is there a way to off-set the rims on my car? I plan on getting a new set of ASA EM9s pretty soon, and i just think that the stock width is too "tucked under" the body. maybe there are spacers or something to widen it out?

Look at it this way...you have seen front wheel drive cars that have "rear-wheel" drive rims installed. It looks a bit too "ghetto". It will also greatly affect the handling of the car.

You can get spacers for this purpose, but it is not worth it. You can special order rims with a different offset, but you have to feel that the extra cost is worth it.

You may be able to accomplish what you are after by going with a larger rim and a wider tire, i.e. going with a 17-18" rim with something like a 255mm wide tread or wider.

Jay

yeah, i suppose, its just that my tires are still pretty new, and the off-set I was thinking of would maybe be 1/2 inch or so, nothing major, just to make it flush with the body. and wouldn't it make the handling better?i just thought that the slightly wider stance would allow you to take the corners a tid bit faster.

NOOO!!!!!

If you get rims for your car that are off set. Well lets give you an example.... My ghetto friend had a 94 Olds and he put some 16" chrome spoked wheels that stuck out a good deal and with in a week all the joints in his whole front end blew up. Ball joints and even his strut barrings. Anyways these are more fitting on a El Camino not on a nice car like a Bonneville.

I agree that the tires are too tucked in as well. I am going to purchase some new rims (18" AT Italia'*) and am going to carefully measure the wheel well/hub dimensions to see if I can get a slightly different offset to flush them a bit better.

I agree that sticking you're low-rider gold-spokes 6" out the side is a bad idea, but something less drastic should be alright. I'm not sure if it will improve handling because it actually depends on where the contact patch is moved in response to the suspension that'* trying to keep it on the road, move it too far out and you'll get weird forces on the joints (like the Polar Bear says). anyway, I forget the actual math involved, but most aftermarket wheel are available in several offsets.

And we aren't "adding" an offset. All rims have an offset, the Bonnevilles stock wheels are ? (gotta go couldn't find it, hopefully someone will fill this in), it'* the distance from the hub to the wheels centerline, by using a lesser offset, we can push the outside of the tire under the fenderline, as we pull the hub face into the center of the wheel.

http://toy4two.home.mindspring.com/offset.html
this link will help calculate changes in clearances

i had offset'* on my 92 se once . they were cragar'* . u have to use spacers. and handling is like ****! alot of vibration too

Be careful if you use spacers. I don't think you will be able to get 1/2" out of the stock lugs I would say a 1/4" would be pushing it. If you don't have enough threaded part in the lugnut it will strip the end of them off. You can buy replacements that are longer but are not worth the time to remove and replace the stock ones. As for the handling I would listen to everyone else it seems like the voting is unanimous that it will not help but even hurt the handling.

255'* are the most you can go for tire width on stock rims. That'* with a little bending in the front wheel wells. My advice is to stick with a wheel that doesn't require spacers, and go with 245'* max.

Spacers are bad news.