- It's a whole new world.
Especially when it comes to actually
fitting things under your car.
By far the worst parts to make fit on any car,
I would say on a list of things that are (beep)
this is the (beep) and that would be the damn throttle body
from the Y pipe of a B5 S4 or C5 A6
the actual pipes that go into that Y pipe
into the throttle, the worst,
the worst part in the world.
And if you know what I'm talking about, you feel my pain
you get damn oil everywhere because the car is old
and then the Y pipe will eventually pull out.
It'll hit your fan because it pops off.
And then you get a massive air leak
because the Y pipe is made of plastic.
Why would Audi do that?
Why would you make that plastic?
Super fun.
(clears throat)
But that happens with wheel fitment too.
That's the transition.
I'm Alex, Alex.Fi on Instagram
and today we're going to be talking about
how everything you need to know about proper wheel fitment
before you decide to pick up a set of wheels and tires
and why, probably peaking a little bit there.
Why do so many people sometimes have a tendency
to get it wrong?
Let's go.
(insect buzzing)
Okay, come on.
And if you're just jumping into this video, hello, I'm Alex.
And if you're looking for aftermarket wheels, tires
or suspension be sure to hit us up over
@fitmentindustries.com.
You wanna know why?
Because we can put wheel and tire packages together
and we can make them fit.
And we got the fitment specs, bud.
and make them look good, all right?
We're really good at that.
Plus we have 0% financing.
So if you wanna pick up your stuff now
and get it ready to pay off with tax returns
so that you can have your car ready for car season
you can do that, because long behold we are in 2021
which means spring is coming.
I know contrary to popular belief,
the world still is turning or don't,
it's entirely up to you.
Plus we actually have a new official giveaway as well
with artists to art form wheels, amount of block
Deco Directional ultra light wheel
built specifically for people like you and people like me
that want form function and all of the above
we may have actually made that company
which is why we're so excited about it.
But it would at least mean a lot of you'd go check it out.
It's part of our giveaway this year.
This is the titan, it's pretty neat.
All right, video.
Wheel fitment is difficult for a lot of people.
And most people get it wrong because there's just
there's quite a bit, there's a lot of stuff
that you got to take into consideration.
It's like when you start getting into calculus, okay.
Everything pre-calc and before you can kind of figure out,
but calculus it starts to get a little difficult.
You've got backspacing, is that the same thing as offset?
Well maybe, but not really, okay.
Diameter wheels is 18 inches on the website
but 19 inches when you measure it with an actual ruler
and that just has you feeling some sort of way
'cause it's confusing.
Hub centric isn't the same as wheel centric.
And don't even get me started when you realize a
225 40 18, Michelin has a different sidewall height
than a Nitto NT555 225 40 18,
because they're made of different materials.
And since they're made of different materials
from different companies,
the sidewall height ratio is different.
(clears throat)
Sorry.
So why do many people have a tendency to get it wrong?
And why do so many people mess up one of these things too?
Well, the number one thing has to do with kind of
going overboard with the cheese and low offset wheels.
Now everybody loves talking about offset
when they're talking about their wheel size because
when it comes down to it, low offset is cool, alright?
- All right.
- It's the, what the cool kids do.
And it's what has a tendency usually to give you more lip
more concavity and more depth to your wheel
because the mounting point of the wheel
to your hub assembly is closer to the back of the wheel.
This pulls the design back, or it's gonna add lip
if the design or the face of the wheel is flat.
So a lot of times people really want to run out there.
They're gonna get up their wheel and tire package.
And they're going to want us to have something that is
the most smallest offset wheel they can possibly find.
And usually you'll see something like
an 18 by nine and a half plus 10.
And because we can fit that on their cars
we sometimes think that that'll be the max concavity
but still fit within the wheel wells.
And if that is (beep) you think you learn when you actually
install them, because that's not usually how it works.
Offset has to be one facet of really deciding
what size wheel you can go with.
An offset is just one of those things.
