BEST wheels for a buggy?

[oprn]

I must say that I really like the look of your GM rally wheels. They match the car nicely. However my Buggy came with VW/GM wheel adaptors and wide tires on the front. The car had a lot of bump steer, wandered bad on the highway and was heavy to steer in the parking lots.

I knew the wide rubber up front combined with the offset of the wheels and adapters was a problem. I had a set of Porsche Fuchs wheels so I got front brakes that were drilled for Porsche bolt pattern and put a set of 165 80 15 tires on them. The steering effort is way less now and it handles like a different car altogether on the highway. Long trips are far less exhausting now!

Whatever changes you make I suggest you try and eliminate as much of that offset on the front as possible. You will be glad you did.

Before.

After.

Some guys use a narrow front beam to get the tires under the fenders but that does not fix the problems that the large offset causes.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[CapeBuggy]

Great advice on the offset. Just beginning this part of the process, so will consider and use your suggestions.

[EVfun]

I want to second oprn on this. If it is a stock Bug, or a buggy , or anything based on that VW front suspension, the steering effort goes way up as the center of the tire is pushed outward from stock. I'm actually surprised at how easily VW owners go with narrowed beams to make up for the fact that most wheels for an old Bug will move the tire out.

I really liked the look of my oval window Bug with the slotted mags on it (I since sold it). It was such an old school traditional look! I didn't have any fender clearance issues with those slotted mags on it as the front brakes and spindles were stock and the mags only moved the tires out 8mm per side. However that 16mm increase in track width resulted in a very noticeable increase in steering effort.

My current buggy has 14 inch Bus front wheels on it now. This is a new change and I need to get it out this summer to see how that feels. The stock wheels for a 5 lug Bug are +33ET, the Bus 14 inch wheels are +47ET, while most aftermarket wheels are between +30 and +10 ET. The change in ET number downward is how much the center of each wheel on each side is being pushed outward from stock. This summer I want to see if pushing the wheels further inward reduces steering effort (and increases high speed stability) more than stock. Pushing the tires inward will increase my turning radius about 30%, a limitation of the antiquated trailing arm front suspension design of Bugs.
_________________

[oprn]

Two other negative things happen when going to a narrow beam. The tie rods get shorter which increases both the bump steer and roll steer problems. Then the sway bar no longer fits and most guys just toss them aside and go without. This also has an adverse effect on how well the car handles and drives.

I look at the cars with the narrow beams and large wheel offsets on them and just shake my head. Those guys have no idea what they are doing to the drivability of those cars. They were bad enough in stock form. I suppose though that the majority of those cars are curb, trailer and garage queens so it's not an issue.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[EVfun]

I would add that you put a sway bar on the end you want to lose traction sooner. That helps the other end stick longer. Normally on a Bug that is the front to counter the tendency toward oversteer. On the other hand, if your buggy is running big and littles you may find you have understeer instead of the stock oversteer. In that case removing the front steer may be an improvement.

I go a bit cartoonish with my street buggy styling, with mild lowering and rear tires around 4 inches taller than the fronts. Even with the front sway bar removed they still tend toward understeer unless I get on the throttle or brakes. So… I toss that sway bar to improve handling (and the cleaner look ).
_________________

[oprn]

I am adding one to the rear on my street Buggy hoping it will compliment the front one.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)