"Stimulus Check "= 17" wheels - Updated

[82WestyMan]

PLEASE SEE MY NEW POST AT THE BOTTOM

Since it looks like we’re all gonna get a nice fat check from Uncle Sam to stimulate the economy… and I don’t want to send that money right back to Chinese, so I thought I’d spend it on some 16” wheels (tires later) for my 82 Westy. (My 82 Westy currently has 14” factory mags).
I want to keep the money in the American economy so my thought was to go looking in the local ‘auto recyclers’ and see what I could find.
I know the “"What wheels fit? The ultimate wheel post” has a mountain of information in it, but I find it more than a bit confusing and hard to cull out more specific information.
I thought I’d ask the forum what their suggestions would be. What year / make / model I should be on the look out for that would be that best fit.
I’ve read all the info about rim widths, ET’s, etc (no pun intended), and I’ve seen some really beautiful pictures of Vanagons with non-stock wheels.
I guess what I’m looking for is wheels that are as close to the optimum ET (little or no spacers).
After I find the right wheels, I plan on searching for 16” lower profile tires so my circumference will stay essentially the same (so I don’t have any ‘speedo’ / power / torque issues…)
So, any suggestions?… something you know as a great fit and looks?
thanx to all

ps – on a side note, as was walking into the factory this morning, one of our younger security guards called to me and asked where I got my Vanagon serviced… after I pointed to myself, I asked him what year he had and he replied late 80s WBX’er… I told him to find ‘thesamba’ and join because there is no other fountain of information for like here… so expect a new member soon
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"The floggings will continue until morale improves"
"I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell" - Harry S. Truman
82 Westfalia - w/ a Raby 'Camper Special' engine

[Dogpilot]

In an odd twist, the series 'Futurama' predicted this government bonus and what folks would spend it on, in the episode '300 Big Boys'. Amazingly close to what folks seem to be planning to do with theirs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Hundred_Big_Boys

Since I am not getting one, I never paid attention to what the amount is. I do seem to remember that it is in the 300 for singles and 500 for couples (??). THis will kind of limit what you can get, with immediate satisfaction. GoWesty or Van Café offerings are in the 500-650 range. Some of the folks have gotten faux Mercedes wheels like the GoWesty offerings from other outlets, if you like that style. If you have time you can plow through the hundreds of posts and pics folks offer up in the thread 'What Wheels Fit.' There is a lot of personal taste involved. Then the tires, to go with it are again a huge decision.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=203519&highlight=wheels
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Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[goffoz]

Check my recent post on the "Ultimate wheels"
Those 2005 MBZ CLK's look sweeet and the ET is right on
I have never seen those before, and they are the closest to stock,
I've seen in 16"s

If I wasn't saving for a reversed coolant manifold.....well you know

I'm running the older CLK wheels on mine they are ET37 and need 10mm spacers on the front of a 2WD. but they work great
Loogy has the correct ball seat lugs for them

[WestyBob]

Some alloys that became available recently and are designed for vanagons can be found at westyventures.com (Karl Mullendore). Both 15" and 16" wheels are offered and I recall the ET for both is 35. They also come with the same silver plastic hubcaps found on the older 14" VW alloys, and do not need spacers. But you'll need to get your own nuts/bolts which can be had at your local flaps or from GoWesty/VanCafe (get the straight bevel type, not the roundies).

Tires - I'd recommend Nokians for good road grip and all weather. Second choice is BFG's, especially if you plan to do some backroading.

[82WestyMan]

Thanx for the replies and I look forward to all the input
(any my westy is a going to a 'highway flyer' only so I'll be looking for great handling / rain tires)
_________________
"The floggings will continue until morale improves"
"I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell" - Harry S. Truman
82 Westfalia - w/ a Raby 'Camper Special' engine

[Crankey]

how much money ?

I run Michalin Sport Pilot A/S

[82WestyMan]

Since I'm a single tax-payer... the number being thrown around $600 for me (double for a couple... and a bit more for those of you with 'rugrats')
_________________
"The floggings will continue until morale improves"
"I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell" - Harry S. Truman
82 Westfalia - w/ a Raby 'Camper Special' engine

[brooklynvanagon]

OEM Mercedes 16x7 ET 37, as found or CLK and C230, c280 need to be drilled but do not need spacers on 2wd, unless you need the wheel center cap to fit like stock. They are common, look great and sometimes are bought for really, really, really cheap. You will need to buy about $100-150 worth of lug bolt, nuts and studs from loogy. ET 30-37 in a 7j wheel seems like a pretty good way to go.

