ET Alloy wheel question lenso bsx

Right then, forgive me if this question sounds really thick but does the ET setting on alloy wheels affect the size of the dish?
Only Im getting my wheels soon and have decided on 15" lenso bsx but they look completely different from one picture to the next, the dish size looks flat on one car and deeper on another! Is this because of ET or am I wrong? I will be using spacers when I fit the wheels, can some one explain please, slowly please cos im dull!

ET just means the distance of the back face fo the wheel where it fits the hub to the centre of the wheel. higher et means the wheel sits further in towards the suspension, lower et means the wheel sits further out.

ET doesnt always effect the dish, it depends on the design of the wheel. you also have to take into account the width of the wheel, could be one of the wheels you are looking at is 6.5", the other 7". on wheels the width is referred to as 'J' so you might have 15" wheel, ET24 and 7J wide (which means 7" wide). no idea why they have to say 7J rather than 7" tho

Hi mate, well i bought some lenso's two years ago, mine are 15inch and im pritty sure 7.5J wide.

However if you look online or inside cover of GOLF+ they now do wider version :-( and if it was me i would go with 7.5j's on the front and then 8.5j's or something like that on the back.

the ET  was meant to be right for the golf when i bought the lenso's new, but they still needed to put spacers all the way round. Me and another member on here think they would look nicest with 10mm spacers on the front and 15-20mm spacers on the back, but then just putting the wider wheels on the back may achieve the look you may be looking to go for.

here's some pics of mine as i said 7.5J all round with 8mm spacers front and back

rubjonny said

 on wheels the width is referred to as 'J' so you might have 15" wheel, ET24 and 7J wide (which means 7" wide). no idea why they have to say 7J rather than 7" tho

Not quite true, the J indicates the tyre bead profile but is usually quoted in association with the rim width, hence 7J.

Have a look here for more info on other bead profiles- http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg4.html

With regard to split-rim offsets, it can get very confusing as the original centre may be stamped with an offset. The outer rim can then be changed for a much wider one so the overall wheel size is wider which changes the centre line and therefore the ET changes. Some people don't seem aware that changing overall wheel width can change the ET and so when selling them quote the ET that is stamped in the centre, in reality the ET will be nowhere near.

With regard to split-rim offsets, it can get very confusing as the original centre may be stamped with an offset. The outer rim can then be changed for a much wider one so the overall wheel size is wider which changes the centre line and therefore the ET changes

this wont be a problem with the Lenso's as they are split rim replica's so are actually a one piece wheel

Cheers

rich

richyhill said

this wont be a problem with the Lenso's as they are split rim replica's so are actually a one piece wheel

Cheers

rich

I did not know that! I always assumed the Lenso was a direct copy of the RM's etc and therefore splits as well. No wonder the RM's are so much more expensive.

ah that explains it then. learn something new every day!

I did not know that! I always assumed the Lenso was a direct copy of the RM's etc and therefore splits as well. No wonder the RM's are so much more expensive.

unfortunately not mate, thats why i had to go with them at the time, didnt have enough cash for RM's :-(

loving your car mate coming on really nice !

someone please help ive just finished a restoration on a 1989 mk1 golf cabriolet and got some 16x7.5 lenso bsx i told the company Rimluxe i wanted them to fit my mk1 golf so my problem is hes sent me them with tyres 205/45/16 all 4 now i put them on ons the front are hitting my brake calipers and ive spaced them out with 10mm front and 5mm in back BUT… the front are inch wide each side way past the arches and back are flush i need some1 to tell me of i run my 16x7.5 what offset is best to clear calipers and not stick out my arches i dont want to get them rolled. What tyres are best size to put on these 16x7.5? The company that i bought them off have cut all offsets the same i have to put 10mm spacers in front just to clear calipers but then they stick out to far each side please help many thanks Craig

I'm surprised they are hitting the front calipers! I've had 15 inch version and they cleared fine.

Very odd

You haven't told us what the offset of the wheels is. You'll need around ET38 - ET30 and they should clear.

On a 7.5 inch wide rim you could run a 195 with no issues or even a 185 with a little bit of stretch.

I'd get hold of the company and see what they think.

Ideally for the front you want a slightly bigger ET but if it's to 'big' you'll start fouling the springs.

A 7 inch wide wheel with an ET of around 35 would be the solution with a 195 profile tyre.

Cheers

Ian

Thank ian for replying to me ive been down garage after work and checked offset and sizes there are all the same 16x7.5 with a ET+25? And i have 5mm spaces all around i was thinking if i take the 205/45/16 tyres off and get some 185/45?/50?/16 would this help my problem and mabe bite the bullet and get the arches rolled ive just had spray job done so thats y i didnt want to get arches rolled but if needs must all i want is my alloys on 😣

That is very odd that the fronts catch the brakes. There should be loads of room with that offset.

How much do the tyres stick out past the arches on the front?

If you go to 185 from 205 the tyre is 20mm smaller in it's width. Therefore you will bring the outside edge of the edge of the tyre 10mm further in. Would this clear the arch? Get a stick and do some measuring mate.

How's the back look? From the pics above the back looks like they are tucking loads. You might want some spacers on the back too, just to even everything out. You can keep the wider tyres on the back and just add some spacers. Bit more measuring mate.  

Quick safety tip - if you're running spacers remember the the wheel bolts need to be longer by the same amount as the spacers!

cheers

Ian

as per my replay on ed38, swap the front caliper carriers for earlier style 1.5-1.8 tintop ones without the big hoop round the front, will probably clear fine then

later cab/rocco on the left, mk1 tintop on the right: