Id like to discuss wheel bearings. I believe that the whole "lower offset will ruin your wheel bearings" is CRAP. Lower offset places the load more evenly on the bearing. If you said, "Higher offset than stock will ruin your wheel bearings", I can buy that. Greater torsional force on the bearings, which is bad for them. Someone please tell me why lower offset than stock is bad for bearings, because from a physics standpoint, I do not buy it.

lower as meaning more negative?

Wouldnt that move the mating face of the wheel closer to the inside rim bead?, ie away from the spokes?

Lower as in lower number, mounting point is less distance away from the center of the wheel. So yes the mating face of the wheel would be closer ro the inside ofthe rim, away from the spokes.

Lower offset places the load more evenly on the bearing.

I'm not following your logic here

The mounting surface of the hub is necessarily outside of the plane of the bearing. So at zero offset (centerline of wheel lies on the mounting surface) there is a moment about the plane of the bearing.

For a positive offset wheel, the centerline of the rim lies inside the mounting surface, placing it closer to the plane of the bearing. The larger the offset value, the further the centerline moves back towards (or over) the bearing.

The wheel bearings are not at the face of the hub, they are well back from that.

Subaru uses high offset wheels to keep the centerline of the wheel in the same vertical plane as the wheel bearings. If you lower the offset, you move the centerline away from the wheel bearing and add a torque component to the wheel bearing.

I'm trying to say the same thing UkNuck did...

Ahhh, that explains it, thank you. I was picturing the bearing at the face of the hub which is incorrect obviously. Thanks for the info. YOu made me a believer. I hope my 05 bearings hold up to my +38 rims! :0