Table of contents:
How to Measure ATV and UTV Wheels
17 November 2022
Knowing how to measure ATV and UTV wheels will allow you to make modifications and adjustments to your ride in order to boost the performance as well as the style of the ATV. The measurements will always be used for purchasing new wheels or tires, and they’ll be put to use when you are making your routine tire alignment. If you know how to take ATV wheel measurements, you can align your tires at home and do a lot more work for yourself.
When you look at the ATV wheel measurements, you can feel like you’re reading nonsense. They’re often written out as a long series of numbers separated by commas, and they have no meaning if you don’t know what you’re looking at. The rim size, wheel offset, and bolt pattern are all easily known by reading the ATV wheel measurements. There’s a lot to it, but we can help you out by learning how to take the right measurements on your ATV wheels.
Image from
www.valoroffroad.com
Rim size
ATV wheels are measured by their rim size. This is taken in the terms of the diameter of the rim. It sounds easy, but you need to be careful with the measurement. Measure from the tire bead portion of the rim, rather than the further out sections.
You will also measure the thickness, or the width, of the rims. This is from front to back, where the tire would be installed. Often the measurements are written “10x5”, where the 10 is the diameter, and 5 is the width.
Wheel offset
Wheel offset refers to the distance from the center line of the wheel to the mounting hub. Essentially, this is how far out the wheel is from the body of the rig.
The nose and the bell of the wheel are what you need to know about for this. From the weld (the center of the wheel) to the beads on the interior of the rim, the measurement is the bell. From the weld to the exterior beads is called the nose. The measurement is written “3 + 2”, with a 3” bell, and a 2” nose.
If the mounting surface is the center of the wheel, you have a zero offset. If the nose of the wheel is wider than the bell of the wheel, you have a negative offset. A positive offset is when the bell is wider than the nose.
Bolt pattern
Finally, you need to measure the bolt pattern. You will have a 3-lug, 4-lug, or 5-lug bolt pattern. To measure the size of a 3-lug bolt pattern, you will be measuring the diameter of an invisible circle drawn through the three lugs.
On a 4-lug bolt wheel, you measure the center of one bolt to that of the one directly across from it.
Finally, a 5-lug bolt wheel is measured from the back of one bolt hole to the center of the one two lugs over from it.
This is the third number you will see in the wheel measurements, and knowing it all will help you pick out the right wheels for your ATV!
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