I was looking at a new tie-rod and the specs for it said that I needed 4.5" backspace or less to run it.
My wheels are 8.5" wide with a 0 offset so I thought I would be good...but just in case I decided to check specs and found what you see below.
Does that make sense to you all? Can I have zero offset on a 8.5" wheel and 4.75" of backspace?
I will pull the wheel and measure later today and also plan to call Method for clarification... but in the interim I am open to whatever you guys can set me straight on.

 

Yes, an 8.5" wide wheel with 0 offset is 4.75" backspace. If you don't believe it, there are a lot of different calculators you can plug that into. Any reason you selected 8.5" wide? Most people will go with a 17x9 wheel. Regardless, depending on the TR you're talking about you are likely fine as it is a 17" wheel. If you had a smaller wheel and that same backspacing you could have clearance issue.

 

• A wheel’s offset refers to the specific location of a rim’s mounting plate relative to the centerline of that rim.
• A rim with a neutral offset has a mounting plate perfectly in the center. Positive offset means the plate is further away from the car, while negative means the plate is closer.
• Backspacing specifically refers to the raw distance from the back edge of the rim to the mounting plate location.Backspacing is the old-school method for measuring offset.Backspacing refers to the distance between the backside of a rim and the back of the mounting plate that connects to your hub. It is measured in millimeters or inches.
• https://www.jegs.com/tech-articles/w...673585_BANNER_

 

Exactly as I thought.
So something about Method's wheel specifications must be off then - right?
It is listed as an:

• 8.5" wheel
• 0 offset
• 4.75 backspace

which does not compute.
an 8.5" wide wheel with a zero offset would have to have a backspace of 4.25...right?

 

I do believe you are calculating mathematically.. Offset measures from the inside of the wheel edge to the centerline of the wheel.. Backspacing measures from the outside of the wheel edge to the mounting face of the wheel to the rotor. There could be and probably should be differences in actuality. Method Wheels website should have "Contact Us" so you could submit and inquiry.

 

I get the theoretical explanation, but guys, every single chart and calculator ain't wrong. here's the simple table. Go to any cacluator and it's going to tell you the same.



I am PRETTY sure what throws all the logical thinking off is that the wheel is physically wider than the advertised width we see. I do not believe they account for lip thickness, though I could be wrong on this.....I don't care to go down the deep rabbit hole of digging, I only know the internet ain't wrong on this one. I believe the wheel width measurment is to where the bead sits, inside the lip. That rear lip that is going to play into the BS measurement changes things by 12mm. It's the same reason your typical 17x9 wheel with a 4.5" BS is -12mm offset......where you'd tell me that offset should be 0 cuz 4.5" would be the centerline.

 

Yeah, offset is wheel hub face vs wheel centerline. Backspace is wheel hub mounting surface to the edge of the back side wheel edge. Wheel width is bead edge to bead edge. The lip typically add 1" to the wheel width, but actual back space really has to be measured. Most posted backspacing adds the 1/2" that I've seen, just like the OP saw. Usually pretty close.