How To: Measuring Your Car for Custom Wheel Fitment

Wheel fitment is one attribute of a car that is wide open to personal preference, but also can be incredibly polarizing as far as differing opinions. I think most of us can agree that there is a range that is acceptable, then too much and too little. We try our best to stay away from those extremes and have wheels built that fall within that range that most people will find acceptable. Of course, we know we can’t please everybody and we don’t really try to, as have a style that we like and we rock it on most of our personal rides as well as our sweepstakes giveaways.

Measuring all of the specs to order wheels the exact way you want them can be tricky, but Stefan over at the Mod2Fame Vlog has some great info to really break down the three main measurements that need to be taken, along with a family simple trick for properly taking those measurements accurately.

The first word in wheel fitment is usually backspacing. This is a measurement from the outer hub of the brake rotor where the wheel hub mates to the rotor inward toward the inner fender. For nearly all applications, you want to fill out as much of the fender as possible, not only using a larger diameter than stock but a wheel that is wider than the factory rolling stock as well. This offers a couple of benefits, including aggressive appearance and the ability to use a wider tire, which should help with traction and handling.

The next number you’ll want to take very serious car to get right is front spacing, or the distance from the brake rotor hub to the outer edge of the wheel. This measurement will determine if the wheel is flush with the fender, sticks out past it, or will be tucked up underneath it. I have to 100% agree with Stefan on this: Avoid “tuck” at all costs, especially on any kind of sports or luxury ride, as it’s just a bad look.

Finally, the final measurement to take is the caliper overhang. Using the front of the brake rotor again, you want to measure how far forward the brake caliper extends past the hub to ensure the shape of inner face of the spokes will clear your caliper. Once you have these three measurements, all you have to do is find the style that suits your taste best, order them up, and swap them out.

Thanks to Stefan and his Mod2Fame Vlog channel for the excellent info. We expect this small but growing channel to become a fan favorite and will be checking back with him often!