Not every wheel can fit every vehicle. In fact, there are dozens of different bolt patterns for wheels, which can make wheel shopping difficult. It's the reason, in fact, that we at Andy's customized our website to only show you wheels that fit your vehicle -- so that you don't have to guess if a rim fits or not. All the rims we list for your car or truck will fit on your vehicle, we guarantee it.

Wheel offsets can be confusing too. Our website does all the work to make sure the wheels we show for your vehicle are only the ones with a compatible offset.

Some interesting facts: Chrome rims are the most popular wheel finish that people choose, followed by black wheels and alloy wheels. In terms of wheel size, 20 inch rims and 22 inch wheels are searched most often on search engines, but 17 inch wheels are the most popular in terms of what people actually buy.

Q: I've seen "deep dish" wheels on a car like mine, but I don't see how it was possible since my stock wheels are flat and sit nearly flush with the fenders. So, how did they do it?
A: In some cases, the effect of "deep dish" or "fat lip" wheels, especially on front wheel drive cars, is due to some clever design work and using spokes that curve inward from the wheel center to the outer rim, thus creating wheels that have a deep appearance to them. In other cases, the car's fender arches may appear stock and untouched, but in reality have been "rolled" or modified in a way so as to allow wider or lower-offset wheels to fit within the fender wells. Wider-than-stock aftermarket fenders can also aid in fitting wide or low-offset wheels, but be sure to check for footwell, chassis, and suspension clearance before committing to "out-of-the-norm" wheel fitment.

Q: I want to have that "stretched tire" look. Is it dangerous?
A: The official stance is, "Stay within the tire manufacturer's recommended limits." That being said, when done within reason, it can be perfectly safe to run tires that are slightly narrower than normally suggested for your wheel width in order to achieve the "stretched" look that has been popular on drift cars in recent years. In fact, it's been done since the old-school lowrider days with no ill effects. The benefits are a stiffer sidewall, as well as being able to fit a wider wheel than normal under your fenders. It's a win/win. Now, there are always people who take things to extremes, so we consider this to be a "do at your own risk and use proper precautions/judgment" kind of thing. If your local tire shop owns a Cheetah tire bead blaster (a sign of a shop that regularly installs stretched tires) and still won't mount your tires for you, you might want to reconsider your choices.

Q: Are there any negative side effects to running a "staggered" tire and wheel setup?
A: As popular as staggered whee/tire combos are these days, this question was bound to come up. Aside from not being able to rotate your tires and the slight possibility of increased understeer due to increased rear grip, there really aren't any negatives to a typical staggered setup. If your vehicle happens to be all-wheel drive, you will want to make sure that the overall diameters of both the front and rear tires are the same so as to not damage the all-wheel drive system.

Q: How do you read a tire's sidewall?
A: There certainly is a lot of information presented on tire sidewalls, and some of it can seem cryptic, to say the least. Let's break down a sample tire size, P225/45ZR-17 94W, and see if we can make some sense of it. Please do keep in mind, however, that tire designations are slowly changing, so the order of some of this information may change over time.

-""P"" designates a passenger car tire, although they can also be used on light trucks (there is also an ""LT"" designation for tires designed specifically for light trucks).

-""225"" is the tread width, which is measured in millimeters.

-""45"" is the aspect ratio and, as you'll notice, is preceded by a division slash. This is because it is a percentage of the width: 45-percent of 225mm, which is 101.25mm.

-""Z"" denotes that the tire is capable of speeds in excess of 149mph. In recent years, new ratings of W and Y (168 and 186mph, respectively) have been added to try to more comprehensively describe a given tire's maximum capabilities. More and more tire manufacturers are gradually listing speed ratings with the load index rating, so this placement may disappear over time. More on that in a bit.

-""R"" tells the consumer that this is a radial tire. Unless you're driving a large semi-truck or restoring an old muscle or antique car that uses bias-ply tires, you likely won't run into any other designation.

-""17"" is the intended wheel's diameter, in inches.

-""94"" is the load index of the tire, which in this case translates to 1,477 pounds per tire. The higher the load index number, the more weight the tire can handle.

-""W"" is, in this case, a continuation of the previous ""Z"" speed rating, and denotes that the tire is capable of handling speeds above 149mph, but should not exceed 168mph.

As stated earlier, there is a push to change how the speed rating information on the sidewall is read, so this same tire could very well read P225/45R-17 94W in the future, as having both the ""Z"" and the ""W"" is redundant. For now, many manufacturers seem to be listing both as a courtesy until consumers and retailers become accustomed to a new format.

Your tires will also have other information on them, such as the recommended air pressure, its temperature rating, traction rating, and its wear rating. Temperature ratings are AA, A, B, and C, with AA being the highest rating. Traction is rated at A, B, or C, with A being the highest and most desirable. Wear ratings between 300-400 are good, while a rating between 500-700 would be considered very good. Also, the higher the wear rating, the longer the tire will last.

Q: My tires also say "M+S" on them. What does that mean?
A: "M+S" stands for Mud and Snow, which means that the tires are built to handle such extreme conditions. If your vehicle doesn't see much of either, "all-season" tires would probably be a better choice.

