Wheel alignment

[melhookv12]

Hi everyone.
I hope you all are survivng the lockdown.

Can I ask, should the track ( wheel to wheel width ) be the same front and rear, or can I have say the rear wider ?

I currently have different offset wheels, but I'd like to have the same so that I can use front on back and back on front.

Hope the question makes sense.

[GreenV8S]

There's no fundamental reason why they have to be the same. If you make any changes, you need to ensure that the wheels clear everything through the full range of suspension and steering positions. You also need to ensure the wheel doesn't move outboard of the wheel arches. Changing the wheel offset at the front will make a big difference to the steering feel and best left to the experts. Doing it at the back has less impact but can still affect the handling, so don't go making big changes unless you know what you're doing.

[E-bmw]

Rear track is frequently wider anyway.

[drmotorsport]

E-bmw said:

Rear track is frequently wider anyway.

Only on rear wheel drive

A rough rule of thumb is FWD is wider at the front, 4WD same front and rear. Messing with the OEM track can have some interesting effects on handling but a couple of mm change to wheel offset is probably not likely to be noticed on road. Some manufacturers will have different sizes and offsets on the same model which may guide you - eg BMW 5 series SE different to the staggered rears on Msport models.