TheSamba.com :: View topic - Wheel/Tire Companies To Install Larger Wheels?!?

Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:52 pm

Hello. I just purchased a set of 5 16" Audi Alloy wheels that were on 2002 A4 Sports (I believe). The previous owner said they were 16X7J. What do I need to do to get these on my 87 Vanagon? I've heard other people having to put longer wheel studs on the rear, spacers on the rear and front, etc... But none of them were for these particular wheels. I am so confused, and I'm afraid I have gotten in over my head.

This type of work seems like something I would want done by a one stop shop. I called Evergreen Tire & Wheel in Tacoma, but they were not very helpful. They said they could sell me spacers (either 1/4" or 1/8"), but would not install them on my Vanagon. They said there would be too much vibration.

Does any know of a shop in the Tacoma/Seattle/Olympia area that can put my wheels on?

Thanks!

Tue Jun 12, 2007 5:04 pm

There's probably going to be some enlarging of the center hole needed. Most shops will stay away from this kind of work for liability reasons. You just need to find one of those small mom and pop operations.

Good luck..

Tue Jun 12, 2007 7:48 pm

Have you read this thread? I will go a long way toward educating you so you can educate the tire stores.

Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:13 pm

What thread? Did you have any different wheels put on your Vanagon? You are in Redmond, could you recommend anyone?

Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:19 pm

Go the stickies up above, look at the last thread listed under 15 inch and larger wheels. All you could possibly want to know about wheels and more.

Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:24 am

Oops, sorry, I forgot to add the link.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=203519

You will need to know the ET (offset) of the wheels before a spacer thickness and stud/bolt length can be determined. The lug bolt holes will have to be opened up to approx. 15mm and the center bore will also have to be opened up from 57.1mm to 66-67mm in order to clear the front grease cap.

Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:25 am

It really is the ET that I am having difficulties with. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to measure for it.

Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:33 pm

I just did this exact swap with my 87 westy. The tires I purchased off of Craigslist where from a Audi A4, 16" rims and michlin pilot 215/55/16s that had a load rating of 650kg very close to the LT tires I had on. The rears when on with out a slip even the sliding door clears by 1/2". The front set was a different story. First you have to, as previous people have stated, open up(bore out) the centrer hole to clear the cap over your wheel brearing. I will also need to do this to the rear set if I intend on rotating the full set. Next for the spacer, I fabbed 1 set out of 1/4" flate aluminum stock and 1 set out of 3/8". When I went to mount the tire I carefuly tighten the bolts and monitored the clearence at the top knuckle, this is the only tight spot to worry about. With only the 3/8" I cleared it, but the the wheel wieght hit so I added the second 1/4" plate (5/8" total) and I was good to go. I do need to purchase some longer bolts but I do have over 5/8" thread engagement still in the brake hub.

Note:I did notice a set of 3/4" spacers with bolts for sale in the classified section you my find that is a good use of $60. Good luck

Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:33 pm

It should be written on the wheels, sometimes on the backside of a spoke or in the pocket next to the wheel mounting surface and sometimes on the front under the cap.

If not, lay the wheel face down. Lay a straight edge across the rear rim edge and measure down to the mounting face (the straight edge must rest on the rim itself, not the tire). This is called the "backspacing" of the wheel. Backspacing is always measured in inches and offset is always measured in millimeters.

To figure the offset from the backspacing measurement, you will need to know the width of the wheel from rim lip to rim lip. If the tire is off of the rim, this is easy to measure. If the tire is on the rim, a good approximation can be had by adding one inch to the stated wheel width but it will not be entirly accurate. Your wheels are stated as being 7" wide so your overall width would be close to 8".

Using the 8" measurment as an example, say your measured backspace was 4". This would mean that your offset would be zero because the wheel mounting surface falls right in the center of the rim (4 minus 8 equals 4). Four inches to the front of the wheel mounting surface and four to the rear of the wheel mounting surface. The wheel mounting surface is dead center.

Now using the same 8" wheel width, lets assume that you measured a 5" backspace. You know the wheel centerline is at 4" (half of the 8" total wheel width) so 5" minus 4" is one inch which equals 25mm so you would have a 25mm positive offset.

If you measured a 3" backspace, your offset would be negative one inch or -25mm

Positive offset places the wheels further inboard, negative offset places the wheels further outboard. Being from an Audi, the the offset will most definately be positive.

If this is all too confusing, measure your backspace and I will figure out your offset.

Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:38 pm

See about 3/4 of the way down on this page to see a visual of what I just described.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...p;start=80

Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:36 pm

I will do some measuring when I am not so damn tired. We have staff training the rest of the week and it requires us to be at work 3.5 hours earlier than normal. I do have an 04 Passat that I was thinking of snagging the wheels and tires off that. Any thoughts to the work needed on those? They have a center hub cab that covers both the bolt holes and the hub, I think they would look great, and I could put the Audi Wheels on the Passat (with different center caps of course). I would put the Passat wheels on if it means not having to bore out the centers.

Thanks!

Thu Jun 14, 2007 5:30 am

Your Passat wheels are almost the same as the Audi wheels. They should be ET45 and would also need the center bored out.

Thu Jun 14, 2007 7:07 am

Yup. Got to enlarge the center. (and swap out the rear bolts for longer ones, spacers in the front probably, and longer bolts in front, etc....) They are 5x112mm though. :roll:

Thu Jun 14, 2007 8:59 am

slunk33 wrote: It really is the ET that I am having difficulties with. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to measure for it.

Dude,
Audi wheels will have the ET stamped on the inside of the rim. Along with the rim size. It will say something like: 16/7 J ET35 and may have the Center Bore Listed too. I think the CB is 57.1 and the ET is 35 for all audi wheels, they are hub centric, which will have to be machined to 67mm to fit over the dust caps and axle nuts.

EDIT - A lot of Audi's have an ET of 35. - sorry about that. Yes-obviously through the years the ET changed with models and years.

Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:33 pm

Quote: Dude,
Audi wheels will have the ET stamped on the inside of the rim. Along with the rim size. It will say something like: 16/7 J ET35 and may have the Center Bore Listed too. I think the CB is 57.1 and the ET is 35 for all audi wheels, they are hub centric, which will have to be machined to 67mm to fit over the dust caps and axle nuts
well... not all audi wheels have a 35 ET.

Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:09 am

I really appreciate everyone's help, especially "loogy" (Chris). Believe me, I did my searches on here before I posted, but was so damn confused. I saw all kinds of math figures, and I've been out of school for a while now, and I cannot remember all my math education.

The best advice I got was the ET being stamped on the inside of the wheel. Duh. I never thought to just look on the wheel to see if it was on it.

Well turns out, these Audi wheels are 7JX16 with an ET of 45. I guess not all Audi wheels have an offset of 35. It would probably make mounting them easier if they did have an ET of 35 (at least that's what I've gathered from picking Chris's brain).

Next step, tires. I'm looking at possibly 195 65R16. Should I try to go wider with a 205 65R16? Actually, I do plan on using two of the tires that came with the wheels, and I will need to check what those are first. I would love to get four new tires all around, but the installation of the wheels is costing more than I expected. Oh well, such is the life of a Vanagon owner. I guess you can't put a price on the safety of your family.

Thanks for the help!

Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:55 pm

I'd look at a 205/60 too.

Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:59 pm

My Michelin Hydroedge 205/65/16 gives me pretty good speedo calibration according to the GPS. I had lower profile 205/55/16 before but found ride a little harsh and speed was 5 mph slower than on speedo at 65 mph.

later