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mg93108 Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2009 Posts: 263
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2014 3:17 pm Post subject: Advice? How to get a "wide stance" on our Westy? |
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My wife likes that broad and beafy, tough look for our Vanagon. That's probably why she married me, says the 5'7" 135# man.
It needs 3 of the 4 fenders repaired so I am very open to the idea of running fender flares. It might be the cheapest way to do the repair.
It seems to me that it would corner better and not get so blown around in the wind.
Anyone have advice on this? How to do it? Concerns?
Thanks for you help!!
1987 Westy with a manual trans. |
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Mike Fisher Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2006 Posts: 17962 Location: Eugene, OR
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2014 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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Lowering it would help more than a wider stance, but you could do both. _________________ https://imgur.com/user/FisherSquareback/posts
69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold
Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you end up with a lot of scum on the top! - Russ_Wolfe/Edward Abbey |
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mg93108 Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2009 Posts: 263
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2014 9:53 pm Post subject: |
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Not interested in lowering it.
Would rather raise it.
We are trying to achieve a certain look and not just be utilitarian.
I agree that lowering would help with cornering but we are looking to keep it at least as high as stock |
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easy e Samba Member
Joined: May 28, 2008 Posts: 3930 Location: 1 hr north of Santa Barbara
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slalombuggy Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010 Posts: 9131 Location: Canada
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Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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I know it won't give you the look you want but the best thing you can do to help the handling of your bus is to run KYB Gas-a-just shocks or similar good quality gas shocks and use LT rated tires. IT will be a night and day difference from oil shicks and passenger car tires.
brad |
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911pickup Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2004 Posts: 625 Location: Near Goats on the Roof
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:05 am Post subject: |
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If you plan on adding fender flares (and wider tires?) make sure they clear the sliding door. |
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mg93108 Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2009 Posts: 263
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:54 pm Post subject: Update: Tires, wheels, spacers, lug bolts, and studs |
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So here's the update
I bought 16" Ronel wheels ET37
and put on tires: 215/65R16 98T
I went to put them on the front and found out that the stock studs on the Westy are bigger (14mm) than the holes on the new wheel (12mm). Bummer. I looked into using reducing lug bolts from 14 to 12mm. I didn't feel good about it and have come to learn that this is really not a good idea.
Bottom line, I'm going to drill the wheels out to 14mm. Definitely the preferred way to go.
I'm also going to run 10mm spacers (possibly a different thickness). This would net an ET27. I saw a Vanagon recently running at ET20 with 215/65R16's and they were definitely at the max. Any lower than ET20 and that tire and wheel would be outside of the wheel well. That said, I think that I can easily run at ET27 and would consider ET22.
So now I'm ordering studs and lugs from T3 Technique. They have been very, very helpful and responsive. All through email but effective. They earned my business. Any thoughts? |
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mg93108 Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2009 Posts: 263
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 2:42 pm Post subject: |
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To address some of the responses listed above.
We don't want to lower it, if anything we want to raise it.
It already has excellent shocks. And on that topic...They are KYB's. I have had Westy's with Boge, KYB, and Bilstien shocks. The Bilstiens were my fav's followed closely by the Boge's. The KYB's just give a harsher ride that I don't care for. Definitely in a distant 3rd place.
Thanks for the reminder about the sliding door.
Decided to not run fender flares.
Thanks for your help with this. |
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Mike Fisher Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2006 Posts: 17962 Location: Eugene, OR
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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Drill out your aluminum wheels yourself since you have perfect guide holes. How wide are the 16's? Run spacers if necessary & post some pics for us! _________________ https://imgur.com/user/FisherSquareback/posts
69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold
Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you end up with a lot of scum on the top! - Russ_Wolfe/Edward Abbey |
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911pickup Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2004 Posts: 625 Location: Near Goats on the Roof
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:33 am Post subject: |
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I had Konis on my 86 Westy and loved them. I also installed a set of Weltec lower springs. The combo really improved my Westy's handling and significantly reduced front dive while braking.
One nice feature about the Konis is they are adjustable.
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mg93108 Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2009 Posts: 263
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:07 am Post subject: |
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Hi Friends
So here's an update. I mounted wheels, perhaps too big for stock but we'll see. The wheels are 16" Ronels. I bought the big ass drill bit and borrowed a friend's big ass drill motor. I'm drilling them out today from 12mm to 14mm so that they will fit. I have some cheap ass spacers to try just for fit. Once I know the needed size, then I'm should be golden. I'll take some pics and post later with more details. Wish me luck, right? I have 3 Vanagons and want to change the wheels on all of them so this is a lesson that I hope to learn well and then practice properly. |
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mg93108 Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2009 Posts: 263
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:09 am Post subject: |
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Mike Fisher wrote: |
Drill out your aluminum wheels yourself since you have perfect guide holes. How wide are the 16's? Run spacers if necessary & post some pics for us! |
Finally got the drill bit, drill motor, and the courage to give it a shot. That's the plan for the day. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to drill them out. First time for me. |
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mg93108 Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2009 Posts: 263
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:25 am Post subject: |
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911pickup wrote: |
I had Konis on my 86 Westy and loved them. I also installed a set of Weltec lower springs. The combo really improved my Westy's handling and significantly reduced front dive while braking.
One nice feature about the Konis is they are adjustable. |
I've never tried Koni's. I've had Boge, Bilstein's, and KYBs. I found that the KYBs were too rough for me. I have a Vanagon with 69,000 miles on it and it has the stock Boge shocks and it rides beautifully. Compared to our other Westy with the KYBs, it's night and day with the Boge's winning out in my book. I drive both of them on a very regular basis. We had a Westy that had a bunch of miles on it with the stock Boge's and they are definitely played out but shocks do wear out. On that van, we changed to Bilstein's and it drove beautifully. Then we went to 15" GoWesty wheels and our expert Vanagon mechanic and aficionado took me on a "hell ride". He approached a small intersection at a high rate of speed and indicated that he was going to turn left. I was terrified!! I KNEW for sure that he was going to roll it. There was no way that it could handle a turn like this. I knew that "he" knew how to drive these things really well but I was sure that this time, he pushed it too far. Clearly we were going over. If I lived, I hoped that he had really good insurance. He through our sweet Westy around that corner and she just took it with a confidence that was amazing. I cannot overstate the shock that...not only that we lived, and not only that the Van didn't just make it around the corner screaming through her wheels for mercy...but this van just seemed to say, "Bring your A-game next time". |
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