Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 15:14:46 -0400
Reply-To: Derek Drew <derekdrew@RCN.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Derek Drew <derekdrew@RCN.COM>
Subject: Re: Any experience with the GoWesty 15" wheels/tires?
In-Reply-To: <yUwbABgWx45V092yn@pacbell.net>
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<font size=3>Issues are...<br><br>
1. Go Westy wheels come without load bearing or weight ratings.
<br><br>
2. Vanagon wheel widths work best, usually, at 6.5" or narrower for
various reasons. <br><br>
3. In the past, Go Westy has recommended tires like the X-One or others
that have insufficient load bearing rating. According to the factory, a
suitable tire for Vanagon will have a load index rating of 97 or greater
(1600lbs or greater at full inflation). (Owners generally ignore this
rule only for the sturdy little BF Goodrich All Terrain Radial 27 x
8.50/14, which on paper, does not meet that spec, but when it is ignored
with other tires owners on these two lists report problems.) <br><br>
The information in this email is explained more fully in the article at
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/All_About_16-Wheels_And_The_CV_900.htm" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/All_About_16-Wheels_And_The_CV_900.htm</a>
. <br><br>
Go Westy addresses these concerns at <a href="http://www.gowesty.com/wheelstiresinfo.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.gowesty.com/wheelstiresinfo.html</a> <br><br>
In my view, if you want to buy a wheel in the 15" size, it is safer to go with one of the official South African OEM Volkswagen factory wheels. Some have said that the so-called Carat II version of the VW OEM Alloy Wheels might be stronger than some other models of VW OEM South African 15" Alloy Wheels so I would look for those. Places to look for those 15" wheels include euromog, vanagain, and busdepot, volkscafe, tiico and Karl mullendore. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Go Westy could sell you one of these Carat II wheels but I did not see that wheel on their site.<br><br>
As for 16" wheels, I don't think there is any reason not to use them from a fit perspective because, unless you installed a diesel motor or changed your ring and pinion ratio in your transmission, you would aim to mount tires where the combined assembly had the same outer circumference as you would find on a regular 14" vanagon. These are so-called low profile tires. This should usually eliminate fit problems of 16" wheels because the combined assembly is the same size as a regular assembly, or nearly so. It might be that the problem they found with the Carat was because their wheel is 7.5" wide, exceeding by a full inch the 6.5" width I found was a recommended maximum in my research. <br><br>
David Marshall is also starting to offer some interesting wheels at his site <a href="http://www.fastforward.ca/" eudora="autourl">www.fastforward.ca</a> .<br><br>
As for the CV-900, it turns out the actual load rating of the wheel is 1,000KG in our 5x112 configuration bolt pattern, or 2205 lbs. rating per wheel. This is how you would know that you are really getting quality ratings information on a wheel instead of made up or fudged numbers -- that the rating assigned to the wheel is actually specified and varies depending on the bolt pattern. The CV-900 in pattern 5x130 (which we don't have), for example, is 1150KG. The more irregular the surface one drives on, the higher the rating one would want to see on the wheel. It is sometimes possible, for example when hitting a rock or pothole, that a single wheel will see the much of the combined weight of a vehicle. In the case of a loaded Vanagon Syncro, this may may be up to 6,000lbs typically (or 5,550lbs if the owner sticks to Volkswagen's max Gross Vehicle Weight limit, which I don't). The factory specifies that when driven off road the syncro can only be about 5,050lbs gross vehicle weight rating. <br><br>
If this number is to be believed, then for a Camper model with the normal stuff in it (for example., drinking water and propane in the tanks, etc.) then you are allowed to bring with you on vacation only a couple bags of clothes, some potato chips, and some popcorn, or else you will be over the limit.<br><br>
At 02:40 PM 4/3/2004, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Greetings,<br><br>
I'm going to need new tires for my 90 soon and I don't like the<br>
way the van handles with the Agilis 185/70/R14's on the front (it's<br>
like my old type 2).<br><br>
So, does anyone have an feedback/comments on the GoWesty package 15"<br>
package? I have a Carat and GoWesty's web pages have cautions regarding<br>
the 16" wheels with a Carat so that doesn't seem to be an option.<br><br>
Regards,<br><br>
David </blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
________________________________________________________<br>
Derek Drew Washington, DC<br>
derekdrew@rcn.com<x-tab> </x-tab> Phone 202-966-7907<br>
Email me for viscous coupling s (Cell 703-408-1532)<br>
'90 Syncro Westfalia... <br>
...seen off-road at <br>
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/Syncro_Madness_Area.htm" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/Syncro_Madness_Area.htm<br>
</a>...seen with 30.5" tall tires at<br>
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/images/dereks245_75_16.jpg" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/images/dereks245_75_16.jpg</a> <br>
Note: most valuable Vanagon sites on the planet (for owners) are:<br>
<a href="http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?S1=vanagon" eudora="autourl">http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?S1=vanagon<br>
</a> <a href="http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/" eudora="autourl">http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/<br>
</a> <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro</a> <br>
<a href="http://www.vanagon.com/" eudora="autourl">http://www.vanagon.com</a> <br>
<a href="http://www.syncro.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.syncro.org</a> <br>
Many of my Syncro list postings consolidated<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=212-580-6486" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=212-580-6486<br>
</a> <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=202-966-7907" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=202-966-7907</a> <br>
My refrigerator article: <br>
<a href="http://www.vanagon.com/info/articles/Refrigerator/Reefer_Madness.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.vanagon.com/info/articles/Refrigerator/Reefer_Madness.htm<br>
</a>All About 16" Wheels And The CV-900.htm<br>
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/All_About_16-Wheels_And_The_CV_900.htm" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/All_About_16-Wheels_And_The_CV_900.htm<br>
</a>All About Viscous Couplings<br>
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/viscous_couplings_vanagon_syncro.htm" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/viscous_couplings_vanagon_syncro.htm<br>
</a>How To Live With Heavy List Volume--Mail Filters<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7403" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7403<br>
</a>My article that shows how to deal with insurance companies: <br>
<a href="http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/auto-insurance-madness.html" eudora="autourl">http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/auto-insurance-madness.html<br>
</a>To read some material about how to add a front differential lock to your syncro<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/13105" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/13105<br>
</a>To view Wolfgang's incredibly informative wheel article<br>
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/fitbigtiresonvanagon.htm" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/fitbigtiresonvanagon.htm</a> <br>
To view Tim Smith's incredibly useful gearing calculator<br>
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/syncrotireandgearratios.xls" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/syncrotireandgearratios.xls</a> <br>
To view two articles about how to think about improving your gears at transmission rebuild time<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7207" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7207<br>
</a> <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7221" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7221<br>
</a>To view an overview article about choices in larger sized tires see<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/11535" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/11535</a> <br>
To view some 16" Trailing Arms that enable much larger tires see<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syncrolist/files/Wheels,%20Tires%20%26%20Gearing/Wheel%20%26%20Tire%20Photos/16_Inch_Trailing_Arm.jpg" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syncrolist/files/Wheels%2C%20Tires%20%26%20Gearing/Wheel%20%26%20Tire%20Photos/16_Inch_Trailing_Arm.jpg<br>
</a>My article about belt protectors and CV joint protectors<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/6112" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/6112<br>
</a>SYNCRO OWNERS WHO DRIVE OFF THE ROAD:<br>
You only get to change your ring and pinions once every 10 years <br>
because that's how long the average syncro transmission goes before <br>
its next rebuild. If you want bigger tires and more ground clearance<br>
start planning your higher number ring and pinion sets right now so you <br>
can take advantage of your next trans rebuild. <br>
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