ATV Wheel Sizes Explained

Looking up a good set of wheels for recently purchased brand new ATV or used vehicle may seem like an impossible task, especially when wheels are one of the most important parts on your ATV. You need to be confident that you have the right wheels in the correct size, perfectly fitted to your vehicle to be fully immersed in the ATV world. Read this article to learn about ATV wheel sizing, wheel offset, and bolt pattern. So what do all those numbers mean?

While ATV wheels may be constructed of several materials (steel, aluminum), they all are commonly described by three sets of numbers. Let's take this one wheel example - 12x7, 4+3, 4/156.

ATV Wheel Size

The first set of numbers in our example, "12x7" is wheel diameter and width of the wheel. Wheel diameter (12 inches) is the widest point across the center from bead seat to bead seat. The width of the wheel (7 inches) is the distance from the outside of the wheel to the inside or vice versa.

ATV Wheel Offset

First of all, the offset is the distance from the centerline of the wheel to the hub mounting surface. The example wheel has a 4+3 offset. The first number "4" (it means 4 inches) is the distance from the centerline to the inside bead seat. The "3" (3 inches) is the distance from the centerline of the wheel to the outside bead seat (the side with the valve stem hole). The sum of these two distances is 7 inches - the width of our example wheel.

There are three different types of offsets: zero offset, negative and positive. A positive offset is when the inside section (bell) is wider than the outside section (nose) of the wheel. The example wheel has a positive 4+3 offset. If the nose section of the wheel is the widest (3+4 as en example), a wheel has a negative offset. A zero offset is when the hub mounting surface is in the true center of the wheel (4+4 would be a zero offset ATV wheel).

ATV Wheel Bolt Pattern

Your ATV already has hubs with one style of the bolt pattern. It may be a 3-lug, 4-lug, or a 5-lug pattern. Besides, each bolt pattern comes in different sizes. So, it is very important to know the correct measurements of the bolt pattern which your ATV has before buying a set of new wheels. Let's take a look at our example size. The last section contains "4/156". It also can be written as "4 on 156mm". The number "4" stands for the number of bolt holes. In this case, we have a 4-lug bolt pattern. The "156" is a distance in millimeters from the center of one bolt hole across the center of the wheel to opposite bolt. The spacing of bolt holes also can be described as the diameter of a virtual circle passing through the center of all bolt holes.

Visual illustration for understanding ATV wheel sizes.

Summary

12x7 - The wheel diameter x the width of the wheel
4+3 - The offset of the wheel
4/156 - The bolt pattern of the wheel