Hi everyone,

I have a friend who owns an 04 Neon. She got some 16" inch wheels for it but it appears to need spacers. The wheels came off a '99 Neon which apparently had the spacers and were left on the car.


Anyone know what size spacers she might need?

I did a bit of looking at it looks like there are 25mm and 30mm spacers offered for this model year Neon. I'm not very versed in wheel/tire tech so any help you guys could offer would be great.

Thanks,
Mike

 

How wide are the rims?

 

More importantly, what's the offset? Usually it's stamped on the wheel somewhere near the rest of the wheel info. Like 16x6" - 40mm, etc.

The stock offset for both generations is +40mm. A 25-30mm spacer is absolutely HUGE. Most are 3-5mm. Anything bigger than that and you'd need longer wheel studs as well.

You can measure the offset for yourself. First you have to measure the width of the wheel - from inside lip to inside lip. If you measure in inches, multiply by 25.4 to get the measurement in millimeters. Now calculate half of that. Then set a straightedge across the back lip of the wheel, and measure how far down it is to the surface of the hub face (backside). The offset is how far away the hub face is from the center of the wheel, positive being farther, negative being closer.

For example, if you measure the rim to be 6 inches, that's 152.4mm. Half of that is 76.2mm, that's the dead center of the wheel. On a stock wheel, the measurement from the back to the wheel face would be very close to 116mm (76+40).

If the wheel's offset is not 40mm, you may or may not need a spacer. 2nd gens can usually get away with a 45mm offset on a 6" rim. Any bigger and you'll start rubbing on the inside of the tire most likely, and that's when you'd need the spacer. If the offset is too small (like 15mm), a spacer isn't going to help...

Then again, we may be talking about something completely different... centering rings... Most aftermarket wheels have standard sized center bores that are very big, and then you use centering rings to fill the gap between the wheel bore and the car's hub. These are very important to have (story with pics, if you want...).

Good wheel info for your browsing... http://www.rsracing.com/tech-wheel.html

Best of luck!

 

Thanks guys...this is good stuff...

I just spoke to her and she said that the wheels are 16" x 7"....

Any ideas on the correct offset?


Basically the wheels were on a 99 neon previously and when she switched them over to her new one she said it is making a "squeaking like / rubbing noise"

She went back to the other neon and was told that there were spacers on it when the wheels were installed (but they didn't know what size)...she also spoke to a tire shop and was also told that she might need spacers.

Any additional info would be great...I'll also take the info you guys have provided so far and see what measurements I get.


Thanks all and keep any good info coming.

Mike

 

Again, both generation Neons had a +40mm offset stock. The 2nd gens had a little more room in the back than the 1st gens did. A 45mm offset is fairly common for aftermarket wheels, but I'd never recommend it for any Neon. Very possible that it was used, which would mean that spacers are very necessary on a 1st gen in back. A 7" rim with a 40mm offset would be cutting it really really close on a 1st gen (depending on the tire), but should be fine on a 2nd gen...

More info on the tire size might help some...

You can take a look in back and see if there is any rubbing going on. The most common place is on the rear trailing arm. That's the rod that goes from the rear spindle (rear brake area) forward to the frame near the front end of the rear fenderwell (if that isn't confusing enough...). If your tires are too tall, the tippy top of the tire will hit the bottom side of the spring perch, which should be pretty easy to find (big coil spring sitting on it, shiny strut rod running up the middle...). I've got barely 1/4" clearance on the trailing arm with my summer tires (1st gen), not even enough to fit my pinky in there...

 

Again, Thanks for all this great info:

The tire info is as follows:


16" x 7" wheels on 205-50Z/16 tires

I will look at it this afternoon but it's good to have as much info as possible before I look at it so I'll know what to look for.

Thanks,
Mike

 

The height seems fine (24"), think the 2nd gen stock tires were 23.5-25ish inches tall. But they are a good inch wider than stock... The spring perch slopes down at an angle, so that's still a possibility for rubbing. I could definitely see it rubbing on a 1st gen with a 40mm+ offset...

You can buy universal spacers pretty cheap. I use them on my winter tires in back (25" tall 175/80R14's) because I can't even fit a quarter between the tire and the spring perch. It doesn't rub, but it's too close for my comfort. The 3mm spacer takes it out just enough to do the job. You have to be careful with spacers though, particularly the universal ones. The Neon, like most passenger cars built in the last 15 years, is a hub-centric design, meaning the hub snout centers the wheel as well as carrying the weight of the vehicle. A lug-centric (still seen on some trucks, but mostly much older cars and trucks) uses the lug nuts to center the wheel and carry the weight. If you use even a 5mm spacer, the wheel is no longer sitting on the hub snout, which means the wheel might not be properly centered, and the lug nuts are carrying the weight of the car, which they simply weren't engineered to do... You can buy spacers that have the centering snout, but they are pretty pricey, usually $75+ each.

 

From what info you've posted, I doesn't sound like she needs them. I have spacers, but mine are 18x7.5...

She should be fine.

 

Midnight, you aren't taking into account the possibility (likelihood in this case) that the offsets may be completely different. If you run around telling everybody that 18x7.5 wheels are guaranteed to fit with no problems 'cuz that's what you did, you end up with people just like the origianl poster who are going to believe you and then have to ask people like me when they find out you are, well, let's say "misinformed".

 

I didn't say 17.5's would fit without spacers... Where do you get that from...

I said mine fit because I have spacers...

Also also said, "She should be fine", just like you did. Only you gave him all the info he needed. There was no need to elaborate anymore.

I'm not misinformed at all, nor am I misinforming anyone else.

Read my post again...


*EDIT* I reworded my post and added some italics, so there is no confusion...