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HOT460 Samba Member
Joined: March 30, 2017 Posts: 3 Location: Boling, Texas
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 8:22 am Post subject: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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First. I'm a newbie on this forum but have owned a few VW's in my day (years ago) and ran VW based dune buggies for several years back in the 1970's. Now... I've just took possession of a '78 Beetle convertible and it needs tires. Since the 165/80R-15 whitewalls are only available from Coker at a big price, I have accepted that I'll have to put blackwalls on it. Now, I have seen posts on the internet saying that they have installed 195/65R-15's on their cars but I'm not sure that they will fit on the stock wheels on this car. Can anyone advise me on their experience. Guessing the stock wheels are 5.5" but not sure. TKS.
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Epilog79 Samba Member
Joined: June 04, 2009 Posts: 218 Location: Tigard,Oregon
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 9:40 am Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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Nice Looking Champaign Edition there. As for the tire size, you need to make sure your wheels are 5.5in wide. I had the Lemerz sport steel wheels as well on my 79 convertible. THey were off a Porsche 914, I ran a 205/60/15 in the rear and 195/60/15 in the front. My front was lowered and had adjustable struts with tapered springs to make them fit.
I'm off on a trip right now and cannot see my rims, but I believe there are marks on them that say what the offset is. Very crucial to have the right set up. I'm not sure about sticking a 195 on a 4.5in wheel. There have been some other threads about this.
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HOT460 Samba Member
Joined: March 30, 2017 Posts: 3 Location: Boling, Texas
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:24 am Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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Thanks for the reply. I did some research on the Lemmerz wheels and saw where they are marked with size and offset. I haven't had time to pull one off to see what that tells me. I am hoping they are 5.5" and not 4.5" since I am pretty sure the 195's won't fit the narrower wheels. I looked for other posts and topics on stock wheels and tire sizes people have experience with but haven't found a discussion that deals with my question yet. Yes, the car is nice. It is a one-owner car and well cared for. Shipped to Texas from Halifax, Nova Scotia!! |
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ashman40 Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2007 Posts: 15982 Location: North Florida, USA
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:47 am Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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You are looking for stamped markings on your wheel similar to this (this NOT a stock VW wheel):
The "15x5.0" is the wheel diameter and width in inches.
The "J" is a reference to the profile shape of the wheel.
The "ET20" indicates an offset of 20mm.
The majority of VW Beetle wheels are 4.5" width (distance between the two bead seating lips). Earlier wheels were 4.0" wide. Only a few specialty models or aftermarket would have come with 5.5" wheels _________________ AshMan40
---------------------------
'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!} |
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57BLITZ Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2012 Posts: 2385 Location: DEEK - U.S.A.
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:48 am Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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HOT460 wrote: |
195/65R-15's . . . I'm not sure that they will fit on the stock wheels on this car. |
Are you considering using 195-65r 15 so that you can find whitewalls?
HOT460 wrote: |
Since the 165/80R-15 whitewalls are only available from Coker at a big price, I have accepted that I'll have to put blackwalls on it. |
Did you look here . . . https://www.performanceplustire.com/tires-for-sale/vitour-tires/galaxy-r1-whitewall/ts:165-15/ _________________ Jesucristo es mi Seņor y Salvador! |
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HOT460 Samba Member
Joined: March 30, 2017 Posts: 3 Location: Boling, Texas
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 3:54 pm Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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I started out looking for stock sized whitewalls (165/80R15's) but couldn't find any except at Coker. Based on the link above for Performance Plus Tires they have them for a reasonable price. I'm guessing these are some Chinese made tires. Either way, I'm going to contact them to be sure they have them, but that is probably the way I'll go. If I couldn't find the whitewalls, I was investigating getting a beefier tire for a little better footprint, but we really want to put whitewalls on it as the car has always had whitewalls on it. Thanks to all of you for the help. I'll let you know how this turns out. |
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jhicken Samba Member
Joined: October 24, 2003 Posts: 9466 Location: Fallbrook, CA
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 11:51 pm Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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Vitour Tires are Chinese, don't know much about them but for your '79, they should be fine. Report back your impressions of the tires.
For thin whitewalls, there are not many choices, it would be nice to see a more affordable option. Personally, I have always used the Coker BF Goodrich repops. I'm happy with the look and performance and for a triple white convertible, you gotta have the whitewalls. Don't go wth the black walls, it totally downgrades the look of the car. Also, the 165/15's will perform well on the car, no need to go with a wider tire. I've been running the 165/15 Cokers for about 20 years and they have never failed me.
