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Tue Sep 06, 2005 6:49 pm

i have just bought a 65 beetle today and i am going to pick it up this weekend.one problem i am told,it has bus rims on it and apparently the tires are rubbing the body[to wide].I have not seen this yet so i am going on what he says.My question is what rims can i use,are there newer rims that i can get at a junkyard that have the same bolt pattern or do i need to find 5 lug beetle rims?I am just looking to tow it home on the rims since it needs a lot of work before i worry about buying nice rims.Or can i use the bus rims with skinny tires on them?any help would be appreciated.I am in green bay wi. and picking up the bug around madison so if anyone around those areas has a couple of old rims let me know.thanksAlso,what is the difference between the bus and bug rims?

Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:05 pm

punkpa wrote: i have just bought a 65 beetle today and i am going to pick it up this weekend.one problem i am told,it has bus rims on it and apparently the tires are rubbing the body[to wide].I have not seen this yet so i am going on what he says.My question is what rims can i use,are there newer rims that i can get at a junkyard that have the same bolt pattern or do i need to find 5 lug beetle rims?I am just looking to tow it home on the rims since it needs a lot of work before i worry about buying nice rims.Or can i use the bus rims with skinny tires on them?any help would be appreciated.I am in green bay wi. and picking up the bug around madison so if anyone around those areas has a couple of old rims let me know.thanksAlso,what is the difference between the bus and bug rims?

Depends on the year and style of bus rim? They might be a little wider, but not enough to rub the body. Sumptin fishy bout dat. :?

Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:50 pm

as i said,i am just going on what the seller is saying.all he told me is the tires are rubbing when he towed it.are the bus rims that much wider or are the tires just to wide?i bought this by just looking at pics so i really do not know what to expect.i just need to get this tire problem solved so i can tow it home.thanks mike

Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:54 pm

Could you post one of the pics showing the wheels, and they're relation to the body? Might help make sense of it all.

Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:25 pm

i wish i could,i am 150 miles from the car.

Tue Sep 06, 2005 9:12 pm

This summer I bought a dune buggy on a 65 pan that had 14" bus wheels on it and the tires rubbed the spring plates in the back. the po just put the wheels on backwards so they dished out instead of in. I guess it worked to just drive it around the guys farm but I don't know how safe it would be on the road. You definately don't want the wheels to fall off on your way home. And if you did it the tires might just rub the fenders instead of the body. The easiest sure fix I guess is to just get a set of bug wheels. I'm in Portage, Wi so if there is anything I can do let me know.

Tue Sep 06, 2005 9:30 pm

if you have 2 rims for a 65 beetle it would be pretty cool.

Wed Sep 07, 2005 6:28 am

"Wide 5" lug 14x5" Bus rims will cause the tires to rub on the rear spring plates due to the incorrect offset. I know that 14x5 VW thing wheels work fine. I'm not sure about 15" wide 5 bus wheels (the ones with 4 slots) as the Mexican beetles mid 60's - early 70's looked like they used them. To be safe try to come up with bug wheels.

Wed Sep 07, 2005 11:45 am

you have a pm, punkpa

Wed Sep 07, 2005 2:00 pm

What kind of tow set up are you going to use?

If you are not using a flat bed type, I'd take care of the rubbing issue BEFORE towing it. It would SUCK Chicago Bears Balls if the tires blew up on the way home in tow due to rubbing on the spring plates.

Go PACK!

Wed Sep 07, 2005 4:24 pm

nick,i pm you thanks