I wanted to upgrade
the tires on my Westy, I
had been running the
stock 14"x5.5" rims for
awhile, and to me, it
was okay. But to be
honest for a van
running tires that
small, and knowing VW
hadn't upgraded us to at
least a 15" rim, but yet
kept making our vans
heavier, to me was a
little dumb.1960's
technology is well okay
if it were the 60's...peace
man...whoa
Also the stocker
tires were getting a
little harder to find,
and I had upgraded the
shocks to
HD
Bilstein's.
and when I did... it
really showed how much a
handicap those stock
tires really were.
So I started looking
and it was a headache to
say the least on trying
to figure how to do it
on a budget. I looked at
the
GoWesty 16" tire package
but it was killing me to
go that route, although
to be honest it's the
biggest bang for the
buck.
So in turn my
thinking my time was
free (and it's not) and
my wallet isn't (it's
empty) so I would try to
do as much as I could
myself.
So I looked on
the Samba,
and it was a little
confusing:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=203519
The link above was a
loooooong post on which
rims would fit and what
adapters or spacers you would need,
if you wanted to go that
route, what rim , what
tire...etc The more I
read the dumber I
got...there was a lot of
information. But I was
leaning on using
spacers, the off-road
guys use them for rock
crawling, (equals safe
and bomber) and it would
open my option of an
assortment of Mercedes
or Audi rims, and not go
aftermarket. To me
factory rims are better,
if rated properly for
the weight of a loaded
van.
More Research
Also I wanted to
knock some rpm's off my
ride because it would
help my
2.0 ABA motor
with the automatic; at
70 mph it was running 4k
on the tach...this was a
poor man's way of
getting an overdrive
transmission. The 225
17" are right at the
limit of the
tire comparison charts
I looked at. It's right
at the limit dropping
rpm's, but not losing
torque to where I would
have to re-gear. Here is
a really cool re-gear
chart-CLICK
HERE Also by
dropping it 400 rpm's it
would get my cruising
speed/rpm's back to
where it was when the
van was a stick-shift. So
by using those websites
I calculated I would
drop my rpm's by 350-400
on the interstate at 70
mph...nice!...better
mpg, (the speedometer
would lie) and lower
temps...here I come. I
would drop my rpm's on
the highway and not the
mountain back roads,
thanks to the VW
transaxle gearing.
The speedometer would
be off but I plan on
using a GPS to calibrate
the speedometer and I
will pull the needle
off and re-stick it
where it needs to be.
I'll figure my oil
changes out by using a %
and using a calculator.
By the way most factory
Vanagon speedometers are
off 5% by engineering
design. (to make you
drive slower?)
And to make sure I
got the right load-
weight rated tire for my
van while using a car
tire I went here-CLICK
HERE to
figure out what load I
needed. Also I went with
the GoWesty thinking
that a PROPER car tire
would do the job and
then some. To see the
article
CLICK HERE
and by using common
sense I would prevail.
Stock 14" Tires and
Rims
LadyLuck Smiled:
By luck I stumbled upon
a guy selling wheel
spacers off his Vanagon
on eBay...so the hard
part was done...I
wouldn't need to
calculate my ET (wheel
off-set). He even had a
picture showing the
rims, and he also
emailed the information
I needed to find the
rims he used and with
the Samba I figured out
what tires I needed. So
I set my bid price to a
ridiculous bid
price and won, and still
got them cheap!
Here are the
spacers:
Here is what his van
looked like:
see the For Sale
sign...another dead WBX
engine ???...
Here are the
wheels and tires and
balanced (take-offs)
with 5000 miles on them,
Michelins no less
with a total cost of
$405 (shipping included) I lucked out and found a
great deal on a wheel
and tire pull off
set....YESSSS! !!
Here is a
shopping list:
Spacers:
Wheel spacers and lug
bolts for a VW vanagon
or bus with a 5x112 bolt
pattern, 5/8 inch
thick. (15MM) BTW they
are from H&R Springs. I
saved 1/2 the money by
finding my eBay steal.
