Ryder the offsets on those wheels you're looking at buying (from VWW) have the maximum backspace (minimum front space) that the manufacturer can provide. Merv had to go with another brand of wheel to get a proper fit - just in case this wasn't clear.
The minimum front space that VWW can do on an 8" front wheel is 3-1/8". This is the minimum the wheels will stick out from the hub face and it's a very close fit on a Harrison even when the body is perfectly aligned.
Geoff your backspace of 5" on an 8.5" wheel equates to front space 3.5". How did you get those to fit?
You may also need to account for a 1" variance, quoted below from
this site.
"Advertised wheel width is generally measured at the inside tire bead mounting surface but you must determine the overall wheel width from the front to rear lip - usually 1-inch total. So a wheel that is advertised as 16x8 is 16-inches in diameter, 8-inches from tire bead to tire bead but 9-inches wide overall."
I take this to mean that you should add 1/2" to the advertised front space of the wheel.
I think.
