taleb659

Hey guys, I am a proud new owner of a 2003 CLK55 AMG. The car is absolutely beautiful. My brother recently gave me a set of AMG wheels; the fronts measure 18X8.5 and the rears 18X9.0. The rears fit perfect but the fronts are rubbing near the shock.

My local tire shop advised that I use HUB CENTRIC spacers. He did not have enough time to take measurements so I need help . I have seen 10mm, 12mm, and 15mm spacers. Which ones would you guys recommend?

Thank you.

NardoNZ

well with the info you gave us there is NOT a lot we can do for you, but I'll give it a try anyways:

On the back of your wheels you will find an offset. This is a number somewhere between say 25 and 50 or so. It will show as ETXX (XX being a number). Where you want to be with your car is probably around the ET30-35 for good fitment and good looks without rubbing(anyone feel free to correct me). So if your wheels say for example ET45, you need to add 10mm (per wheel) spacers to get to ET35 and 15mm to get to ET30. Easy?

ALWAYS go hubcentric, in our country its even illegal to have the ones that aren't for many reasons.

To get an idea of how far your wheels would come out with different sizes and ET values, check this thead:

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...nt-thread.html

hope this helps.

Welcome on the forum btw... got some pics of ur car?

taleb659

Wow thanks man your the best. I just learned something new; that's some good info.

taleb659

I just took a look at the rims and the offset is ET44. So I am assuming I would need a 10mm spacer?

Kevwood

Minimum, a ET30 is pretty damn flush up front so a 15mm would get you there.

NardoNZ

Yip, 10, 12 or 15 will all work. If you can, try them to see what look you like, otherwise i'd probably go for 10 if you do front only and 15 if you are going to have your wheels all flush with the fender. In that case you would do your rear wheels as well otherwise it looks weird. Many options! Keep us posted and post pics to help the next one with the same problem!

taleb659

Thanks again guys. I just ordered the 10MM HUB CENTRIC wheel spacer with the lug bolts. Here is the link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HUBCENTRIC-W...ac1304&vxp=mtr.

The only thing that concerned me is the center bore. I am pretty sure the hub on an AMG is slightly different. Do you guys think that this spacer will fit my car?

discoduck

Yeah that will fit.

The bore on an AMG is not different.

taleb659

Thanks man. Here are some pics of my car. I bought the car from Lucky Motors located in Elmhurst, IL.

Kevwood

+1, it's 66.6 across the board for all 209s

Very nice

taleb659

The car met every expectation that I had set before I traveled to buy it. However the dealer had a different set of wheels on the car when I purchased it. They look like the stock AMG wheels but they are aftermarket wheels. The steering wheel shakes pretty bad when you hit 55-65 mph. I am almost 100% sure that this is attributed to the spacers in the front. Looks like the dealer had this problem with the car and assumed it was the wheels but it really is the spacers. They look like cheap spacers and I am pretty sure the Hub Centric spacers will solve this problem.

I will take pictures tomorrow morning of the current setup and the wheels that I plan on putting on. Hopefully this will help somebody else in the future.

DuaneC63

Spacer are never a good solution but sometimes the only one that is cost effective. Make sure you get hub centric and long wheel bolts with the proper seat.

taleb659

Will do my friend.

NardoNZ

If you're referring to the wheels in the pictures then I'd like to know which OEM wheels you mean... they look nothing like them LOL. Anyways, I love ur car, its very clean and an awesome platform to modify or leave as it is Good thing u got some AMG wheels, that will really transform the car. I have the OEM's as well but I'm changing them to bigger wheels as you can see in my new thread in the w209 AMG section.

I hope everything will work out well for you and that you become a valued member here that we can learn from!

taleb659

Pic as promised!



(THESE ARE THE WHEELS I PLAN ON PUTTING ON)






(THAT IS THE SPACER THAT THE DEALER PUT ON THE FRONT. I AM PRETTY SURE THAT THE SPACER IS THE TROUBLEMAKER.)

taleb659

Okay guys I have an update; the seller ended up sending me 12MM spacers for the front. My ET on my AMG rims are ET44 so with the 12MM it would bring them down to ET32. Even with that offset the rims are still rubbing on the inside shock absorber. I am so disappointed, I really wanted those rims on that car.

So what I did was take the spacers and put them on the rims currently on the car. They fit perfectly and guess what? The shaking is finally gone . I knew the car was shaking from those cheap spacers. Ill snap some pictures tomorrow to show you guys what I mean. Hopefully this will help the next guy.

Why do you guys think that those AMG rims would not fit? Maybe I am running the wrong tires?

discoduck

What's your tire size in the front?

I'm running

18 x 8.5 ET 32 with 235/40 - no rubbing against the shock

taleb659

The tires currently on the rims are 245/45/18. Is this tire the reason that it is rubbing?
Sorry guys but when I it comes to tire sizes and offsets I am still learning. Please be patient with me.