"What wheels fit?" The ultimate wheel post.

[S4VAGE]

[Crooked Designer]

Well.. finally got there. After years of being on the fence, I took the leap and now am on 16" CLK320s with 215/65/16 Falken Wildpeak AT Trail tires.

For anyone considering new wheels / tires for a non-lifted westy, I can tell you that this is probably the answer for "how big of a tire can / should I get" I went back and forth for a long time on 215/65 vs 215/70 and I'm very happy with my choice. They look great, they run well (I have a subaru EJ25, so can't speak to pushing 27" wheels with an OEM motor) they don't rub at all. I have GoWesty "zero lift" springs all around with a few leveling spacers in the back.

Black satin powder coated rims. new R12 ball nuts and lug bolts, 45mm studs for the rear hubs, 5mm front 12mm rear spacers, and center caps with VW logos (now painted to match rims) from T3Technique. (Along with lots of free and great advice and timely email replies from Christopher. Thanks!) Silicone lug nut covers for the look and to keep corrosion down and crap out of the open ended lugs on the rear wheels. Fancy machined valve caps on OEM Mercedes valve stems (which for some reason come with tiny chrome caps that don't cover all of the threads on the valve stem)

For the install, the rear hubs had to come off to press in the new studs. I know you can probably do this without removing, but I also wanted to inspect wheel bearings, so was worth it. The grease caps have to come off the front wheels to get the spacers on, which means uninstalling / reinstalling the speedometer cable. Not a big deal, but something I didn't think of before getting into it. Rear wheel has plenty of clearance to slider door. Front tires don't rub even with the Terrawagen fender flares. Still need to figure out the spare under the front situation. Won't fit with just the added spacer to the bolt (that allowed the old 15" wheels to fit) but I have a "new clamshell solution" I'm hopefully going to figure out in the next week or so. Will def post about it if it works.

Hopes this info helps someone in the futurs. Thanks for all the DM replies from the various Samba people I hounded over the last year or so. I'll follow up after the next long trip to give a review on the tires in that thread.

Before (15" GoWesty rims and Michelin Agillis CrossClimate CMetric 205/65/15)

vs after

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'85 Westy full camper, Subaru 2.5L, 5 speed SubiGears + 5speedbus shifter kit

[5BWesty]

[Crooked Designer]

[cdussault]

[4Gears4Tires]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/126623731732?_skw=zender+...R4Dc6tnfZQ

One of my dream sets of wheels are up for sale. $1700 + Shipping.

Zender Turbo in 15x7 et 22
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'87 Syncro Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition
'85 Westy Sciuridae Domus Edition

[Jake de Villiers]

After spending a ton of money on body and paint and installing all new Sewfine cushions and covers, I sprang for new springs and shocks, too.

The Bilstein XHD shocks ride nicely but could use more rebound damping for a more controlled feel. The Schwenk Carat springs are progressive, so the ride height stays remarkably constant no matter how many guitars, double basses, etc. you cram into the van.
The T3 Big Bar up front really helps the tracking.

Chris at T3 guided me through installing a set of E320D Wagon wheels on the van. The 16 x 7.5 wheels with 225/55R16 Yokohama Advan tires make a difference to the responsiveness to steering corrections.

Super happy with the suspension at this point (except for the niggle with the shocks). I used to have Konis at full firm with OEM Carat springs and the performance was pretty good, though the ride was meant for a younger person!

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'84 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX
'86 Westy Weekender Poptop/2.5 Subaru/5 Speed Posi/Audi Front Brakes/16 x 7.5 Mercedes Wheels - answers to 'Dixie'
@jakedevilliersmusic1
http://sites.google.com/site/subyjake/mydixiedarlin%27
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
www.thebassspa.com

[bajaleo]

These are from a W220 Mercedes sedan. Fronts are 8x18 ET30 and rears are 9x18 ET39. The fronts were a direct bolt on. The rears required a 15mm spacer. Spacers, lug nuts, lug nut covers and center caps are from Chris at T3 Technique.

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Leo in San Juan Capistrano
1984 Wolfie Westy, Subaru EJ22 powered.