Wheel fitment question for 7th gens

Wheel fitment question

What are the largest wheels that anyone has ever fit on a 7th gen?

I am currently comparing two sets of wheels.

-The first set is 17x7.5" +40 offset.
-The other are 15x6.5" +38 offset.

Which ones would be a better fit?

What should I look for when buying some used wheels? IIRC, they are both 1-piece forged construction.

Yikes, I don't know if either one will fit.
If possible, find someone locally who will let you do a test fit of something with that offset/size.

I would say that the 15's would fit a little better.

Possibly. They're shifted 2mm further in, but one inch narrower.

Something that's 7" wide and I'd say 40 or greater offset would be best.

I believe either one of those will fit - though the 15" will be much easier. There were a few 8th gen Corollas with 18x7.5 wheels on it - all needed to run a serious camber to tuck under the wheel well on a dropped suspension. The chassis is very similar between the two generations - so you probably can make either one of them work.

Tires for the 15" will be a hella lot cheaper than the wider 17" - up to you. As for used wheels - some thing you can check right away are:
- a quick visual inspection will catch 80% or more of the problems right off the bat - look for things like curb rash, cracks, chips, dents, etc.
- are the wheels clean (lots of brake dust will hide lots of problems, like ruined finish, cracks, etc.)
- are the wheels the same size, same model, same specs (should be stamped somewhere)
- bring along a straight-edge - check the wheel dimensionally, does it look straight, check bolt patterns, etc.
- note if it takes some funny lugs - do they have the hubcentric centering ring, will it fit your ride?
- if possible, see if you can mount the wheels on your car (find out fitment issues right away) - you can also give them a spin to see if they are bent or not.
- look at how much wheel weight are on them - old rule of thumb I picked up, if there is more than 2oz of weight on the wheel, probably due to a seriously f*cked up tire or a bad wheel. If the tires are still on it - you can tell if there is any serious damage to the tires. If not - be careful, the wheel may be bad and not balance out correctly.
- unless they are awesomely cheap - stick with major brands of wheels. Like they say - you get what you pay for.

Thanks for the replies so far.

One more thing that I forgot to ask, would either of these two sizes require rolling the fenders?

I also want to avoid running negative camber to prolong my tire life.

Both will require rolling. I had to roll mine even though I'm running 15 x 6.5 in 40 mm offset. I still rub slightly if I go fast through deep bumps or dips.

Did you have to run any negative camber with your wheel setup?

Very slight if any at all.

One more question I forgot to mention...

What wheel offsets can I run safely without having to resort to using wheel spacers?

depends on how wide the tire size

205/45/R16 rub all over according to some members here, unless you do some rolling

and that's with stock 40 offset

go with the 15s and run 195mm tires. With a proper alignment you should be able to get away with no rubbing.

Personally I run a 15X7 +38offset on a 205mm tire with -1.6camber front, -0.8camber rear, rolled rear fenders and dropprd probably more than 4" (I have about 5mm of fender gap front and -2mm rear). I never rub in the rear however I do rub in the front driver side under hard cornering and some bumps.. i think its just the corner of the fender liner though so it's no big deal.

I wouldn't even bother with wheel spacers - getting into more trouble than what is it worth. Unless you run into a wheel that you just had to have.

Might try this tire wheel calculator - little more advanced than the generic ones that are out there.
http://www.rims-n-tires.com/info_specs.jsp

Thanks guys.

I came across a set of wheels, 15x7 with a +43 offset, will these fit?

I hear that anything over +42 is considered a Honda offset and won't properly fit a Corolla.

Can anyone confirm or clarify this?

hmm, vibe was talking about running +45 offset so he can run 205s in the summer. i have no idea though

I think he ended up buying 15s..... I came across a wheel/tire calculator in one of the old threads, but to use it, I need the offset, size and specs of the stock wheels.

Can anyone help out?

i think stocks are +40, 14x5 or 4.5? and my tires are 175/65/14

i could have sworn stock offset is +45 not 40. oh wait, its 7th gen, nvm whoops

yeah i dont know what 7th gens were, i just guessed??? i googled it but didnt really get any hits.

My 16" TRD rims had a +47 stamped on them. I guess that's +47 offset with 205/45/16 tires. They fit perfectly no rubbing.

Well, the TRD wheels were chosen specifically for the 98-02 Corollas for a reason.

7th and 8th gens both came with the same 14" wheels, and the same tire sizes, either 175/65/14 or 185/65/14.
As for the width, I'm not sure.



They look like they fit pretty good to me, so from what I'm getting from your posts guys would it be safe to assume that the stock offset is around +40 to a +45?

the width is written in the tire size you posted ^

I was referring to the width of the wheel itself.

Anyways, I found my answer.... thanks guys.