It's gonna make other things better or worse
but you need to be looking at your overall width
and your tire size and all of that information at one time.
So you know how the entire assembly is gonna come together.
You have to decide how much your wheel wells can take.
Now you can do math
and you can figure out how much backspace you have.
So that would be from your mounting surface
to your first obstruction inside the wheel well,
and that's usually going to be your stride or your coilover.
And a lot of times you can actually measure this
by taking a straight edge
to that first obstruction in the wheel well.
It's just as simple as that, write it down
give yourself a little bit of a padding or cushion
so that you don't get too close to it.
And then you do that same thing for your front space.
You're gonna be able to maximize the space
from the mounting surface
to probably your fender liner or your fender lip.
And then at that same time
when you put those two numbers together,
that's gonna give you a total amount of space
within the wheel wells.
Now that's not gonna account for some
turning radius issues that you're gonna
want to take into consideration.
However, when people end up maxing out their offset
and then buying their wheels, a lot of times
they're not thinking about things like that.
They're not thinking about width.
They're not thinking about diameter
and those things can play an effect in there as well.
When you're looking at wheels,
you can pretty much figure out how much play you have
with your wheel fitment by just looking at the gallery.
There's a gallery on our website
that's gonna help you kind of figure it all out.
Or you can go in and do the math yourself
which we actually have a video over here.
Generally people go too aggressive on their first round
because they want something super mean and super meany.
And what you end up is with your NC Miata
looking a little bit more four by four, and not much
of a fitted look because you went too weird with the offset.
A great tool for this, especially if
you've already bought a car with aftermarket wheels
and let's say you don't like them, is actually a calculator
which you can go and take the existing wheel specs,
wheel size, tire size and all that sort of good stuff
and compare it to the wheels and tires that you want to buy.
There's actually a calculator on our website
that you can use that will tell you
how much further something is gonna go out
or sunk in depending on the size and offset
of the wheels and tires that you're looking to switch out.
This is key, especially as people are picking up
more used cars now than ever before.
And it takes out a lot of guessing in the game
when you can just know exactly what you're getting into.
And it's super nice for when you're swapping
to a new setup in the spring.
Another reason we all get fitment wrong
every once in a while is because we buy our setup.
We're essentially looking for that mean and green
like looking meady, functional look.
A lot of times people
aren't a huge fan of the stretch tire look.
Stretch tires generally do best with stance setups.
But not everybody's a huge fan of that, all right?
So we have like a Ford fusion.
We want to have a meady setup.
We want an aggressive setup.
So we hop on to the gallery.
We've been eyeing up our wheels and tire.
You pick them up, you throw them on the car,
you'll look at it, and some just don't look right.
And you just don't really understand
where or why it all went wrong.
But now you're wondering to yourself,
if you're one of those people
and the answer may be, yes, all right?
You go looking back and forth because you wanted that
meaner setup, so then you look to the aspect ratio
and it almost looks exaggerated.
You have to remember that when you're looking at tire size
you're looking at section width, you're looking
at aspect ratio, which is a percentage of that section width
and then your overall diameter of your tire size.
That second number plays a huge part
in how the overall wheel and tire is going to look.
And it's probably one of the most overlooked parts
of a wheel and tire setup in the industry.
It's the number one mistake I've made.
It's number one, mistake we've all made.
Wheels are easier to actually figure out
and tires on the other hand,
that's where things can get a little feisty.
And when you separate the two when you're buying them,
it can make it even more confusing.
Remember that the second number
on the tires, i.e 45 series is 45%
of the section width of the tire as a tire height number.
So a 225 45 is 101 millimeters tall.
A 225 40 is only 90 millimeters of height.
So that 11 millimeter difference can make all the world
for you when it comes down to getting
your fitness style then, especially on a less wide wheel.
As the bubbling just seems to be a lot easier to see.
So 40 to a 45 is a big deal.
And for field of reference, just for the sake of saying it
try to stay at, or underneath 40 for your aspect ratio,
because the smaller the sidewall
the more emphasis on the wheel will be there for you.
