Date:    Sun, 12 Sep 2004 14:46:01 -0400
From:    jesse johnson <jjmojo@BLAZENET.NET>
Subject: Are these rims any good for a Vanagon?

Hey All,
In the market for new tires and want to upgrade the rims on my carat..
i found these on ebay... would these handle the weight of the van? and
what about the offset? I don't want to put anything on the van that
would compromise safety or handling...
Thought?
thanks everyone,
jesse
89 carat

Jesse,

My understanding is that the Passat wheels are quite able to handle the
additional weight of VW vans.
These wheels were an option on European T4s and it seems it's a case of
VW making one wheel that will handle anything in their range that the
wheel will fit.
I see you have a Carat, so the weight on the wheels is less of an issue
than say a camper anyway...

I have a set of quite similar alloy 17" Passat wheels on my '00 Double
Cab. They look great and I have had no problems...and this truck
sometimes carries a tonne in the back. 
I could not see on the ebay page what rim diameter they were, but if
they are 17" like mine, there are load rated tyres available in this
size. A 97 rating would be fine in your case. To keep the original tyre
diameter I needed 235/17/45s...(the T3 will be slightly different).
Obviously if the wheels are 15s or 16s, load rated tyres are easy to
source.

To fit the T3, the centres would have needed to be machined out slightly
but otherwise the bolt pattern is certainly the same. Since the Passat
wheels fit a T4 with no mods and a T4 standard wheel will fit a T3 with
only the centres needing
machining, there's a good chance these wheels will fit without problems.
Otherwise, as Bob suggested it would only be a matter of obtaining
spacers.

Cheers
Steve O
NSW Australia
'92 Transporter WBX Kombi
'00 Transporter Double Cab
'03 Transporter Double Cab (work truck)
'78 Landrover Series 3 Soft top (ex-Aust.Army)