-jeffrey _________________ Der Kleiner Kampfwagens |
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Carguy1956 Samba Member
Joined: June 27, 2016 Posts: 94 Location: Sand Springs Ok
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Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 4:21 pm Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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My 74 std bug has 195/65x15 on rear on 4.5 wide seems to be ok. I have 145/80x15 on front they are really narrow but on there when I bought the bug. Other than have no suspension travel on front this combo works on my bug |
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rockerarm Samba Member
Joined: December 16, 2009 Posts: 3552 Location: Los Angeles
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2017 12:12 pm Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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jhicken wrote: |
Vitour Tires are Chinese, don't know much about them but for your '79, they should be fine. Report back your impressions of the tires.
-jeffrey |
Hi. I'm curious about these tires also having the whitewall for my friends '74 Ghia. I kinda like the HR rating and available in a few different sizes. The tires web site is based out of South Africa.
Bill. |
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Keithus Samba Member
Joined: June 24, 2017 Posts: 11 Location: Washington DC
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2017 2:00 pm Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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I'm looking for stock wheels as well as white walls, I also want to lower the car all around, it's a 78 convertible. If the stock wheels are 15 x 4.5, what are the best white wall sizes to put on to look nice when lowered? Any suggestions on the wheels will be useful as well. |
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rockerarm Samba Member
Joined: December 16, 2009 Posts: 3552 Location: Los Angeles
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2017 2:14 pm Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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Keithus wrote: |
I'm looking for stock wheels as well as white walls, I also want to lower the car all around, it's a 78 convertible. If the stock wheels are 15 x 4.5, what are the best white wall sizes to put on to look nice when lowered? Any suggestions on the wheels will be useful as well. |
Hi and WELCOME.
There are probably only a few whitewall tire suppliers out there for the 165R15 size. The thin W/W's look oem on all the late cars.
As far as a 4.5 wheel you have a couple of options. The sport wheel or the standard wheel with chrome hub cap. Both would look good.
The Super's had a wheel spec'd with an ET (offset) so you may wish to stick with that spec.
When VW spec'd this different wheel for better braking when one wheel was in the dirt my shop foreman decided to test this for himself when we began to receive the new cars at our dealer. He wasn't impressed. Your results/opinion may vary. I think the technology was "negative roll radius".
Hope this helps, Bill. |
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Keithus Samba Member
Joined: June 24, 2017 Posts: 11 Location: Washington DC
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2017 7:34 am Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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rockerarm wrote: |
Keithus wrote: |
I'm looking for stock wheels as well as white walls, I also want to lower the car all around, it's a 78 convertible. If the stock wheels are 15 x 4.5, what are the best white wall sizes to put on to look nice when lowered? Any suggestions on the wheels will be useful as well. |
Hi and WELCOME.
There are probably only a few whitewall tire suppliers out there for the 165R15 size. The thin W/W's look oem on all the late cars.
As far as a 4.5 wheel you have a couple of options. The sport wheel or the standard wheel with chrome hub cap. Both would look good.
The Super's had a wheel spec'd with an ET (offset) so you may wish to stick with that spec.
When VW spec'd this different wheel for better braking when one wheel was in the dirt my shop foreman decided to test this for himself when we began to receive the new cars at our dealer. He wasn't impressed. Your results/opinion may vary. I think the technology was "negative roll radius".
Hope this helps, Bill. |
Thanks for the info. I have a 78 German import, do you know what the offset is by chance? The look that I what to achieve is similar to the image below which I grabbed from another post. The tires look like 165's, i'm not sure of the profile, if they are 80's or not? the next stage will be to see what lowering kit is needed to bring the car down. Does anyone have a recommendation on what options are available for the front and back?
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garyt Samba Member
Joined: June 14, 2015 Posts: 763 Location: Burgundy
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Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2017 1:57 pm Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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Have 79 cabrio and I tried 195/65/15 on the front and they rubbed on the wing and the toe-in went all wrong and they wore our quick on the inner side. Did not have any trouble with 195s on the rear though. 185/65/15 on the front used to be ok.
I put Nankang 165/80/15 on the front and kept the 195s on the rear and the handling is way better. These Nankang tyres are good, very quiet. |
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garyt Samba Member
Joined: June 14, 2015 Posts: 763 Location: Burgundy
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Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2017 2:00 pm Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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Personally I don't like white walls on beetles (even if cabrios), kind of over egging the cake... |
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mr_bill Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2006 Posts: 1008 Location: City of Orange, CA
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 4:00 pm Post subject: Re: Stock Wheels & tire question |
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I like my MARATHON wheels........powdercoated to match car fenders
_________________ see ya' on the trail........
"Mr Bill"
Dos Perros Motorsports
Orange, CA
1972 Class 11x/Stock Bug
'60's era "vintage" Tunnell-Buggy
"...no one here....get's out ALIVE...."
Motor = electric
Engine = internal combustion
www.facebook.com/groups/DosPerrosMotorsports
www.alrchapter132.org
www.DAV.org |
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