How To Measure Wheel Offset and How Do You Know What Offset is Required For Your Machine?
When it comes to upgrading to aftermarket wheels and tires onto your machine, you need to have an understanding of what your goal is.
Are you trying to make your tires and wheel stick out from your machine more or less? If you have your tires sucked in, are you going to cause more rubbing in your fenders? Or, if you have your wheels pushed out slightly wider, can your suspension handle the additional stress? These are challenges that you may face, therefore, it’s important to understand your goals when trying to purchase wheels.
Measuring Backspacing
Backspacing is the distance between the hub of the wheel from the backside and the front side. You always read backspacing, as distance from the back of the wheel to the hub, and then from the hub to the front of the wheel.
On a conventional 7” wheel, you have a variety of different options 4+3, 5+2, 2+5, 3+4, 3+4.
Typically, factory wheels that come on Polaris and Can-Am machines are considered to be a 6+1 offset.
Remember: backspacing is always measured in inches. However most wheel manufacturing companies measure offset in millimeters.
A positive offset has more wheel behind the hub, and less wheel out. Meaning the wheel will sink more into the machine.
A negative offset has less wheel behind the hub, and more wheel out. Meaning when the wheel is mounted, your tires will stick out from your machine.
OEM Offset & how It Affects You
When shopping for aftermarket wheels it’s important to understand and know what your current wheel offset is. This will help dictate what you can do for wheels on your machine.
Measuring inches to mm can be tricky, but provides a strong representation of offset.
There are 25.4 mm to an inch.
Let’s look at an example to better understand how offsets can affect your machine.
Let’s say you have a RZR 1000 that has a 6+1 factory wheel offset. Stock RZR tires sit in the wheel wells well, and don’t stick out.
That means there are 6 inches from the back of the wheel to the hub and 1 inch from the hub to the front of the wheel.
You might be wondering, I am looking for aftermarket wheels for my machine, so how does a 38mm compared to a 13mm offset affect my RZR?
A 38mm offset means the wheel has a positive offset or a positive backspacing. Which means from the hub of the wheel to the center, is a positive value and therefore will sit fairly flush inside your wheel wells.
A 13 mm offset is a less positive offset compared to a 38mm. Which means from the hub of the wheel to the center, there is less distance. This will cause the tire to sit further out from the machine and push outside of the wheel wells slightly. (Depending on the type and style of tire you run)
The lower the backspacing, the less backspacing in mm, and therefore will push the tires further out from the machine.
Further Clarification
Still need further clarification on how offset will affect your machine? Give us a call at 1-780-986-8001 and we would be glad to help customize your ride.
About Fuel Wheels
Born Badass
There’s a lot of credibility behind this brand. Fuel Off-Road was formed in 2009 by MHT Luxury Alloys, a long-time player in the industry known and trusted for its quality and expertise. In 2019 MHT merged with custom wheel distributor Wheel Pros to become the largest automotive aftermarket wheel platform in the world. Operating under the name Wheel Pros, they offer some of the most recognizable brands including American Racing, KMC, MSA Wheels and Fuel Off-Road.
Limits Be Damned
Every day, the team at Fuel are pushing the limits to bring you the next level in off-road development. Fuel has a team of highly dedicated, experienced professionals offering the latest design and engineering innovations while focusing on performance, reliability, and longevity. They really strive to manufacture the highest quality wheels that push the limits and offer creative, never-been-done-before styles, without compromising on performance or function.
With that amount of expertise behind them it’s no surprise that Fuel has been capturing the attention of off-road enthusiasts with their cutting-edge designs, fitments and technological advancements.
Dare to be Bold
Their innovative designs and bold color choices, like Illusion Sour Apple, Candy Purple, Shocker Yellow and Matte Black with High Lifter Orange accents to name a few, allow you to customize your ride and make yourself known on the trail.
Fuel wheels are not only the ultimate wheels in style and performance, but they’re also extremely durable. These wheels undergo extensive testing in some of the most insane environments. So you know they’ll stand up to whatever you throw at them.
