So, I apologize in advance.. But I did do a search, I really did.. Just didn't find what I was looking for.
I just put a set of wheels/tires on my 2003 GT and now I'm hearing what sounds to me like much louder wheel bearing noise. I went from the stock 17 X 8 (24mm offset, if I remember correctly) Bullitt wheels with 245/45/17 to a staggered setup of this:
Front: 18" X 8.5" with 35mm offset (245/40/18) Rear: 18" X 9.5" with 35mm offset (275/35/18)
I wanted to put something wider and more aggressive looking in the back (as well as fill that extra fender space up a little), and keep the same basic stance in the front without having the wheels extending too far out. I did the research on the offsets before I bought them and even test fit the rims (without tires) in advance to make sure that clearance wouldn't be an issue.. Now that the tires are mounted and all this is installed on the car I'm hearing what sounds like much louder wheel bearing noise??? I've heard of adding excessive NEGATIVE offset causing wheel bearings to wear out more quickly, but would a rim that's only 1/2" wider and 11mm of positive offset going to cause wheel bearing problems?? This setup actually moved the front wheel inward a little bit.
The car has about 38,000 miles on it, and I'm wondering if the bearings just need a good grease packing and the difference in the offset/wheel size might have exaggerated it a bit.
Any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance for any help/comments you can provide.
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This has probably been asked a million times.. - 
But I did do a search, I really did.. Just didn't find what I was looking for. 
