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biggestdaddyo
Samba Member
Joined: August 25, 2004
Posts: 131
Location: San Antonio, Texas
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 Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 7:44 am Post subject: What is the difference between bus and bug wheels |
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| When I bought my 66 westy, the PO said that the wheels on the bus were not original...they were from a bug. As a "bonus" he threw in the original set of four "bus wheels" that had been sandblasted and primed in anticipation of the restoration. I have inspected both sets of wheels and can find absolutely no difference! Both seem to measure up the same. If there is a difference, could someone please explain? |
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krusher
Samba Member
Joined: September 24, 2002
Posts: 7661
Location: europe
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 7:50 am Post subject: |
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Your bus wheels should be 14" to be correct for that year and beetle ones would be 15"
What size wheels do you have, and are they solid or do thay have 4 cooling slots.
14" bus
15" bug |
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23window
Samba Member
Joined: November 25, 2001
Posts: 838
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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15" bus rims are pictured below, both standard and "crows foot" variety.
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biggestdaddyo
Samba Member
Joined: August 25, 2004
Posts: 131
Location: San Antonio, Texas
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 7:11 am Post subject: |
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Well I checked out the rims on the bus and they are definately 15" without the slots.... this weekend I'll be able to look more carefully at the other set. I know they are 15"... but I'm not sure about the slots.... So, 23 window, I'm having trouble understanding your illustration. Could you explain what the yellow line indicates? (please excuse my ignorance)
Thanks
James |
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crofty
Judas of the North
Joined: August 09, 2000
Posts: 19878
Location: Land of Whine and Phonies
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 7:39 am Post subject: |
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| biggestdaddyo wrote: |
Well I checked out the rims on the bus and they are definately 15" without the slots.... this weekend I'll be able to look more carefully at the other set. I know they are 15"... but I'm not sure about the slots.... So, 23 window, I'm having trouble understanding your illustration. Could you explain what the yellow line indicates? (please excuse my ignorance)
Thanks
James |
Notice the re-inforced lips around the lug holes on a crows foot rim.
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krusher
Samba Member
Joined: September 24, 2002
Posts: 7661
Location: europe
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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early 15" bus rims had 3 extra strength pressings around the bolt hole.
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Riff Raff
Shivering Sambian
Joined: October 25, 2004
Posts: 3097
Location: Alberta
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Also, bus wheels have less offset than Beetle wheels, meaning that the centre line of the tire will be closer to the middle of the vehicle with a bus rim.
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The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge
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VWBobby
Samba Member
Joined: April 21, 2004
Posts: 1537
Location: Central Oregon Coast
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Ahhhh so thats the "crow's feet". I have always wondered what this meant. Thanks, you helped me out also! |
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hazetguy
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2001
Posts: 10803
Location: the past
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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another easy way to tell a bus rim from those "other types" of vw rims is that bus rims have the valve stem in line with a wheel bolt hole.
"other type" vw rims have the valve stem "between" two wheel bolt holes. |
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23window
Samba Member
Joined: November 25, 2001
Posts: 838
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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| biggestdaddyo wrote: |
Well I checked out the rims on the bus and they are definately 15" without the slots.... this weekend I'll be able to look more carefully at the other set. I know they are 15"... but I'm not sure about the slots.... So, 23 window, I'm having trouble understanding your illustration. Could you explain what the yellow line indicates? (please excuse my ignorance)
Thanks
James |
no prob. The lines are to indicate the width of the slots on the two styles of rims.
Regular 15" top,
Crowsfoot 15" bottom.
Notice the on the top rim are on the edges of the slot, and the right line doesn't touch the edge of the slot on the bottom rim. Click on the picture for a better view. |
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biggestdaddyo
Samba Member
Joined: August 25, 2004
Posts: 131
Location: San Antonio, Texas
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| Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 5:59 am Post subject: Found them.... |
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Buried deep in the shed, I was able to retrieve my treasures....they indeed do have the four cooling slots and the differing offset. I have pics here that will illustrate (oops, I can't figure out how to paste a pic into this crazy thing!). Measuring from the outer lip of the wheel, they are 16.5 inches (15" wheels I assume) and they have the air valve stem aligned with a bolt hole. They have been sand blasted, then left to rust again by PO. I think I will have them professionally dipped and then primed and re-painted. Oh and they do NOT have the little crow's foot pattern near the bolt holes. Does that make them correct for a 66 Westy? I have pics if anyone is interested....I just can't seem to stick them inside this post.
Last edited by biggestdaddyo on Tue May 24, 2005 8:49 am; edited 2 times in total |
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EverettB 
Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 71753
Location: Phoenix 602
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biggestdaddyo
Samba Member
Joined: August 25, 2004
Posts: 131
Location: San Antonio, Texas
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| Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 8:55 am Post subject: |
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Here's another pic...
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EverettB
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Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 71753
Location: Phoenix 602
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FG1732
Samba Member
Joined: March 03, 2004
Posts: 354
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| Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 9:13 pm Post subject: |
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| what is the maximum width of 15 inch bus rims? i am guessing 5.5 inches wide? i am looking for a set of 15x5 or 15x5.5 crows foot bus rims. |
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Grant
Samba Member
Joined: September 25, 2004
Posts: 820
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| Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Riff Raff wrote: |
| Also, bus wheels have less offset than Beetle wheels, meaning that the centre line of the tire will be closer to the middle of the vehicle with a bus rim. |
about how much difference is there? |
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EverettB
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Location: Phoenix 602
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JoelH
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Joined: October 16, 2003
Posts: 1368
Location: North Dakota
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Merlin
Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2004
Posts: 2112
Location: South Africa
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| Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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| squirmyman wrote: |
maybe this is discussed in a different section, but was there any rhyme or reason behind the crows feet rims? I got this mid '59 bus that had 1/59 rims. All date stamped the same, 1/59. there was 1 crows foot and the rest were plain bus rims. that's weird that there would only be 1 on a bus.
then, I also have a 6/59 in my collection that is a crows foot. Did they come on buses that were more heavy duty or what was the deal? |
VW sourced rims from a few different suppliers. "Crowsfeet" rims are simply one supplier's slight variation of the theme. They were all put into the general parts bin at VW so no, there's no specifics behind why one bus has one and the next might have three.
This is the story as I know it.
My Alzheimer's is kicking in this morning - the manufacturer eludes me, as does the reason they stopped supplying.
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Last edited by Merlin on Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:03 am; edited 1 time in total |
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i_am_cool_fred
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Joined: June 26, 2004
Posts: 1743
Location: Benton, AR
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| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 4:49 am Post subject: |
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lemmertz(sp?) was a manufacuter of the crows...at least that's what's on my ?/58 crows
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