How to get the perfect fitment?

i currently have an acura 2.5 tl 98, i am about to drop it on Accord coilovers. but i do realized the my wheels that are 18x7.5 plus 40 will look like a sunken battle ship. i was wondering is there a site or a how to guide that shows measurments to take to get the proper width and offset and stretch to get that really really flush look. im willing to cut out the fender lips or roll them. i just dont want to buy wheels that either wont fit or are to sunken in. also id rather got with an equal size all around seeing as im fwd and wont benifit from a staggerd setup

heres a pic of the fitment (sorry the best pic i got for now)
[img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2148000-2148999/2148287_1_full.jpg[/img]

You can use this as a guide.
[url]http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp[/url]
Measure how much extra space you have, and then figure out how much you can add with fender mods. The calculator will show you how much closer to the inner wheel well and to the fender lip your wheel 'ends' will be.

also i forgot to mention that i will need some conversion spacers to convert my wheels from 4 lug to 5 lug. considering nothing exists in 4 lug setups

[quote=ua2 ]
also i forgot to mention that i will need some conversion spacers to convert my wheels from 4 lug to 5 lug. considering nothing exists in 4 lug setups

[/quote]

Not true. Most good wheels that come in custom offset also have many bolt patterns to choose from such as Work wheels.

Here's another offset calc. You can never get too much help right? :angel:

[quote=ua2 ]
i currently have an acura 2.5 tl 98, i am about to drop it on Accord coilovers. but i do realized the my wheels that are 18x7.5 plus 40 will look like a sunken battle ship. i was wondering is there a site or a how to guide that shows measurments to take to get the proper width and offset and stretch to get that really really flush look. im willing to cut out the fender lips or roll them. i just dont want to buy wheels that either wont fit or are to sunken in. also id rather got with an equal size all around seeing as im fwd and wont benifit from a staggerd setup
[/quote]

while wheel calculators are a good starting point, there is nothing more accurate than measuring, yourself.

you make some really interesting points.  the one that stuck out most to me is your choice to avoid a staggered width setup.  it's great that you are interested in benefits to your car, and not the opposite.  You'd like to:

1) determine proper width and offset
2) determine tire size to "stretch" on the above width wheel

in order to ultimately result in a "really really flush look."

the flush look, is just that, a look.  it seems as though it's completely cosmetic in your case since you didn't mention increasing track width, etc.

the staggered (width/offset) setup does compliment larger sedans quite a bit.  i think the larger import cars try to emulate many of europe's luxury sedans, which most often come factory with a "staggered" wheel setup.  this of course is because they are rear wheel driven, but don't forget, it's the "look" you are after!

imo, a staggered width and/or offset on a front wheel drive car does compliment it's look.  it becomes bigger, more dominant, looking.  this has been done on many a fwd car.  you may want to look at some of the setups that have already been done, and re-evaluate whether you like the look, or not.

These gauge would seem to be the best way.
[url]http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=400251+320134+115&autoview=sku[/url]
[img]http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/php-01201.jpg[/img]

Aha!, so they do make such a thing! That's a very good idea.

There are plenty of nice 4 bolt wheels, just look at what the xB guys are doing.

thanks alot for the help guys. you guys rule!

any pics of fwd cars with staggered fitment?

is it possible for someone to photoshop my car with some nice vip style wheels.

i will definatly check out what the xb guys are doing. thanks for the tips.

keep em coming!! 

[quote=MAX_POWERS ]
These gauge would seem to be the best way.
[url]http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=400251+320134+115&autoview=sku[/url]
[img]http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/php-01201.jpg[/img]
[/quote]

i was lookin at this thing, n i find it pretty interesting..i don' understand what backspacing is..is that offset?not too familiar with the term here...<------- noob as well ahhaha
seems abit expensive though..don't yall think?

[quote=555 ]
i was lookin at this thing, n i find it pretty interesting..i don' understand what backspacing is..is that offset?not too familiar with the term here...<------- noob as well ahhaha
seems abit expensive though..don't yall think?
[/quote]

Back spacing is the space from the edge of the inside lip to the hub of the wheel, usually used in american wheels and measured in inches. offset on the other hand is the distance from the center point of the wheel to the hub, more widely used and measured in mm. ive found the easiest and most consistant way to convert backspacing to offset is take the wheel width and devide by 2 (10" wheel/2=5") to get the center point of the wheel, subtract that from the back spacing (6.5" b.s. - 5"=1.5") and convert answer from inches to mm, and you got a pretty good estimate for offset, but thats just how i do it, i could be retarded :idiot2:

(the numbers i used were jus an example i pulled from my ass, not a real wheel)

hey about the 4 lug wheels!! there are several out there thats 4x4.5  first check out some 2ndhand shops like 
memoryfab.com
fetchvip.com
takumiproject.com
theres others

but if you insist brand new, WORK wheels are the BEST for the money. complete custom sizing just under $2000 for 18's for some of the euroline series
heres a 2nd hand example for $1850 from memoryfab
F 19x8.5 +30, R 19x9.5 +30 4Hx114.3
[img]http://www.memoryfab.com/wheels/used/imgmed_20060203192025_1.jpg[/img]

thanks for the feedback guys. looks like i will need this tool. can anyone find any ua2 setups that are vip styled? :)

the only way i have ever been able to get perfect fitmet is by moulding the fenders around the wheel/tire. i would suggest going a little lower offset than you think will fit, and then very very slowly pull the fender out to clear the tire. if you want the wheels to be flush with basically just a roll, i would suggest first hammering up the fender lip with a mini sledge (do this very careful, dont want to swing wrong and have to repaint or anything. and then once you have the fender rolled, but the wheel/tire assembly still rubs, put a pad of newspaper in between the tire and the fender, id say about a quarter inch thick, and either have people help you compress the suspension if you have some fat friends, haha, so that the wheel tucks, or you can disconnect the shock so that itll tuck. the newspaper will compress, but it can only compress so much, and then it will push the fender metal outwards. so the 1/4" pad of newspaper will compress a lot and you will end up with like 2mm clearance between your wheel and fender metal.

thats the easiest way i know of to get flush wheel fitment on stock mildly modified metal

if you have fiberglass fenders then its basically the same, put some newspaper in between the wheel and tire with the wheel tucking, then rivet the panel on, then remove the paper, and youll have created a nice uniform gap with the newspaper.

i know everybody hates 240s on here or whatever, but this is a pic of my car using the overfenders process i mentioned
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/chmercer/IMG_0720.jpg[/img]

its a little sunk but i had to leave room for the prodtruding wheel lip, clears by a sheet of newspaper

im a little confused with your news paper process. so u slide a newspaper in between ur fender and tire and get a bunch of guys to sit in your car? wont that warp the fender? ill have coilovers so the suspension wont compress because they will be very stiff.

please if you could provide a how to or more detailed directions maybe some pictures of what u mean. I would be forever greatful

this is the kind of flushness im looking for

[img]http://www.d-faction.com/pictures/mike/slizzy%20069.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img464.imageshack.us/img464/8103/tirevg5.jpg[/img]

theres a crappy diagram of what im talking about of what im talking about

it moves the fender out a very small amount but only like 1/8 of an inch if you use a pad of newspaper around 1/4" thick. it conforms to the tire so it only pushes the fender out in the areas where its close to the tire.

also that pic looks suspiciously like the front tire, in which case you couldnt really drive like that except in a straight line

thank you very much chmercer. youve been a great help i really appreciate it.

glad i could help, thoes are just some methods ive come up with over the past few years, hope they work for you. let me know if there are any more questions :)