On 5 Apr 2006 at 13:17, Rob Rubin <robrubin@SBCGLOBAL.NET> wrote:

> Just wanna throw this out and see what my come back. I have an 83.5 that is
> going thru conversion currently and am toying with the old wheel/tire aspect of
> this.
>
> The fellow helping out with the conversion had mentioned lifting the van by
> fabricating some spacers that would go in above the springs and replacing the
> shocks to accommodate the new travel. I believe we were discussing a 2" spacer.
> Anyone ever do this?
>
> Also, Right now I have the original 14 inch steel wheels with BFG All
> Terrain T/A s 27 8.50 14 @ 26.6" tall.
>
> If I went to a 15 inch rim the tire choices in the same product are two, one is
> 215 75 15 @27.8 inches tall the other 235 75 15 @29 inches.
>
> If going to a 16 inch rim the heights would be 215 70 16 @28" or 225 70 16
> @28.5.
>
>
> Has anyone done anything like this? What would be the max tire height on a
> 15 or 16 inch rim if I left the thing at stock height? And if anyone has
> experience with this how high to go to get what to fit?

I think the limiting factor here is the rear trailing arms. I have the same 27x8.5R14 BFGs on
mine, and if you look at where the front edge of the tire is closest to the trailing arm, there is
not a lot of room left there. Wheel size doesn't matter - your overall tire diameter will be the
issue - count on maybe 0.5 to 1" greater than the BFGs you have, I would think. Then start
comparing the specs for various tires on the web.

Shawn Wright
http://members.shaw.ca/vwdiesels
'88 Westy 1.6TD 5 speed
'82 Diesel Westy 1.6NA
'85 Jetta Diesel 1.6NA