A4 wheel help needed

[Gary 209]

Hi folks
I have just got some really nice 10 spoke speedline wheels for my A4 Avant, thats the good part over !. I think I have made a big mistake as the wheels are for a 2007 TT... 18" 9j ET 52, which I have now found out requires spacers to clear the front shocks. The guy I got the wheels from also gave me a spacer kit + longer bolts which are basically 4 flat discs with holes.
My question is :
The spacers fit over the hub flange what the original wheel would locate on, now with the spacers on there is no lip to locate the wheel on as it is now flush. Would the wheels be safe just locating on the wheel bolts ? I'm not to sure about this so have taken them off.

My Avant looks quite sad with the standard 16" wheels, I have noticed some look quite "beefy" what is the best way to discreetly butch up the Avant without making it flashy.

Any help appreciated
Gaz

 

[quattrojames]

You want hubcentric spacers which have a lip on the outside for the centre bore of the wheel to sit on.

Wheel spacers are used to "space" the wheel out from the hub and are usually installed to give the car a wider track and so the wheels fill the arches better for improved appearance. However, wheel spacers come in two types, flat, and hub centric. Wide flat spacers should be avoided. Yes they are cheaper, but as they are flat, all the load of the car is held by the wheel bolts. Hub centric spacers have a lip in the centre similar to the one on the OEM hub. This lip bears the weight as the original hub would, not the bolts. Hub centric spacers are therefore much safer. Spacers less than 10mm are usually flat, but wider than 10mm, and you should always use hub centric spacers.

You want to aim for an ET of about 35 really, so you're going to need some biggish spacers.

 

[holmefield]

It depends how wide your spacers are fella, if there only 5 / 8 mm wide you'll be fine with out hubcentric as there should still be some hub lip left, anything wider than this thou and you'll need hub-centric as mentioned above.

Have a look on either ebay, or make yourself a member on edition38 then go down to the parts section at the bottom of the main page in the classifed section theres loads on there.

 

[matttrs]

you want to get some 15-20mm hubcentric 5x112 spacers, this will avoid any wheel wobble that non centric ones give. I wouldn't use the spacers you have, if there is no lip at all.

 

[Gary 209]

Thanks for the info, I think I will sell the rims and start again, so......looking for wheels again.....anyone ?