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Sun Dec 21, 2025 10:02 am

I need to confirm fitment for wheels and tires on my 66 DoKa. Looking to go with some alloys that have 20mm offset and tires as follows -
Front tire size: 145/65/15 and rear are 185/65/15

Will they fit with stock vehicle height?

TIA

Sun Dec 21, 2025 1:23 pm

Problem with smaller tires is lower load rating. This can result in sudden uncontrolled lane changes at higher speeds with side winds or a semi truck bow wave hits you, resulting in white knuckle driving. Found that out the hard way when the tire shop installed 165R15 beetle tires with 1.200 Lbs. weight rating on the 1963 single cab truck. After many years switched over to more type 2 size and 1,525 Lbs. rated tires made a huge difference.

Congrats on your first post!! :D May there be many more that help you avoid the pitfalls of owning a VW.

Mon Dec 22, 2025 3:01 pm

Thanks so much for the welcome and input! So the rear tire size of 185/65/15 is OK? What would you recommend for the front? I don't care if it's not staggered. The tire sizes I'm mentioning are already mounted on the wheels I'm interested in, so I'm tryin to see what I can keep and what I need to purchase.

Mon Dec 22, 2025 3:30 pm

185/65/15 is sort of small too.

From the tire thread in the Bus FAQ:
The normal modern tire size for 15" Bus wheels is:
Quote: 205/75R15 or some of the more recently available 195R15 tires

Use the same size front and rear

Mon Dec 22, 2025 3:44 pm

DoKa Eddie wrote: Thanks so much for the welcome and input! So the rear tire size of 185/65/15 is OK? What would you recommend for the front? I don't care if it's not staggered. The tire sizes I'm mentioning are already mounted on the wheels I'm interested in, so I'm tryin to see what I can keep and what I need to purchase.

If the offset of those rims is same or close to the stock bus offset, then those sized tires will fit. A 205/75R15 is close to stock for 1955-63 stock rim. Have gone as big as 235/75R15 in the rear.

If you are still running the stock reduction gear boxes on the rear axle. Do expect the engine to run at higher RPM in fourth, resulting in reduced MPG and shorter engine longevity.