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oasis Samba Member
Joined: December 12, 2002 Posts: 2168
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Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 11:31 am Post subject: |
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No need to apologize. No one seems to know the backspace or offset of stock Thing wheels. I have looked at countless threads here and other sites.
Mine came with narrow 15" wheels although they look stock. I found a set of stock Thing wheels that could use some cleaning and a fresh coat of paint, but now I'm shying away from getting those as I am leaning towards getting disk brakes someday.
GI Joe wrote: |
FYI, my wheel are 15x5.5, "Mengel" brand . Cheap, stock design with chrome! I have the CPI 1 wide five disc brakes up front and have No issues with clearance. I didn't have to adjust anything with the steering either. Don't recall my tire size, it's in my build thread somewhere! Lol Patience my friend, I will check Our Thing when I get home on weds.... |
I don't know the brand name, but I am leaning towards chrome 15x5.5 chrome wheels from one of the typical vendors. I was hoping to formulate an answer so I could order the wheels and tires while my Thing was still at the shop. It now looks like I will be getting it back soon (that's not a bad thing), so patience is now much easier.
I will find your build thread when I get home.
I guess I was spoiled when doing my Super. Sports wheels had their offset stamped right on the wheel so you could tell if it was from a late Super, early Super, a 914, a Sports Bug, whatever ... and TopLine knew what worked and what didn't work with different widths, diameters, offsets and tire sizes without needing wider fenders.
Thanks! _________________ Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI |
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Al Capulco Samba Member
Joined: October 31, 2005 Posts: 532 Location: Northridge, CA.
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Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 11:50 pm Post subject: |
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The stock backspacing has been mentioned many times, it's 4 3/8". K-mann just showed it to you. And I think you will find the offset on the rim too. |
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oasis Samba Member
Joined: December 12, 2002 Posts: 2168
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Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:24 am Post subject: |
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Al Capulco wrote: |
The stock backspacing has been mentioned many times, it's 4 3/8". K-mann just showed it to you. And I think you will find the offset on the rim too. |
Shit!
When I read, "Sometimes this data is helpful to understand wheel spacing," and saw the diagram explaining the differences between offset and backspacing -- similar to what I provided at GermanLook and other sites wanting to know how I did the BBS wheels on my Super -- I didn't even bother to look it over to see that there might be info in there specific to my inquiry.
Now, I have a perfect starting point ... and I hope that's going to be my dumbest error moving forward. The next one may cost me more than just my dignity.
Shit!
Thanks for pointing it out. _________________ Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI |
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GI Joe Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2005 Posts: 2012 Location: Athens, TN
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oasis Samba Member
Joined: December 12, 2002 Posts: 2168
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Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:08 pm Post subject: |
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Perfect. I have all of the previous info now in my file, and your confirmation helps. That will be the route I will go when I get it back this week (fingers crossed).
Thanks everyone! _________________ Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI |
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mr white Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2005 Posts: 1193 Location: beautiful Oregon & Mohave County, AZ
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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when buying aftermarket jackman type wheels (15 inch)new or used,what versions regarding offset will fit your thing in the front and rear with no issues so you can buy with confidence? |
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GI Joe Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2005 Posts: 2012 Location: Athens, TN
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oasis Samba Member
Joined: December 12, 2002 Posts: 2168
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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I have seen references to Jackman "style" wheels and faux Jackman wheels, but I haven't seen any mention of what sizes including offsets or backspacing that are associated with with any of these or the genuine article. If you see a specific ad, maybe the seller can give you some measurements. _________________ Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI |
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mr white Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2005 Posts: 1193 Location: beautiful Oregon & Mohave County, AZ
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 11:28 pm Post subject: |
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I have been reading the various attached threads here. Very interesting read,no doubt,many thanks to all those who contribute good info! I was looking at cip1 online tonight.It got me thinking,how can I know for sure what wheel with what size backspace will fit front or rears? They have various wheels in 15 inch. All wheels have different back spacing,examples:back spacing 2 inches,3,3.25,and 3.5 inches of back space. Tire sizes in this thread are seemingly limited.When buying new or used,what works without the worry?When dealing with some of these guys on the phone,I have found in most cases the sales person really has no clue about their products. |
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kubelmann Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2003 Posts: 3266
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Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:14 am Post subject: |
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That is the advantage of asking questions and doing business with hands-on VW Thing folks. When I first went from being a life-long air cooled VW nut to a VW Thing nut about 15 years ago, I made plans and bought parts for my Thing that were not quite right for my intended outcome. I was doing lots of buy it, try it, remove it, clean it up and sell it and so on. I actually got into buying and selling Thing stuff as a way to get my Thing(s) built to match my intended vision. Most part sellers have little knowledge of the parts or the car. Accurate tech support comes from folks wearing a greasy t shirt with with bandaged fingers, blackened fingernails and sore elbows not nice ironed button-up-the-front white shirts and polished loafers talking from a nice leather desk chair on their blue tooth. |
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GI Joe Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2005 Posts: 2012 Location: Athens, TN
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kubelmann Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2003 Posts: 3266
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Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 5:31 am Post subject: |
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I like using a greasy strip torn off the sleeve edge of my t shirt held on with a tie wrap. Until recently, I thought that the single purpose of bandage was to keep blood from staining the trim on the rare hard-to-find part you were installing. Who knew? |
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mr white Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2005 Posts: 1193 Location: beautiful Oregon & Mohave County, AZ
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Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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Lets try this approach; What sized jackman would be best up front? 15x5,or 6? Which would be best for the rear,15x6,7,8,or 10? My thing will shortly be raised up front with three inch raised spindles and one inch raised rear plates. I like the look of the jackmans and hope to use them. Any input is appreciated. |
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Captain Spalding Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2005 Posts: 2519 Location: . . . in denial.
