Wheels and tires
#1
Wheels and tires
The more I shop, the more confused I get. My HHR is an LS with the "Plane Jane" 16 inch wheels and hubcaps. I definately want new rims and tires for the summertime and put my "Janes" on in the winter. I have a few questions that I hope some of you experts will answer:
1. What is the width of my wheels now? I see 17" wheels that are mostly 7.5 inches, and a couple that are 8 inches. They have an offset of 45. Will these fit without any problems?
2. If I go to 17 inch wheels and put on the 215 50R 17 tires, will my tire height still be the same for the speedo to work correctly?
3. Some of the wheels say "High" offset. Does that mean at least the 43mm we have now.
I know the most logical answer would be to go to a wheel shop and have them try them, BUT I am in far SE Kentucky and the nearest place is about two hours away, and they had NOTHING that would fit an HHR. So, I would have to order them and they would have to work perfectly when I put them on.
Whew.........I've typed so much my fingers hurt.....
1. What is the width of my wheels now? I see 17" wheels that are mostly 7.5 inches, and a couple that are 8 inches. They have an offset of 45. Will these fit without any problems?
2. If I go to 17 inch wheels and put on the 215 50R 17 tires, will my tire height still be the same for the speedo to work correctly?
3. Some of the wheels say "High" offset. Does that mean at least the 43mm we have now.
I know the most logical answer would be to go to a wheel shop and have them try them, BUT I am in far SE Kentucky and the nearest place is about two hours away, and they had NOTHING that would fit an HHR. So, I would have to order them and they would have to work perfectly when I put them on.
Whew.........I've typed so much my fingers hurt.....
#2
I would first check with our supporting vendor www.truckshop.com to see what he can get for you. I've recently asked him questions on my wishlist rims and he got back with me very quickly. Another option would be to contact www.tirerack.com.
#4
I'll see what I can do to answer your questions:
Stock wheels are 16x6.5 and the optional 17 inch are 17x6.5. You can go up in size, generally we like to keep them in the 7 or 7.5 range. When you get into 8 inches and wider you can start to have fitment problems, it really depends on the offset and tire size.
As long as the overall tire diameter is the same your speedometer will not change. You can run anything from 16 to 20 inch wheels and stay very close to stock overall size. If you go down or up in size your speedo would be off the same percent as the difference in tire diameter. Generally, with tires in the 25 to 26 inch range you would still be within plus or minus 2-3% and that should not cause any problem other than reading slightly off by that amount.
"High" as opposed to low or mid offset. That really does not tell you enough, since it is just a range that could be anything between 35 and 55 or even 60 mm. On a vehicle like an HHR getting the right offset is very important.
We do wheel and tire packages quite often, and ship them all ready to bolt on. I've done wheels for several HHRs, but each one is a bit different depending on how the vehicle is going to be set up, if it's to be lowered, etc. Let me know if you have any questions.
2. If I go to 17 inch wheels and put on the 215 50R 17 tires, will my tire height still be the same for the speedo to work correctly?
3. Some of the wheels say "High" offset. Does that mean at least the 43mm we have now.
We do wheel and tire packages quite often, and ship them all ready to bolt on. I've done wheels for several HHRs, but each one is a bit different depending on how the vehicle is going to be set up, if it's to be lowered, etc. Let me know if you have any questions.