Good Evening Journeyers!!
It's been a long time since I posted here. As a result of an IM I received from hafnutz67, the experience I'm going to talk about is a shortened version to cover a period of a year and half.
About a year and a half ago I replaced my 19 inch rims with some 20 inch Rims. The Rims were the Helo HE875 which by all accounts were stated to fit. The reason at the time was that I wanted some black and chrome rims to match my black and chrome look. I also did not want to pay $250 for each tire at a minimum because of the oddball 19 inch tires size. I started hearing some noise so after taking it to Pep Boys, my brakes, including the rotor were replaced with upgraded brakes including bigger pads. At that time it was determined that the calipers were rubbing against the spokes of the riims. They sawed down the caliper some and the noise seemed to go away. Then, it came back again. I talked to the place where I got the rims from and it was determined that they were rubbing the caliper. I tried out some other rims and each one upon arrival (after doing the test fit) rubbed the caliper. I then did some research on rims and offsets and found out a lot of information which helped me find the rims that I have now.
Here is some to help everyone here. Keep in mind that I am not a mechanic, DIY, or ASE Certified...I'm just a Journey Owner who is a consumer that went through pure Hades and just came out of it as a result of research and trial and error.
1. Know the offset of the OEM Rims which in the case of the Crew Rims, they are 40mm. Since the Helo HE875 are 38 mm offset, it's a good chance they will not fit. If you base the fit solely upon what a website, magazine, or tire place tells you, you can be prone to erroneous information. Yes, you can see Visualizers that show what the rims will look like on the Journey but that does not mean that they will fit.
2. When it comes to offsets, the easiest way to know is that the more the design (face) of the rim sits on top of the rim (more forward), the more positive the offset. Positive offset will push the design face of the rim more towards the street. The less the offset, or more towards 0 or past 0 to negative, the more the design face of the rim is pushed towards the brakes (inward). When it's 0, it's pretty a "deep dish" rim where the design face is truly pushed in and there's more "outside rim" to wipe around inside.
3. Our bolt pattern, 5x1275 lug 5 inch or 127mm is a very hard bolt pattern to find aftermarket rims that will fit on the Journey. There is very little selection in this bolt pattern. Our Journey require a High Positive Offset as mentioned in Number #1.
4. Do not try or let anyone tell you to use spacers to account for lower offset, 0 offset, or negative offset wheels. This will cause problems no matter how little spacing is used.
5. When you get bigger pads, they will push the caliper out towards the spokes of the rim. Usually, one can get bigger pads and not have the calipers rub the spokes or a part of the bore on the OEM wheels but there can be some exceptions. It's best to try to get the bigger pads with the OEM Rims first before getting another set of rims because in case that there is a caliper issue, you still have your OEM's to fall back on.
6. Know that when going with larger rims that your tire size and treadlife will be affected. For example, if you are used to getting 70,000 mile tires, they will be almost nonexistent in 20's or above. My Falken Pro G4 A/S that I have right now (245 45 20) are 45,000 miles treadlife at $140 each without road hazard plans, replacement plans and taxes. For 60,000 miles, the tires can run from $200 to $250 each without road hazard plans, taxes and replacement plans. Also the larger the rim, the lower the profile as well. Lower profile tires tend to have less treadlife but this is not ironclad. Lower profile tires will also make the ride stiffer as the usual "cush" starts to less in existence and feel which means you will feel every bump and nuance in the road including vibration. This will have nothing to do with the suspension....it's more of the "rim" is making contact with the road and there is less "tire" to absorb it.
7. Know that with a wider tire, rubbing can happen. My first set of 20 inch tires were 265 45 20. They started rubbing a little so I went down to 245 45 20 and they have worked out fine. I have not tried the 255 range so I will assume that the 245 would be the recommended max unless your going with a 255 40 20.
8. Form follows function. In my case, the Helo HE875 are a PITA (Pain In The ....) to take off. This is because this rim has an insert that has to be completely taken off with an allen wrench before you can get to the bolts of the rim. This insert sits on top of the rim and each spoke has it's own screw. Since the rim has ten spokes, that's ten screws on each wheel that have to be unscrewed just to take off the insert BEFORE you can take off the 5 bolts to get the wheel off. When looking for rims, don't go just by the look alone...also figure how labor intensive they will be to take off. Everything that looks good is not always functional hence form follows function. Yes, the Helo HE875's looked great but they were a PITA to take off and the plastic inserts crack as well especially when going through the car wash.
The Rims that I have now are made by Lexani and they are 40 mm offset rims. The noise I heard was my front struts which were worn and I replaced them today. Now, I have no more noise and no more rim rubbing the brake calipers. I did the ProStop Premium Ceramic Brake Pads which are big and quiet. My only problem now is that my Bluetooth on my radio stopped working which that is a different subject.
The first pic is my Journey with the Helo 875 Rims. The second pic is my Journey with the Lexani CSS8 Rims.
Again, this is my experience. Your experience will vary.
Mods...if this is in the wrong area I most humbly apologize. I am in this case covering wheels, tires, and brakes in one fell swoop. If this is truly help others, you have my permission to use it as a sticky, article, or whatever it's called.
BD
