ok so i got my 17" oem celebration rims on a couple months ago, tire size 225/45/17. i didnt think to check if anything would rub because the guy i bought the car from gave me the rims with purchase. the other week i decided to check just how much space there actually is. to my amazement i could only barely fit a sheet of paper between the tire and some suspension part (sorry, im not much of a suspension guru) on both the front and rear. i didnt notice it rubbing ever and the tire appears unharmed, but it is still a little close for comfort. my questions are these...
1. i can have have a set of spacers fabbed up for free from my dad at his job. anybody got a set of dimensions? like the diameter of the bar stock and how big to drill the holes?
2. what kind of material to make these out of? aluminum? stainless?
3. how thick should i go? i was think somewhere around 5-7mm...
4. whats the thickest i can go with using stock wheel studs?
5. lastly but most importantly, is this a good idea? i know running them isnt vital, but i dont wanna run the risk of rubbing at all

 

It is recommended for our cars to use hubcentric spacers for better fitment.

I would say the thickest you should go using stock lugs would be 5mm.

 

What is the wheels' offset? That's the correct tire size for a b5 with 7.5" wheels (I think the celebrations are 7.5..)

 

i did some reasearch and found that some guys run non hubcentric spacers if they are less than 5mm because they say the hub sticks out enough for the rim to still be seated good enough. on ecs tuning, they have their own line of spacers, of which the 2-5mm spacers are non hubcentric.

im finding the offset to be 43mm.

 

You shouldn't be having rubbing issues with that.. B5 S4 wheels with tires are the same measurements and ET45. Stock suspension?

 

yeah running stock sport suspension. i know i techinically am not rubbing, but it is very close, about as close to rubbing while not actually. like i said the only thing that will fit in the gap is a piece of paper. is this acceptable?

 

i believe the hub is 57.3mm. if you're using wheels that fit the hug directly, spacers will definitely not work because by making the spacers, you'll increase the size of the hub. make sure the hole for the hub on the wheels are significantly larger than the hub so you won't have any trouble fitting the wheels on. i hope you understand what i'm talking about because it's kind of hard to explain it. i wouldn't feel comfortable with a sheet of paper between there either because if you get new tires, they won't fit. a 5mm spacer will do just fine. i would not use stock wheel studs with 5mm though, the stock lugs only thread on about 10mm.