Wheel offset
The distance in millimetres between a wheel's mounting face and its centreline — positive tucks inboard, negative pokes outboard.
Offset is the distance between a wheel's hub-mounting face and its centreline, measured in millimetres. Positive offset moves the mounting face outboard (toward the wheel's outer face), pulling the wheel inboard (tucked). Negative offset moves the mounting face inboard, pushing the wheel outboard (poked).
Changing offset has three real-world effects: - Clearance: too much negative offset (poked) causes tyre-to-fender rubbing and may fail roadworthy inspection in some jurisdictions. - Ball-joint stress: each millimetre of outboard offset adds leverage on the upper ball joint. Off-road use amplifies this. - Track width: wider track improves stability but may require fender flares for legal compliance (Australia caps protrusion at ~25 mm per side in most states).
Each chassis has a "safe offset window" — typically ±5 to ±25 mm from factory — within which the geometry stays close to OEM. FitsMyRig flags wheels outside the window with an amber warning, not a hard block.
See also