We put the car on four jack stands and pulled the wheels so we could easily get under it to chk clearances and load the suspension with the jack.

The brake rotors are all flush with the hubs. We tightened the wheels with the lug nuts to make sure they didnt move or shift like they do when held by hand.

Net-net - there is no way a 9.5" 20 offset wheel (nominal 10.5" width) will fit the rear without sticking out. There simply isnt room. Even if we went to the 40 offset the wheel still sticks out.

In front, without the 7/16 (11m) spacer the 8" 40 offset (nominal 9") the outer edge of the wheel is even with the outside of the fender and my finger fits between the shock adjustment collar and the wheel. So I think we are good there.

The TSW Jaramas (most of the TSW wheels) come in either 20 or 40 offsets and 8" and 9.5" widths with no steps in between. Putting the 8" 40 offset wheel on the back with the 11mm spacer showed we could go to 15mm to be flush. That would effectively be a 25 offset wheel.

So i ordered a set of Eibach 15mm emdedded lug spacers 90.4.15.001.4. That way I dont have to disassemble, re-bearing, re-seal and rebuild the rear hubs just to install longer studs for a non-stress bearing spacer. We have an S4 lsd to rebuild and we will go the longer stud route when we swap diffs.

I bought the wheels from discount tire direct. So we called the local discount tire to find out about exchanging the 9.5s for 8s. The guy was clueless so I called direct and they were phenominal. They emailed me prepaid return ups labels and shipped the new 8s. They also said theyd call the local store and explain to them thats its all one company and how they should have handled our call.

Thanks for the help. I'll post pictures once we get it all wrapped up.

I thought I'd post the pictures of the wheels installed. They are:

TSW Jaramas 17x8 40mm both front and back.

The rears have Eibach 15mm spacers with embedded lugs model 90.4.15.001.4. They included new lug nuts but they arent the same pitch as the Mazda OEM ones. Not a big deal but worth noting for completeness.

FRONTS

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...psdufzxuxn.jpg

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...pshkxfzgjg.jpg


REARS

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...psluva4mdw.jpg

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...psgbbrcldv.jpg

I think the outside of the wheels are perfectly flush with the outside of the fenders. There is no rubbing and he took it to 90mph with no vibration. I'd like to get a clearance measurement to the trailing arm.

Hope someone finds this useful someday.

Tire sizes?

It looks like a 235 / 35 / 17 front and back?

What brand and model tire?


-Ted

245/40/17 as per your list.