Rim Width

When you need new or used rims for your car, there are a few different factors that you need to keep an eye on. One of them is the width, which you can read more about here on the page. In common parlance, you will often see the width of rims written as a number and a "j" at the end, for example 8.0j.

The rim width, together with the ET measurement, is one of the important factors when it comes to rims for your car. The ET measurement, together with the width, determines how far in or out the rim sits on your car.

If you have already read the information page about press-fit (ET measurement), then you already know that the rim width plays a role, along with the ET measurement, in how the rim fits on your car and whether it can fit on your car at all.

Since the ET measurement is calculated based on the center of the rim, the rim width is a variable. For example, 2 rims with the same ET measurement but different widths will NOT fit the same on your car. They will be both further in and further out towards the fender edge.

Wrong and right rim width

If you choose rims that are either too wide or too narrow compared to what your car was born with from the factory, in the worst case, it could mean that the rims hit your fender edge or shock absorber, etc.

Although the ET measurement can be adjusted 10 +- compared to what the car was born with, you can't always go up and down with the rim width. Some cars are made so that they can't fit very wide rims and others are made with plenty of room in the fender.

The rule of thumb is that you can go a maximum of 1 inch up or down in rim width compared to what the car was born with.
However, you should be aware that this does not mean that you can go a maximum of 1 inch up or down compared to the rims you got with the car from the factory.
Many times, you can purchase rims other than the standard ones from the factory, which often have different dimensions. If you look in the instruction manual for your car, you will see that there is more than one dimension for rims.

The rule of thumb can be applied to what is written as " maximum " and "minimum"