Advice: Rims on OEM suspension

[Roger12g]

Hey guys, I'm sorry if there are detailed threads out there, I just couldn't find anything relating to rims with a stock suspension.
Quick background, I bought my CG2 with some aftermarket rims, that were admittedly in poor shape. It didn't bother me much until I started regularly loosing air pressure. I got 4 new tires, new valve stems and cores, and the tire shop cleaned up the beads with a air powered rotary brush. I knew how bad the outside was, so when they removed the old tires, I asked to see the inside of the rims and they were very clean.
This past November, I woke up to a flat tire. In a rushed decision, I bought two new 15" rims(same size as what I had on the car) and tires. Everything was fine until the shop installing them noticed the balance weight was interfering with the brake caliper. They relocated the balance weight and everything clears the rim, just barely. I didn't have a measure on hand, but my key ring carabiner will not fit between the wheel and the caliper. The closest item to the inside of the rim is the brake pad spring clip. Again, everything clears, but I do not feel it should be this close. I do not notice any negative effects. If you've gotten this far, thank you.

My question is this: Does the small gap matter? I don't do anything besides city and highway driving. No mods to the car at all. In my mind, the small gap is annoying. I was planning on getting two more additional rims, but since I live in the midwest, I use snow tires, and would use the new 15" rims with the two old beat-up rims already on the car, as my winter set. I would just have to buy four more rims/tires in 16"x7" or 16"x6.5". I am curious about offset and fitment if I were to go a size up over what I currently have. From what I can tell, OEM was 16x6.5. I don't think the half inch would make a big difference, but offset would.

Thanks guys!

 

[Rusty Accord]

Hey guys, I'm sorry if there are detailed threads out there, I just couldn't find anything relating to rims with a stock suspension.
My question is this: Does the small gap matter? I don't do anything besides city and highway driving. No mods to the car at all. In my mind, the small gap is annoying. I was planning on getting two more additional rims, but since I live in the midwest, I use snow tires, and would use the new 15" rims with the two old beat-up rims already on the car, as my winter set. I would just have to buy four more rims/tires in 16"x7" or 16"x6.5". I am curious about offset and fitment if I were to go a size up over what I currently have. From what I can tell, OEM was 16x6.5. I don't think the half inch would make a big difference, but offset would.
Thanks guys!

Stock wheel/rim offset is +40 to +45 (depending on car and rim size). So if you stay with a +40 or less you should be good. You just don't want to get too much below +25, as then you get tire "poke". Ideally, you're looking for something in the 35 to 38 range, as that's what most of the available rims are sized at. Also, you don't want to go more than +45, as then you run into issues of rubbing the suspension parts.

On my Accord (a 99 sedan) I'm running 15x6.5 +38 rims without any rubbing or clearance issues. These rims are actually 1/2 inch wider than the stock steelies (6"). I also changed the rear studs on my car to some slightly longer ones so I could add a 10mm spacer to get the rear tires to sit even with the fronts (even up the tread widths). Since I'm at stock height, I don't have an issue with the body rubbing. At present, I'm running 215-60-15 winter tires on my 7 spoke Koenigs. In the summer months I'll be putting my Dunlop summer tires back on, and then work on getting my winter tires onto a set of stock rims.

I hope this helps, and I'm sure others will chime in as well.

Edit: here's a pic of my LF now.

 

[Roger12g]

Thanks. That does help. Does it make much of a difference with a V6(mine is a 2000MY)? Some sources I find show 15" and 16" as the stock rim size for V6 models. I know the suspension is identical(IIRC), just the 5 lug vs the 4. I'm not sure if the brake rotors are larger on the V6 or not.

Right now, I'm using +42 15x6.5 on 205/65/15 on the front axle. No issues when turning. Since I don't have any clearance issues on the brake caliper(other than balance weights when glued inside), suspension or fenders, I don't need to worry if I buy two more matching rims for the rear. Tire shop was able to relocate the balance weights with no vibration issues, which was their concern.

 

[RedRyder]

Check out the FAQ, some of this is covered. But only coupes were available with 16's. The offset on those is +52 or +55. And yes, the 16's were 16x6.5 and wore a 205/60 tire. If I remember correctly the V6 front brakes were different from i4.

If you want more gap between the wheel spokes and caliper, you could use a 5mm spacer.

 

[Roger12g]

Check out the FAQ, some of this is covered.
If you want more gap between the wheel spokes and caliper, you could use a 5mm spacer.

I didn't see this info listed in any of the sticky threads. Sorry.

And the only concern is the gap between the caliper and the inside circumference of the rim, not the spokes.