answer these questions today in this blog and hope to clear things up for our customers and enthusiasts.

The offset of a wheel is the distance from the hub mounting point to the center line of the wheel. This is shown in the image to the left.

A Zero Offset is present when the hub mounting surface is even with the center line of the wheel.

A Positive Offset is when the mounting surface is moved towards the front of the wheel. This is more common on front wheel drive cars.

A Negative Offset is when the hub surface is moved towards the back of the wheel. A negative offset is usually found on wheels that have a very deep lip.

If the offset of the wheel is not correct for the car, the handling can be negatively affected. When the width of the wheel changes, the offset also changes. If the offset were to stay the same while you added width to the wheel, the additional width would be split between the inside and outside. For most cars, this won’t work correctly, and can cause problems.

Some exceptions to what will and won’t work also depend on the overall look you are trying to achieve with the vehicle. Generally, lifted trucks will run a negative offset to create more room in the wheel well for oversized tires, as lowered and bagged trucks will run a high positive offset to make sure the wheel will clear the fenders when tucking inside the well. The same goes for most cars as well, depending on the particular look you are trying to achieve.

Once it’s explained, offset is actually a very simple concept, and the knowledge of your vehicle and the available offsets for your application can make the entire process of selecting wheels much easier.