This a great post… I was in the wheel industry many years ago and have dealt with custom wheel fitments and the related issues first hand. I have held off on new wheels because there has been a lot of misinformation about fitments and haven’t had the time to dig this deep. I would love to here more “real world” feedback from those running 15" and 16" setups. To me 17" would be too harsh of a ride (I get jarred enough running 14")
One reason most are not experiencing problems is the GEMs are lightweight vehicles and not a as prone to issues. I could see “getting by” with the 4x100 if the hub bore of the wheel matched the GEM’s bore. We had more issues doing plus1 plus2 fitments with much more rubber (tire width) when the bore did not match.
Using 4x100 wheels to me is a lot like the controversy in the plumbing industry about sharkbite fittings, do they work? yes, but many plumbers wont touch them.
There is porbably a good lithium battery analogy too.
It would be great to find a cost effective spacer.
Thanks for your input AtomicPunk. I didn’t include a discussion about using “Hub Centric Rings”. They would solve centering the hub bore with the spacer bore. Fitment would be a pain,(may have to buy several rings) but possible. They will not solve the centering offset of the lugnuts in the lugnut holes. You still have a stud pattern designed for 4x4(101.6 mm) pulling inward to a 4x100 pattern. Studs are carbon steel and don’t bend. They fracture. Or bend the base of the soft aluminum spacer. Of course maybe none of these matters in the real world. But it’s something interesting to think about.
I’m the white haired crazy guy that met you 1/2 way between Seal Beach and Sacramento. It was a nice white full door E4 2016 model. I had replaced the front bumper and the R quarter panel. You sent me pictures after making the “Grant touches” to the vehicle. I had picked it up in Tennessee and delivered it to Seal Beach. You were the one that got me in touch with Michael to purchase a charger
Got my 4x4 spacers today. The set cost $190 delivered which is $10 more than equivalant 4x100 set.They aren’t as pretty as my previous commercial spacers that I returned to Ebay and amazon. Many scratches, dents, not anodized and not as shiny. But they do look solid. Check out the extra deep holes for those short Gem hub studs: over 1" deep! No problems getting 8 rotations of a standard lugnut. They do include the lugnuts which are “acorn style”. But the lugnuts appear to conform to the machined cut at the base of the lugnut hole. I will use the supplied lugnuts and not a standard nut to install given the lugnut hole mating surfaces.
Ooooo Ok my Bad! I remember you Now! Great that your on the Fourm! You caught me off when “you sold me a Car from TN!” Yes I remember driving and hooking up with with you in Fresno. Ok it all Makes Sense. Good to see ya here on the Fourm and thanks for the info. This is the car you sold me!
More Problems. “Assumption is the Mother of all Mistakes” . (Jrjava you may have a different ending to this adage) I ordered spacers for Gem M10 hub studs. Never measured. Don’t know how I could have over looked that. I will need to drill out to M12 and order new lugnuts. I’m pretty discouraged right now. 2014 E Gems have M12 (12mm) 1.5mm thread pitch