That doesn't necessarily mean
that you have to run a stretch setup
because you can go for a wider section width.
But you may end up looking like Pogo Sticks
because if you don't have any coilovers on your tires
that are hiding your gap, you're not gonna,
it's gonna look bad.
I'm not trying to say wheels, tires or suspension.
I'm just trying to say that
a lot of times they compliment each other, okay?
Like salt and pepper on a steak
or Cholula on a taco or Tabasco on Fritos.
- Fritos alert.
- Right? And that's where the fine tuning is so important.
We all jumped in and we wanted to get some stuff.
We wanted to get some wheel fitment.
We wanted to look good 'cause we want to be cool, all right?
But then you end up,
you go out there and you don't throw on the TPMS.
You use the old bolts even though the wheels have
15 millimeters more back pads in the past ones.
And we just try to rush it because the season opener
or some sort of car show is in two weeks.
And a lot of times the rushing on the smaller details
is ultimately what causes the greatest pain
and why people get the wheel fitment so wrong.
Don't do that, take your time.
When you're new in this sort of stuff
it's like a measure, it's like measuring.
It's like measuring for shelf.
Sure, you can guess the hell out of it.
It makes it fun if it works, but if it doesn't
it's going to look pretty terrible.
And then everybody's going to question your life choices
when they come to your house.
Using your peers and using the gallery
is a great way to jump in and have confidence
to get it right the first time.
But that doesn't mean you shouldn't shoot your shot
and try to figure out the wheel fitment by yourself
by doing a little bit of math
doing a little bit of measurements and just making sure
that things are going to go over yourself.
Things are going to go well for yourself.
I forgot a word in that last sentence.
Will you want to cut plastic?
Will you want to roll fenders?
Will you, will you be okay
with rubbing every once in a while or won't you?
You gotta know these things before you pick up stuff,
because otherwise you're gonna be
really shocked when it does one of those things.
People get fitment wrong so often
because they see cars with insane fitment and assume
all you got to do is buy the same wheels and tires
and you're pretty much set to go
but they don't read the fine print
or the part on the gallery that says
that they rubs at full turn or the fact that they chopped up
their entire fender liner to make it fit.
And if you want to do that, you just gotta be okay
that those things are gonna happen.
Don't complain and get scared when it does.
It'll eventually stop making noise.
Like if you rub enough, it'll eventually stop.
You just gotta be okay with that.
We're not like truck people.
Don't be, you know, I mean, don't be, it's going to be okay.
Research, measure for yourself for the first time
use the gallery, check your numbers
against what people are running on a similar platform.
And by all means and by all that is wholly
use a calculator, alright?
Calculators is thing you got them on your phone.
Now they have commercials on them.
I think that's the dumbest thing in the world, all right.
But use a calculator.
And if you don't wanna do that, get yourself
an 18 by eight and a half plus 35 on a 225 40 18,
and I promise you'll have the scrambled eggs version
of pepper fitment that fits 99% of the time, all right.
Or just use the gallery.
It's completely up to you.
That is why people get wheel fitment wrong.
And if you're looking to pick some stuff up
or you're just looking to build your car,
research will always do the number one thing
that actually helps you get to where you need to go.
If you can't find a clear answer, try not to guess
jump into a forum, use the gallery
try a calculator once or twice, get yourself a straight edge
and measure some things out for yourself
and see if it's gonna work for you.
One of the biggest things that can happen is
when you don't do it right, you have some regrets.
And you don't want to have regrets, okay?
I had 15 by tens on my Datsun
and I didn't know what that was going to look like.
And then I did.
And I was like, I fucked up.
But have you ever gotten fitment wrong?
Let us know below.
And of course, if you're looking for aftermarket
wheels, tires or suspension, be sure to check us out over
@feminineindustries.com, where you can check out our gallery
and see what everybody else is running.
Because if I'll ask, you can just do that.
And that works actually really, really well.
I'm Alex from Fitment industries,
and we will see you later, peace.