Dear Paul,

I currently sport 235/75 15 Michelins (28.9") using 7"x15" ET23 custom
alloys. This size tire is great 'cause so many manufactures make tires in
that spec. Originally I was thinking of doing 225/70 16's (28.4"), but
there are fewer tires avaialable in that size and I was having trouble
locating alloys in 16x7 with the right offset.

Everything clears just fine:

1/2" to the rear trailing arm (as measured from the tread)
3/4" to the rear trailing arm (as measured from the sidewall)
3/4" to the front control arm "knuckle" (as measured from the sidewall)

It is my belief that while ET23 is probably not optimal for bearing wear,
it certainly allows the use of a 235mm wide tire on a Syncro without any
interference. It is also my feeling that if it were possible, it would be
better to use an ET29 offset for a 235mm wide tire (which would bring the
tire 1/4" closer to the front control arm for a total of 1/2" spacing).

However, after much research, I was unable to find a manufacturer of a
7"x15" wheel with such an offset. It seems as if you can get EITHER ET35 or
ET23 wheels but nothing in-between.

NOTE: if you use an ET35 wheel (very common), then widest tire I would
recommend would be 215mm. With ET30, then "perhaps" you could go as wide as
225mm. Problem is, the only ET30 rims I've found are only 6" wide and I
wouldn't run 225's on them.

All told, I love the 235/75 15's -- they look boss, reduce the engine rpm's
approx 10% for any given speed and for my Syncro Doublecab, the effect in
acceleration is not noticable at all. In fact, at highway speeds, it now
runs in the "sweet spot" of the rpm range so I have more torque available
on hills at highway speeds. I think for a Sycnro Westy you would definitely
feel the "gearing change" -- especially from a dead stop.

Pix to come later.
Cheers,
MJS

At 07:19 PM 4/22/00 -0700, Paul Sathrum wrote:
>What are the largest tires that'l fit a syncro?

Michael J. Sullivan
Marshfield Hills, MA
Central America 2001 or bust!

'87 VW Vanagon GL Syncro Westfalia "Sunny" (soon to be TDi-powered)
'86 VW Syncro Doublecab "Claude"
'96 VW Passat TDi "Teddi" (46mpg)

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