Q: How big of a wheel can I really fit on my car/truck?
A: Unfortunately, the answer to this question seems to be constantly changing as people figure out new ways to install extreme wheel sizes on their vehicles every day. If someone were to say 10 years ago (when 20-inch wheels were considered extreme) that there would be trucks driving down the road with 30-inch wheels, we would have all laughed, but that's the reality of today. The true issues arise when considering the safety of such fitments. Can your vehicle's brakes handle the additional rotational mass and stop the vehicle without overheating? Will the anti-lock function properly? What effect will lifting a vehicle to accept such large wheels have on its stability? Will lowering the vehicle over large wheels allow adequate steering clearance, or will modifications have to be made? If so, will these modifications compromise the general safety and road-worthiness of the vehicle? These are all considerations to make when planning out your wheel and tire combination, and should not be taken lightly if they will be installed on a street-driven vehicle.

Q: How do you rotate directional tires?
A: Directional tires can only be rotated from front to rear, assuming that the tires aren't staggered in size. In essence, your front driver's side tire would be switched to the rear driver's side position, and the rear driver's side tire would then be mounted on the driver's side front position. The procedure would then be repeated for the passenger side of the vehicle.

Q: What is the difference between "offset" and "backspacing"?
A: Offset is the distance from a wheel's mounting pad to the true center of the wheel, and is usually measured in millimeters. As an example, a wheel whose mounting pad is equidistant from both the front and rear faces of the wheel would be a 0mm-offset wheel. A wheel whose mounting pad is 15mm closer to the front face would be a +15mm-offset wheel. Conversely, if the pad were 15mm closer to the rear of the wheel, it would be a -15mm-offset wheel. Backspacing, which is usually measured in inches, is the distance from the wheel's mounting pad to the rear of the wheel. Be sure to account for any tire bulge when deciding on your final wheel choices.

Q: I bought 17x8-inch wheels, but they seem wider than that. What gives?
A: Well, they are wider, actually. Wheel manufacturers measure the width of wheels from the inside of the tire beads, so a wheel that is marked as a 17x8 is most often closer to being nine inches wide when measured from the outside lips. As a general rule of thumb, tire beads are usually about 0.5-inch wide on each side, making the wheels technically about an inch wider than their advertised widths.

Q: Is it safe to use wheel adapters or spacers?
A: This is one of those questions that is somewhat difficult to answer due to to the myriad of adapter and spacer manufacturers out there, some of which produce products that are better than others. We have seen adapters/spacers that have failed after only minimal usage, and we have seen other adapters/spacers withstand the stresses of road racing and drag racing. Make sure that the adapters or spacers that you are considering purchasing are made of solid billet aluminum and not cast aluminum, which is porous and can potentially fail. Also, keep in mind that longer wheel studs may need to be installed with spacers which are more than a few millimeters thick in order to provide enough threads for your wheels to bolt on to.

Q: How do I know when I need new tires?
A: There are a few key signs of bad tires. If your sidewalls or the areas between the treads are severely cracked, dry-rotted, or otherwise damaged, it's safe to say that your tires should be replaced. If your car seems to have wheel vibrations that can't be isolated to a suspension issue or wheel imbalance, your tires may be the culprit. Finally, if your tires' tread wear indicators are showing a solid band of rubber across the width of your tires, it's time to purchase new tires. This sign is sometimes difficult for some to see, so a good way to verify is the ol' "Lincoln's head" trick - place a penny upside down into the tread of your tires. If you can see the top of Abe's head, your tires are indeed in need of replacement.

Q: How often should I check the tire pressure on my car/truck?
A: Many people assume that you can see when a tire's pressure is low, but that's often not the case. A tire that is underinflated can appear to be fine, but in actuality be several pounds low. Because of this, it is recommended to check your tires as often as is feasible. A good rule of thumb is to check your tire pressure at least once a month. When doing so, check all of the tires, as their readings may be drastically different, and check them when the tires are cold (meaning, before a long drive, which will heat up the tires). Tire pressure also changes with the weather, so it's especially important to stay on top of it as the seasons change.

Q: How important is it for wheels to be "hubcentric"?
A: Whenever possible, it is best to purchase wheels that are hubcentric, which means that the wheel bores fit snugly onto the wheel hub center, thereby perfectly balancing the wheel with the axles. While some wheels (and even adapters/spacers) can be ordered with the correct center bore diameter, most aftermarket wheels can be made hubcentric by purchasing hub adapter rings, which are fairly inexpensive. By contrast, "lugcentric" wheels rely on the lug nuts to center the wheel over the hub. Lugcentric wheels can usually be balanced just as well as hubcentric wheels (factory Toyota wheels are often lugcentric), so don't let that scare you off if you find a set of lugcentric wheels that you really like.

Q: How much of a difference does a set of lightweight wheels make with regards to performance?
A: This is a question that we understood in theory, yet was somewhat difficult to explain until we came up with a half-baked, practical example of how this could be related to the human body. Imagine, if you will, that your arms are axles, and that your hands are wheel hubs (most of us can pretend that we're five-lug). Now, let's attach some "wheels" to your hubs. First imagine holding a couple of basketballs or bowling balls and apply power to your wheels (by twisting your arms forward). Notice how much strength it takes to twist the wheels. Next, try the same exercise with a beach ball of roughly the same size. Hopefully, you'll notice how much easier it is to twist your arms with the lightweight beach balls. The same principles apply to wheels. Rotating (unsprung) weight, as you can hopefully now see, is indeed important when contemplating a wheel purchase for your high-performance car or truck.

Q: My car doesn't go that fast. Why should I buy Z-rated tires?
A: Tires that are rated for high-speed performance also have other useful benefits built-in, including lighter weight (lower rotating mass) and a stiffer sidewall, giving your vehicle better braking, acceleration, and handling characteristics.