I'm thinking of getting some new wheels when I replace my tires and I'm trying to understand the offset. I would like to push the tires out a bit. Do I want positive or negative? Also, is there too much offset for a 17" wheel?

 

Search wheel offset calculator on google. There are several online that are easy to understand. If you have two of the same wheels with different offsets, the one that is more negative will be pushed out further.

 

To push the tires out you'll want a negative offset. You want to know the width of your current tire vs your new tire and then you can figure out how much offset you need. Here's a link to a website I like to use for wheel and tire stuff and I visual to explain offset.

https://tiresize.com/wheel-offset-calculator/

 

Here's another question then; Does anyone know the width and offset of a stock 17" rim?

 

Stock backspace is 6.25" which is +51mm offset

 

Positive moves the tires into the wheel wells. Negative moves them out. But, where they start and end up varies by the specific width of the rims you are looking at. Easier just to convert any offset number to backspace, then subtract from 6.25 (stock) to see appx how far out the rims will move. A 4.50" backspace moves the tire out appx 1.75". (6.25 - 4.50 = 1.75) Plus/minus any difference in rim and/or tire width.

For 35x12.50 tires, the typical recommendation is 4.5" backspace.
4.5 bs for 7" wide = +12 offset
4.5 bs for 8" wide = 0 offset
4.5 bs for 10" wide = -25 offset

Also remember that there can be a significant difference in both height and width between tire mfg's - for the same stated size. So that 4.50 isn't a rule, just a recommendation. There could easily be an actual 1-1.5" height/width difference between the tires you mount and what you saw someone post about. Clear as mud, huh...