2012 3.8 Winter Wheel Warning

[CanukV6]

Today I decided to put on my winter wheels & tires. I already had 17" rims from my 2009 Genesis and had just fitted new 225/55/17 Michelin Alpin Primacy tires to them. I had only casually looked at the front brakes on my new Genny and noticed the looked different to the 2009. THEY ARE! Quite a bit larger in fact. You can probably see where this is going....

My rims just fit over the front brakes with less than 1/16" clearance on the inside and about 1/8" on the outside Wiping sweat from my brow I moved on to the second front wheel, but this one had wheel weights that took up all the clearance on the outside causing a very slight interference at that point. Luckily although the other wheel for that side (the tires are directional) also had wheel weights in a siomilar spot, they were a slightly thinner and just cleared the caliper.

For anybody who hasn't already got rims for their 2012 3.8, I would definitely recommend 18" rims. Nice to know I have bigger brakes though.

 

[DeeVa]

Today I decided to put on my winter wheels & tires. I already had 17" rims from my 2009 Genesis and had just fitted new 225/55/17 Michelin Alpin Primacy tires to them. I had only casually looked at the front brakes on my new Genny and noticed the looked different to the 2009. THEY ARE! Quite a bit larger in fact. You can probably see where this is going....

My rims just fit over the front brakes with less than 1/16" clearance on the inside and about 1/8" on the outside Wiping sweat from my brow I moved on to the second front wheel, but this one had wheel weights that took up all the clearance on the outside causing a very slight interference at that point. Luckily although the other wheel for that side (the tires are directional) also had wheel weights in a siomilar spot, they were a slightly thinner and just cleared the caliper.

For anybody who hasn't already got rims for their 2012 3.8, I would definitely recommend 18" rims. Nice to know I have bigger brakes though.

If you have a 2012 4.6 or 5.0, 18" rims are your ONLY option.

 

[Skywagon]

Go to an Autozone, or any auto parts store, and buy some cheap universal spacers.

 

[DeeVa]

Go to an Autozone, or any auto parts store, and buy some cheap universal spacers.

I suggested that to TireRack and they said that they do not recommend using spacers. Any reason why?

 

[CanukV6]

Depending upon your wheel the thread length on the wheel studs may not be long enough to add a spacer and properly locate the nuts on the studs. The nuts are flush with the end of the stud with the stock wheels fitted.

In my case the spacer would need to be about 1/2" thick to make any difference to the wheel-weight clearance problem. the studs are definitely not long enough for that.

 

[scottdk]

Depending upon your wheel the thread length on the wheel studs may not be long enough to add a spacer and properly locate the nuts on the studs. The nuts are flush with the end of the stud with the stock wheels fitted.

In my case the spacer would need to be about 1/2" thick to make any difference to the wheel-weight clearance problem. the studs are definitely not long enough for that.

Good point. I had a Grand Prix years ago that I put wheels spacers on, and then I found out that the studs were not long enough for a 1/4" spacer. I went to a local shop and had longer studs put on the car which ran around $60 which was over 10 years ago. It's an option.....

 

[Skywagon]

For what it's worth, my shop says that if the nut goes on far enough to equal the width of the wheel bolt one has achieved maximum strength of both. I put cheap, $14. universal five lug spacers, 5/16ths thick on my R-Spec 2000 miles ago with zero problems so far. I do have after market wheels which may or may not allow extra turns on the wheel nuts but I know I've achieved their theory.

 

[Skywagon]

P.S., I also put the same spacers on a Sonata, also with after market wheels, and drove it 6000 miles, no problems.

 

[Jimmmmbo!]

To be clear for 2012s:

Is this a problem for all 3.8s? Or is it an offset/width issue with the particular wheel being used?

The reason I ask is because I don't know if there is a brake size/suspension clearance difference between a base 3.8 with 17" OEM wheels and a 3.8 with an upgraded package that uses 18s.

I have a base 3.8 with 17" wheels. I bought 17" Elbrus wheels from TireRack (for my winter tire set), which are 1" wider than stock with (to my engineering calculations before purchase and evenutally to my eyes after purchase) a "conservative" offset toward the center of the car. With plenty of wheel weights noted inside the wheel, and test-fitting the front wheels before going out on the road, I had no clearance problems.

Could this be just an issue with OEM 18" wheels where the brake calipers might be larger on 3.8s because of the option package? Or is there a unique situation with the OP's specific wheels purchased?

I just want to be fair. I'm not sure what we know to say 2012s are a problem for aftermarket wheels, and I just want to know more.

 

[Gurkha]

To be clear for 2012s:

Is this a problem for all 3.8s? Or is it an offset/width issue with the particular wheel being used?

Good question, I thought I read somewhere that the 2012 V6 brake size is now the same as the 2009-2011 V8's (which were bigger than the 2009-2011 V6's). The 2012 V8 (at least the 5.0) are even larger.
FWIW, my 2009 V6 with 18" OEM's has no issues with 17" winter rims.

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