--- spaethgorgenet <spaeth@gorge.net> wrote:
> I just finished putting a set of 16" Mercedes CLK
> wheels on my
> 2wd Westy Multi Van. There are several very nice
> things about
> these wheels. First is that they are very well made
> forged wheels
> with meticulous machining. Second, the center bore
> is big
> enough even for the 2wd vans, which take an even
> larger center
> bore than the syncro. Third the offset is about
> right. I would have
> to check on the wheel to be sure what the offset is.
> They are very
> close on the steering knuckle but they do clear. The
> Mercedes
> wheels use a ball seat for the lug nuts and bolts. I
> used late
> model lug bolts up front off of VW/Audi steel
> wheels, which use
> the same ball seat as the Mercedes wheels. For the
> rear I had a
> friend machine a set of Vanagon lug nuts to match
> the Mercedes
> ball seat. It only cost about $15 to get all 10
> done. Mercedes
> uses 12mm bolts for their wheels so I had to drill
> out the bolt
> holes with a 15mm bit. This gave clearance and
> wiggle room for
> the VW 14mm studs. The only weirdness is that the
> nuts in the
> back take a 19mm wrench and the bolts in the front
> take a 17mm
> wrench. You also need to remove the two 11mm bolts
> that hold
> the rear brake drum in place. I am running 225/60-16
> tires on the
> van. I know that is not any good for off road and I
> have no idea
> what would fit for that purpose. I thought I would
> share this
> experience.
>
> Craig
> the Gorge
>
>

=====
Matthew Pollard         "Racing with the wind and flirting with death
Dept. Of Chemistry     So have a cup of coffee and catch your breath"
University of Idaho
www.ftir.chem.uidaho.edu

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