Hello again fellow Vanagon sufferers! I've been "inactive" for quite some
time, but I found something that I thought was pretty cool and I wanted to
share it with you. While doing research on snow tires, I came across the
Tire Rack's wholesale-only website. It is mostly password-protected, but
not completely! If you go to the following address...

https://www.tirerackwholesale.com/tires/snow/absast4wd.htm

...then follow the link to "Download Steel Wheel Application Chart (PDF)"
you can download an Adobe Acrobat file (.pdf) which lists wheel sizing data
- including dimensions, bolt pattern, and offset - for about 200
recent-production vehicles. Notably absent is the Vanagon (booo!), however
armed with the knowledge that the standard Vanagon wheel size is 14x5.5-6
(SA alloys 15x6.5), bolt pattern 5x112, offset 30, you can scan all 9 pages
and determine that there are no steel wheels listed with the correct specs!
Big surprise. Mercedes Benz is close with 15x6.5, 5x112, offset 37 - at $33
wholesale. And of course I'm no expert on this but would being 7mm off be
so bad just for a spare?

While you're there, there are tire and wheel catalogs and updates you can
snag too, so you can plot and scheme for your next set of rubber right from
the comfort of your favorite armchair.

Cheers.

> Doug Fitz-Randolph
> Freeport, ME
> '90 Syncro