I have a 92 RS with the 16" wheels. I want to keep my car looking stock, but want the wheels to sit more flush with the fenders. I have read dozens of articles on the wheels having different offsets. I was wondering if I could put the front wheels in the back and back ones in the front if I used some 1" adaptors. If not 1", what would be the right thickness?

 

Anyone?

 

The offset is 5/8" different front to back.

Your better off buying 2 more front wheels and selling the rears.

 

Except the fact that the 1.25" spacers are only $40.

 

Thats fine if your ok with the wheels sitting about an Inch outside the wheel well. The fronts will again sit out further than the rear ones just like the stock setup, but will be even further out.

 

That doesn't make sense. You say to get four fronts. But, that would make the rears sit 5/8s of and inch farther out. So, why not swap the fronts and rears and add a 1.25 spacer to the front so they would be even?

 

It makes perfect sense. The offset is 5/8 different. So adding a 1,25" spacers will make the rear wheels fit .625" further out than where the front wheel wouldl be if installed on the rear.

 

I think you are missing the point. If the rears are 0 offset and the fronts are 5/8, then if I put the fronts in the back they would be 5/8 farther out. The back wheels in the front would be 5/8 farther in than they were. So, if I add front spacers of 1.25", 5/8+5/8=1.25, they would be the same front to rear.

 

You still seem confused.

The factory front wheels are 16x8 with zero offset.
the factory rear wheels are 16x8 with +16 mm offset.

Putting the front wheels on the back will produce a good fitting and looking wheels and tire that is just slightly in from the side of the wheel opening.

Putting a rear on the front will set the wheel under the car 5/8 or so more than where the front was, and it will hit the strut and tie rod. So you would need a 5/8" or so spacer to get that wheel to sit in the same place as the front wheel would have been. You are not adding 5/8 and another 5/8, I dont get where you are getting this idea.

You may be able to get away with a slightly thinner spacer and just clear the strut, 5/16 or so but again u should have longer studs. There is a reason people dont often do this and just opt for 4 fronts

You would need longer wheel studs to use a 5/8 slip on spacer. Not a big deal to swap but it would be more ideal to just run 4 front wheels.

 

I don't know why you don't get this. If I'm moving the rears out 5/8" and I want the fronts to be in line, they would need to come out 1.25. So, yes, it would need to be 5/8 out to be back to factory spec and not hit the tie rod. BUT, it would need to go another 5/8" to be in line with the rear wheel. That is totally simple mathematics. Also, I'm not using spacers that slip over the factory studs. I'm using adaptors. If you don't understand, don't bother replying, please.

 

Are the rears and fronts 'in line' when stock to begin with?
The rears may have less track width than the fronts when stock.

 

Ok im done. You need to sit back and rethink this. You now sound like your putting spacer front and back.

 

That should fit fine and look better with the wider track front and back. Your just moving the front and rear wheels out 5/8" from stock.

You will probably have to trim the front lugs to clear the spacers.

It may feel a bit different with the bearings being a bit further inside the front wheel

 

I'm guessing that this is for the purpose of being able to rotate the tires without swapping them from rim-to-rim?

If using the "rear" wheels in front, simply using one 5/8" spacer is all that's needed to bring their 16mm offset to matching the "front" wheel's zero offset. There's no need for an additional 5/8" spacing, or they will stick out too far into(out of) the front wheel wells. Then with the zero offset "front" wheels on the rear, it will be like running four "front" wheels, which some people do, including myself. Having the wheels on the rear sticking out 5/8" farther than the wheels on the front provides a slightly wider, more attractive, more aggressive rear stance, and they actually fill out the rear wheel wells better than the "rear" wheels do.

No need to over-think or over-complicate this.