Where can I discuss car rims online, I'm a noob

[Ben-M]

Alright, I'm Canadian, but my family lives in China full-time. We've been here for a few years, but we just bought a new SUV from a new domestic brand called Li Auto, the model is called the L9. It's a full-size SUV, similar to the BMW X7 or Mercedes GLS 450. We got the dark grey model, partly silver rims, coffee interior.

 

It comes with 21" rims, riding on 275/45-R21 rubber on both the front and back. 

 

The stock rims are alright, but I want to get something else. I'll go with 21" or maybe 22" rims, depending on what I find out about aftermarket rims, offset,  and tire width. Depending on those, I might increase the tire width to 285-295, or I might keep it the stock 275. I also want to look at getting a BBK (Big Brake Kit), but that depends on the rims. 

 

The problem is, I've avoided the aftermarket rim topic for basically ever. I love cars and have been driving since my 16th birthday, but I have just stuck with cars, specs, engines, and aftermarket rubber, never crossing over to rims. The big issue, for what I do know about finding this stuff out, is that Li Auto doesn't have its own English forum like VW or BMW does. So I have no idea where to discuss the specifics. 

 

Can anyone recommend a couple "open" car forums where I can talk about the rims and get advice about changing some of the figures? Thanks. 

[Ben-M]

@The Computer Audiophile

I might have missed it somewhere, but could you move this thread to the General forum? I don't think this is the best spot for it and maybe someone will get into talking about something in it later. 

 

Thanks. 

[GregWormald]

Rims get talked about on the Porsche forums—but only if they fit Porsches.

[cjf]

On 10/15/2022 at 6:31 AM, Ben-M said:

Alright, I'm Canadian, but my family lives in China full-time. We've been here for a few years, but we just bought a new SUV from a new domestic brand called Li Auto, the model is called the L9. It's a full-size SUV, similar to the BMW X7 or Mercedes GLS 450. We got the dark grey model, partly silver rims, coffee interior.

 

It comes with 21" rims, riding on 275/45-R21 rubber on both the front and back. 

 

The stock rims are alright, but I want to get something else. I'll go with 21" or maybe 22" rims, depending on what I find out about aftermarket rims, offset,  and tire width. Depending on those, I might increase the tire width to 285-295, or I might keep it the stock 275. I also want to look at getting a BBK (Big Brake Kit), but that depends on the rims. 

 

The problem is, I've avoided the aftermarket rim topic for basically ever. I love cars and have been driving since my 16th birthday, but I have just stuck with cars, specs, engines, and aftermarket rubber, never crossing over to rims. The big issue, for what I do know about finding this stuff out, is that Li Auto doesn't have its own English forum like VW or BMW does. So I have no idea where to discuss the specifics. 

 

Can anyone recommend a couple "open" car forums where I can talk about the rims and get advice about changing some of the figures? Thanks. 

Not sure if there is a big aftermarket following for these vehicles or not but if your wanting rims for an uncommon car I think the best place to start would be to find out what the bolt pattern and back space specs are for the OEM rims. 

 

Armed with that info, and assuming the specs are not out of the ordinary or proprietary you can then likely find a suitable aftermarket replacement. The main thing to know is the bolt pattern though. Backspacing can be Plus or Minus the OEM spec depending on the look your going for but it will certainly come into play with the installation of a BBK as well. If your choices are limited with aftermarket rims a BBK may not even be feasible.

[Ben-M]

That was funny, but that's the issue I'm running into. The BMW forums is about BMWs. The Volkswagen forums are about Volkswagen. 

 

But where are the guady rim forums? That just talk rims and rim tech?? I can only think the tuner scene might be the place to ask?? 

 

Anyway, that's exactly what wound me up here. 

[Ben-M]

On 10/18/2022 at 10:31 AM, cjf said:

Not sure if there is a big aftermarket following for these vehicles or not but if your wanting rims for an uncommon car I think the best place to start would be to find out what the bolt pattern and back space specs are for the OEM rims. 

 

Armed with that info, and assuming the specs are not out of the ordinary or proprietary you can then likely find a suitable aftermarket replacement. The main thing to know is the bolt pattern though. Backspacing can be Plus or Minus the OEM spec depending on the look your going for but it will certainly come into play with the installation of a BBK as well. If your choices are limited with aftermarket rims a BBK may not even be feasible.

Well, Li Auto/Lixiang is only Chinese and only in mainland China at the moment, so there's definitely not going to be a following anywhere in English. But I'm not looking for that anyway, I'm just looking for some rim junkies that can help me get through the process. 

 

Since the original post, I have found the current rim specs:

21" 9.0J H2 ET +45.5

 

So they're 9 inches wide, and have a positive 45.5mm offset. 

 

I checked some calculators and I can maintain the internal spacing to the frame with a positive 35.5mm offset when I increase the tire width from the stock 265mm to 285mm. 

 

For the bolt pattern, it's 5-bolt, but I haven't confirmed the spacing yet. I don't think it's anything unique because there are other Li Auto SUVs with aftermarket rims already. 

 

Then finally, there are tons of job shops here and lots of good quality aluminum stock, so it's common to buy made to order rims here for a good price. There's not a big scene for them, but with ~1.5bn people, the manufacturers don't need one to still catch enough business. 

 

I follow what you're advising and I appreciate the help. I'm really starting from scratch on this one. 

 

For the BBK, I've also found those on other Li Auto SUVs, but I know I've got to get those r specs and then find out the inner dimensions to settle it.

[Ben-M]

[wrong thread]

 

I won't be updating this thread anymore, I've moved to the new one in the General Discussion forum: