Has anyone done a staggered setup with the rear wheels being a different offset than the front on a dish style rim?

This has always been an attractive look to me, and I am thinking it would look stellar on the HHR.

I dont know that much about staggering, so I am curious as to what would be a safe rear offset that would be enough to be visable.

Also, has anyone done a larger wheel in the rear? I dont want to mess with the wheel size upfront, plus there isnt much wheel gap there, but I am thinking of moving to maybe a 19 in the back. A 19 would close the gap and look good with the stagger, but wouldnt look out of place. Id really like to go to a 20, but im afraid that might look too hotrodish, unless I went to an 18 in the front, which I might be able to live with.

Any input would be sweet like candy corn.

 

19's will be more expensive in regards to tires. It's a funny size so you are limited when it comes to avalibilty.

 

Not too worried about that, more worried about the correct offset and any other issues i might see.

 

There's actually better clearance in the front than the rear.

Take a close look at the inner lip and you'll notice how the rear extends inward (flat) from the opening.

Overall, there's not a lot of room to play with on the HHR.

 

One of the guys, Tokyo, did a customer's HHR and had to re-radius the rear wheel openings to make the larger sizes work.

 

He (Tokyo) had to roll the rear fender lip of his own HHR to keep his 18's from rubbing when the suspension flexed over uneven surfaces.

 

So based on this thread (https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...2926#post12926) a 34mm offset will work fine. And stock is 42, so I can stagger at one offset front, and the other rear prolly on an 18front 20 rear wheelsize.

My question is (and may be a dumb one) is how does the offset work? Is a higher number pusing the wheel out further, or pulling it in?? Basically I want the rears out futher than the fronts so would I be running a 34mm front / 42mm rear or visa versa?

 

Keep into account that with my 34mm offsets, I have not lowered the car yet. So, currently, there are no problems. However, I do foresee a need to roll the fenders, if I lower the car. This is something I am still debating.

The offsets work like this: The number corresponds to the distance from the "centerline" of the wheel, to the face of center hub. A positive offset will mean that the tire/rim will be towards the car or a flat faced wheel. A negative offset will place the tire/rim away from the car and will look like a "deep dish" rim.

So, with the 34mm offset, the tire/rims sticks out more than the stock wheels, which, after lowering, may rub against the fender well, depending on how low you go..... So, if you wanted to stagger the offsets, you would choose a 34mm in the rear, and 42mm in the front. And if you lower the car, you may need to roll your rear fender to avoid the tire rubbing.

Hope that answers your questions!

 

Here are some pics of how far the wheels stick out.

This is from the rear...



This is from the front...



Again, these are with 18 x 8.5 wheels, and 235/40-18 tires. I "tilted" the pics slightly just to get an image of the wheel itself, otherwise, if you look at them parallel to the wheel face, they are just within the fender line, and do not stick out. However, if you get a 7" or 8" wheel, with 34mm offset, they will stick just inside the fender well.

 

That sure is a "purty" color in the sun! (I almost bought Amethyst!)