confused about offset... help please

ok.. i did a search and did some reading... now.. i have a 2000 civic ex coupe with a stock suspension... recently i picked up a set of 17x7 wheels with 205/40/ZR17 tires... 2-3 weeks after i got my rims... one of the tires got destroyed.. it seems that the inner sidewall was rubbing on suspension components (the spring and the control arm)... now.. i believe the offset of the rim is 42... i looked at the back of the rim and it said ET42...

okay here are my questions

what is the stock offset? my car had steelies...

what is the ideal offset for 17x7 rims for my civic?

would wheel spacers help me attain the ideal offset for a 17x7 rim on civic?? i read that the higher the offset... the more inward it is.. so adding spacers will lower my offset correct??

should i invest in a 4 wheel alignment and camber check once i have the rims reinstalled again??

someone please help me... ive been tryin to solve this problem for a while now.. and its pissing me off.. i have beatiful rims that i cant use... i dont understand whats wrong cuz the front doesnt rub at all... and im not about to rock rims in the front and steelies in the back (unless i go practice drifting lol)

You got it right about the offset. a 5mm or 10mm spacer should pretty much adjust you from rubbing on the inside. You might need to roll your fenders though if you use spacers. I dunno what the stock steelies offset is, but a typical good offset for Civics is about +38 I personally wouldn't go much higher than that.

And YES, an alignment is a must when messing with the wheels and suspension.

if i add a 5mm spacer.. would i need to get longer bolts??

3mm is about the limit for wheel spacers before you need longer studs. You should have AT LEAST 7 FULL TURNS of your lugs nuts for proper engagement. Anything less and you risk wobbling your wheel off the car.

Here is an offset calculator. The problem with just throwing on aftermarket rims is that as the width increases you must pay attention to the change in the offset. As you found out the change in the offset caused the tire and rim to move inward from the stock wheel position.

http://toy4two.home.mindspring.com/offset.html

http://toy4two.home.mindspring.com/offset.html


i would like to use that.. but i dunno the stock steelie width and offset...

i would like to use that.. but i dunno the stock steelie width and offset...


If you have the old steelies the dimensions should be stamped in the back of them. If they aren't there then you can measure them by using this chart:

http://www.midatlanticmotorsport.com/wheel_diag.htm

If you don't have them check with a Honda dealer parts department, they should be able to tell you. Or you could look it up in the specs for the car by googling it.