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Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 1:52 pm Post subject: |
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Whenever I comment on tire and wheel size I make reference to my own car. I'm running 27x8.5x14 tires with stock wheels, brakes, and ride height. My tires and wheels don't rub. Barely.
With the stock 5x14 rims, the upper trailing arm just clears the inside rim of the wheel. Would 6x15 rims work? Maybe. It depends on the backspace. It also depends on the profile of the wheel.
It would be helpful to be able to compare the width of your beam with the disc brakes to a stock beam with drums. Most disc brake kits widen the track somewhat, which means you would want more backspace.
As for the rears, it's not so much the width of the wheel, but the width of the tire that is critical.
With drum brakes, for a 5 inch wheel with 3¾" backspacing, you could probably go as wide as a 225. A 215 would be totally safe.
Of course, raising your car will buy you a lot of wiggle room.
On my car the rim clears the trailing arm by about ¼ inch.
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mr white Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2005 Posts: 1193 Location: beautiful Oregon & Mohave County, AZ
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Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you Captain Spalding!! That is exactly the kind of answer I was hoping for. Thanks again for taking the time to post that respose! |
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cannibus Samba Member
Joined: June 01, 2011 Posts: 17 Location: auburn
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 11:17 am Post subject: wheel size |
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Was just wondering what the largest rear wheel you can run on a 74 Thing I want to run 19x 8.5Porsche wheel's let me know if you have feed back on this..... _________________ Can bring to Bug O Rama |
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RHDthing Samba Member
Joined: April 01, 2011 Posts: 61 Location: Caliente Nv
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Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 8:18 pm Post subject: |
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Cannibus I'm guessing your gonna lower your thing. I have had a 17x7 on the rear with no issues the front however rubbed on the beam when turning or the inner fenders. |
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poptop Samba Member
Joined: February 27, 2003 Posts: 607 Location: jersey
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Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 10:29 am Post subject: Sweet wheels |
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Picked up four of theses babies,
Looking forward to the cleanup and running of them.
No center caps , oh well I'll live. _________________ So what I drive the short bus! |
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microCADDY Samba Member
Joined: May 02, 2010 Posts: 28 Location: Georgetown, KY KY
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Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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So i have this THING
3" narrowed adjustable bug beam, 2.5" drop spindles, 16" FUCH wheels with 205/45 tires
Problem i have is no more them myself can ride in it. The wheel & tire package rub the top of the fenders so much so i have melted the paint off on the outside
The beam is all the way UP as in not lowered at all that way.
I would love to cruise around with the family
While i COULD do away with the drop spindles & then lower it back down to a reasonable ride height this would have worse suspension.
Soooooo I bought a set of 15" Cookie Cutters & now have to figure out what tire to run up front. How she sits now
any suggestions ? |
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ente_kaefer Samba Member
Joined: August 22, 2013 Posts: 242 Location: St Louis, MO
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Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 11:16 pm Post subject: Tires for stock 14 inch rims |
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OK, so, I have reviewed this sticky as well as items that have been posted pertaining to tires for stock 14 inch rims.
I have narrowed possible choices for my 1973 Thing to the items below.
BF Goodrich All Terrain 195 / 75 R 14
General Tire Grabber AT-2 27 x 8.5 R 14 LT
Kelly Explorer Plus 195 / 75 R 14
I'm leaning towards the Grabber AT-2. Anyone running these on stock rims? |
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