

| Subject: | alloy wheels |
| From: | james catterson |
| Date: | Wed, 13 Aug 1997 06:54:14 -0700 (PDT) |
i am sure that the old hands are tired of this subject, but for those of you thinking about alloy wheels for your vanagon, the following is a summary of what it involved for my 91 syncro: 10 mm wheel spacers in cast aluminum from nu-way service center (908-925-7700) @ $8.95 each 86 audi turbo quattro alloys 5 x 112 from j &v auto salvage (516-283-5111) ask for kevin....price on these is probably dependant on supply at the time and condition of the wheels. many thanks on this front to ronald turner, who's posting in the archives contained an excellent list of which wheels fit the vanagon. porsche 911 wheel studs from partsheaven (800-767-7250), i called everywhere for these and partsheaven guys were the most helpful and cheapest! around $4-5.00 each. you must replace all of the studs, and/or wheelbolts if you are using spacers for front and rear. even though the wheels fit the rear w/o spacers, if you do not use them in the rear the track will be different from front to back. this doesn't look too good to me but i don't know if it will matter. you must change the studs to give the lug nuts sufficient thread to grab! i paid a local shop to change the studs. the old ones didn't really want to go, so i'm glad that i paid the $90.00 (remember, i live in ny). i refinished the wheels myself- med. scotchbrite, silver alloy wheel paint from griot's garage (worth the extra $), then #0000 steel wool and wax. to get the center caps to fit over the rear axle nut, cut 1/2 inch from the steel retaining ring on the cap and then tap on with a rubber mallet. i am currently running pipelli scorpion a/s 215/75-15's w/ no clearance problems whatsoever. i have not noticed any loss of power due to the larger tires. if anything, the magic bus rides much better then with the dunlops and it actually gets 1-2 more mpg. the tires give me about 1 inch more ground clearance. btw, i used the stock lug nuts with no ill effects.... any questions, feel free to email me _____________________________________________________________________ Sent by RocketMail. Get your free e-mail at http://www.rocketmail.com
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