Offset Upset

By: luv_ghias Mood: Other Date: Nov 17, 2008 Music: None

For the longest time, I had my heart set on getting Anna-now-Deirdre fixed up with some new rims. There was a set in the JC Whitney catalog --chromed, sporting a saw-toothed design, with matching hub cover and lug nuts-- that I was determined to buy. I had called tech support to find out if these things would fit on my vehicle; they assured me, as did the disclaimer on the website's order page, that there would be no problem. The next hurdle was waiting for a savings promotion that would work to my advantage (aka "spending as little money as possible for what I want").

Still not 100% sure about the fit (something just seemed "hinky" from the promotional pics), I nevertheless bought them up with a savings of almost $90.00 --basically cancelling the shipping and chipping a fiver off each $109.00 rim.

My pride in financial prowess was immediately deflated when, after taking some measurements, I discovered that these things will NOT fit my vehicle... the offset is all wrong. For you lay-persons, the offset of a tire rim is the measurement from the inner edge of the rim to the point where the rim attaches to the vehicle. The rims I currenly have are at 4 inches while the new rims I bought are at just shy of 3 inches; added to the extra half-inch of width on the new rims, the wheels would basically be "sticking out" from under the fenders... exposing my tires to scraping and/or tearing as I drove down the road.

I'll be making a phone call to JC Whitney on Monday... glutton for punishment that I am, I will ask if I can get an exchange made for another set of rims they sell. Of course THIS TIME they will give me a specific answer to the offset question, or I will eat the $100 postage to return my purchase.

STAY TUNED!!!