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Date:         Fri, 11 Oct 2002 01:18:42 EDT
Reply-To:     BenTbtstr8@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ben T <BenTbtstr8@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Wheels/ How do I determine correct ET
Comments: To: PREaton47@aol.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

In a message dated 10/10/02 9:53:17 PM Pacific Daylight Time, PREaton47@AOL.COM writes:

<< I found a set of 14X6 alloy wheels at a shop in Phoenix that the owner says came off of a 90 Carat. They are clearanced in the center and the bolt holes have been reamed for Vanagon lug nuts (longer studs and nuts not included). The style is 10 spokes with polished rim, similar to minilites or Panasports, and the price is right. However I can't find any markings to indicate ET. Putting a straight edge across the lips of the rim and measuring down I come up with 2 1/4" front and 4 3/16 " back. How can I figure ET to determine if these rims will work for me? (Archives aren't responding for me tonight) >>

Ken,

Since ET is usually expressed in millimeters, start with the idea that one inch is equal to 25.4 millimeters. So your 6" wide rims are 152.4 mm wide. One way of measuring ET is from the imaginary center of the wheel. IIRC that's ET-0. So to get the ET for a Vanagon, You need to measure exact how far from center you prospective wheel purchases are.

I hope I'm saying this right. I'm sure someone will jump all over me if I am even wrong by a millimeter. But here goes.

Measure from rims so that you can determine at which point the manufacturer determines that it is a 6" wheel. That is probably the lip of the wheel or just inside the lip. Then measure the distance from that point to the mounting surface of the wheel. That's the part that makes contacts with the brake drum or rotor with the holes for bolts or studs. Once you have that measurement, deduct that from 1/2 of the wheel width (ET-0). So if the wheel is 6 inches, that equals 152.4 mm. So then half of that is 76.2 mm. ET-0 is 76.2 mm from the edge of your wheel. So if you take whatever figure it is that you came up with and deduct that from 76.2 mm, the result should be the ET of the wheel in question.

Does that make sense?

Just for rough estimation, I'm gonna pretend you were super accurate with your measurements. So 4 3/16" on the backside comes to 106.36 mm (not so accurate I guess). So anyway 106.3625 mm minus 76.2 mm equals 30.1625 mm. Approximately ET30. Sound good to me. ET23-ET45 on a 6" wide wheel should fit w/o problems.

The next question you should ask is: Is the wheel rated for the weight of the Vanagon? If it is a Minilite-style wheel in the correct bolt pattern, chances are it is a rebored wheel from a 60's to early 70's vintage SL Mercedes. Probably not rated for Vanagon weight but used by many w/o problems.

YMMV, BenT Rim <A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/bentbtstr8/myhomepage/index.html">Vanagon Cafe</A>


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