[82WestyMan]

Well, I’ve pretty decided I’m going to upgrade the tires and wheels on my 82 Westy from the stock 14’ alloys and 20/60-15’s I’m currently running to 17” rims and probably something like a 225/50-17 tires (which should keep my speedo about dead-on). The aim is to keep the tire and rim package to around a grand or so, not counting getting them drilled out to fit the 14mm studs and the center drilled out.
Instead of trying to search thru salvage yards trying to find an MBZ or Audi wheel, I thought I’d see what I could find looking thru the two major tire sites: Discount Tires Direct & Tire Rack.
Thought I’d run my findings thru the forum for feedback before I opened my wallet
Discount had some nice rims but they were ‘on order’ and no good tires that size, reasonably priced with the 98 weight rating I was looking for.
This is what I found from Tire Rack (both in stock)
Rims from Tire Rack:
Sport Edition / 17X7.5 5-112 ET35mm, finish is “Silver painted” - $101 w/shipping
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet...sort=Brand
(fixed the link, let me know if anyone is still having problems)
The tires I’m leaning to are these from the Tire Rack:
Continental ContiProContact 225/50VR17 98V (1,653 lb rated), Load Rating: XL, Blackwall, 51 psi max inflation, with a UTQG rating of: 400 treadwear, AA traction and A temp. About $160 each with shipping. They got pretty good user ratings on TireRack, not too good on snow but down here in SC, that’s not a issue for me.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=C..._rating=XL

My math comes to about $1,044 with shipping .
Ok, now for the forum input. Come on, guys, tell me what I forgot to think about or how big of a brain-fart am I having… lol
_________________
"The floggings will continue until morale improves"
"I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell" - Harry S. Truman
82 Westfalia - w/ a Raby 'Camper Special' engine

[hiram6]

Your wheels link didn't work for me. Something about you being logged in when you copied it, so it would seem.
_________________
1985 Westy, 1.9L automatic (Daisy)
1996 Mazda Miata
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited

You can't lie around on the beach and drink rum all day.................unless you start first thing in the morning.

[Crankey]

hey, I bought my BBS from a guy on the Vortex. they have parts swap and sell arranged by bolt pattern which is handy.

I'd try there for shure.

[82WestyMan]

"the vortex"???....
i know BBS and they make great wheels
(and the wheel link above should be fixed)
_________________
"The floggings will continue until morale improves"
"I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell" - Harry S. Truman
82 Westfalia - w/ a Raby 'Camper Special' engine

[Crankey]

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zeroforum?id=33

the VW Vortex.

it's a fairly big forum w/ Audi VW....

there's another huge place to hunt for used rimms...car parts, toasters, just about anything you can emagine, people sell it there. hunt all day and never leave your chair.

[ProvoCyclist]

If you want to spend some bigger money, take a look at Raderwerks, they have replica wheels for all the german makes. Im going to get these: http://raderwerks.com/wheels_detail.cfm?type=Porsche&id=46&page=1 and do the staggered thing. I asked about the mercedes wheels, and they said all those were 66.6mm centerbore, so just find your style and offset, and bobs your uncle.
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Clark
Current: 1986 Tintop GL 2wd, stock 2.1L, manual trans, Flash Silver LP7Y.

Past: 1985 Sunroof GL, 2wd, Subaru 3.3L, manual trans, resprayed to Diamond Silver L97A

[D Clymer]

[Crankey]

I have 17"x8" ET32 front, 17"x8.5" ET20 rear.
225/50/17 front 245/50/17 rear Michalin Sport Pilot A/S

I'd say the difference in road feel to the huge sidewall of a stock tire isn't even noticable. nither is the MPG, speedo reading, or torqe loss due to any slight difference in overall tire hite.

I drive daily in industrial district Seattle. I swear it's nearly like off roading for buckeling blacktop and crazy pot holes.

the only thing I can say is w/o power steering, it's slightly harder paralel parking.

[a914622]

82westyman
Before you send off your money, look at ronalusa.com . They have direct bolt on wheels for vanagons. OR you can look at the Audi Allroad wheels.. They have the right offset and they bolt on no issues..

Im running the allroad wheels with hydroedge 215/65/17 load rating 98
no rubbing with carat springs.

[foodeater]

[a914622]

I forgot,,,,, I turnred down the rotors when i did the brake a few years ago. I was running 15 wheels and it seamed easer to fix the vanagon and not the rims. So my van has hubcentrec front brakes.

[ZFLEX]

Hey ya'll

Not trying to highjack your thread but since we are on the subject of wheels. What are the origanal hubcap for a 82 westy Thanks