Tires and Wheels
2001 Mercedes CL500
17" Factory Wheels
MERCEDES
CL500
5- SPLIT SPOKE
17 X 7.5"
|
Diameter: |
17 inches
x 7.5" |
|
Type: |
All-Season
Passenger |
|
Car Type: |
Passenger/Performance |
| Hollander Fitment #65230
Additional Hollander Fitment # 65308 |
|
|
|
VW Tire Emblem
I don't want a
Mercedes emblem on my
Westy so I will cover up
the Mercedes Center cap
with a eBay Wheel
Emblem. The size was
_____mm (will find out
later)
Example of the Center
Cap Sticker
Money
Saved...maybe :)
GoWesty 16" wheel
package: $1200, plus
$250 shipping
eBay 17" homebrew
package: $ 405, plus
$101 for spacers, $20
for emblems,
Money saved: $924
??? maybe...(your time
is worth something)
Things I did
before any tire upgrade
I was going to go with:
Stopping is nice...and
not over-rated...
PBR semi-metallic
front brake pads
DOT 4
brake fluid flush
Stainless Steel brake
hoses
New front wheel
bearings
4 new HD Bilstein shocks
I got all the above
material from the
Van Cafe.
Here at the rims at the
ForwardAir Depot
Here is a shot of
the my factory wheels
with GoWesty 14" Mercedes
style hubcaps
Here is a shot of
the new wheel NOT
installed but just
sitting in front of the
Westy. Poor man's photo
shop....I wanted to see
if I would like them or
not.
Old rims and tires
picture
Oh the white on
the roof is roofing
mastic, that protects
the roof when loading
the kayaks, the ply-wood
is to keep the van from
sinking into the asphalt
driveway when sitting in
storage.
**** LESSONS
LEARNED****
The lug nuts need
to be hand tightened up after
2-5 miles around the
block, then go 10 miles
and re-tighten the lugs
again, then finally at
fifty miles, this helps
seat the spacers and
wheel in and helps
prevent over-tighten the
rims.
Also being aluminum
spacers it's
a good idea to spray the
spacers down with a zinc
based rust inhibitor
spray can of some sort
or a wax based spray.
I also now have
nitrogen in the tires
instead of air...more
than impressed with
running nitrogen, I will
convert my daily driver
Jetta over next...it
works!
**** LESSONS LEARNED****
Driving
impression:
The van rides
smooooooth now...more
like a modern car, and
not a pot-hole beater
upper. It tracks on
the interstate now and is
not all over the road,
cross winds are no
longer a problem, and
semi's aren't a white
knuckle experience. The Bilstein shocks are also
a great improvement, but
for the biggest back for
the buck...it's the new
wheel package that
helped the most.
Looks?
I think the 17"
rims give it a classy
pimp look, without the
bling...
Here are some
questions that were
asked when I posted this
project on the
Samba Board
| Quote: Bill W |
| Has it changed the 3rd gear rpm curve? |
no , not
really
I'm back
down to
where I
was when
I had a
stick-shift
in it,
it's now
an
automatic
I
dropped
300-350
RPM on
top end
| Quote: from Loogy |
What are you using for rear lug nuts? The reason
that I ask about the lug nuts is that, as far as I know, those wheels originally came with 12mm lug bolts. If that is the
case, the lug seat should have a 22mm radius. The factory Vanagon rear lug nuts have a 26mm radius making them incorrect for
these wheels (if they indeed have a 22mm radius seat).
|
it maybe
right,
it maybe
wrong...
but I'm
using
the
factory
rear
nuts,
they're
mated on
the new
studs
nice and
tight, I
plan on
getting
some
prettier
ones
later,
and was
thinking
you
could
help!
(
Note:
Loggy
sells
custom
lug
nuts)
| Quote:guggenheim |
| So you're the one that out-bid me on ebay, grrr....... Any clearance problems with
the 17's? Which Bilsteins did you go with? |
I went
with the
HD
Bilsteins,
no
problems
on
clearance
which I
was
worried
about,
but they
fit in
there
nice, I
haven't
been
down a
logging
road,
but my
driveway
has a
angle on
the curb
and
nothing
has hit,
and
tight
turns
haven't
been a
problem
| Quote:westybesty |
| Did you have to drill out the wheels? |
No
I didn't
the
spacers
lug nuts
went
right
thru the
stock
holes
Before
I forget
THANK
YOU
LOOGY
for
creating
the
ultimate
wheel
thread
to give
me the
courage
to
tackle
this
head
hurting
project
THE
SAMBA
RULES!
|
|
