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Date:         Sat, 4 Feb 2006 15:55:56 -0700
Reply-To:     Adrian Bertarelli <abertarelli@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Adrian Bertarelli <abertarelli@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Go Westy's 16" wheel offset ?
Comments: To: Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <71d9cdf90602041304r3c3cd82em4e94674bf4eac12a@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I have a set of the 16 inch wheels that go westy sells. They are, as I understand mercedes M class Wheels. They are alloys and they have performed flawlessly for two years now with bfg all-terrain ta's on them. I did have to clip the wheel wells a little and trim the mud flap and arch. Nothing major and you cant really tell. It wasnt necessary, but on hard turns it would scrape and for the sake of protecting my expensive tires a decided to get the wheel out and do some cutting and grinding. The only draw back they have is that they are not the factory offset. I use them everyday and cant notice a diffeence except they look great. They are a exact bolt on with no modifications to the hub(boring the wheel, longer studs, spacers and what not). It was an easy instalation that looks factory with the vw centercaps and all. My two cents. They rock coupled with some Old Man EMU shocks and a lift from david at fastforward, and my ride has never ridden so well. Adrian

On 2/4/06, Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@gmail.com> wrote: > Are they alloys, and what style please? > > Thanks, > > On 2/4/06, Al and Sue Brase <albeeee@mchsi.com> wrote: > > > > My own experience with a stock 14" Vanagon alloy wheel convinces me > > that they are pretty strong. I was hit a glancing blow in the rear edge > > of the sliding door/ right rear tire// quarter panel area by a mid size > > GM vehicle that I turned left in front of. (She did turn off her left > > signal just before she hit me. I think the cell phone call was more > > important.) The blow totalled my car and hers. It bent the right > > trailing arm by 5+ degrees. The momentum bent the front transmission > > mount moving the trans nose about 1/2" to the right. It ruined the tire, > > but it put only a very small dent on the rim of my alloy wheel. > > Certainly the rim didn't take all the blow, but it did take that part > > of the blow that bent the trailing arm. > > I put the wheel on my current 91 GL and have been driving on it for > > thousands of miles. > > Probably a couple of destructive tests could determine quite easily > > what the yield point of the wheels would be. No doubt the manufacturers > > have already done such tests. Convincing them to make such knowledge > > public might be a challenge! There is no upside for them to say it would > > be okay. The best thing for them to say would be: "Don't do it! We > > warned you!" > > Al Brase > > November 1955 (Wolfsburg) pickup LOOKING FOR ORIGINAL 15" RIMS! > > 69 doublecab > > Vanagons > > > > mark drillock wrote: > > > > > Having compared in my own hands the steel 15" Passat wheel with the > > > steel 15" Vanagon wheel from VW South Africa I can assure you that the > > > Vanagon wheel is made of much thicker steel and weighs quite a bit more. > > > I doubt that the Passat wheel would fail in any way under normal use and > > > I know people who have used them and are still using them on Westys. I > > > don't see any way to avoid the fact that the Passat wheel would suffer > > > damage more easily than the Vanagon one. I refer only to steel wheels > > > in this regard. I have had poor experiences with the 14" alloy Vanagon > > > wheels and know plenty of other Syncro owners who have bent, cracked, > > > and/or chiped those Vanagon 14" alloys. In contrast the 15" Audi 5000 > > > Turbo alloys seem much stronger in my experience and the experiences of > > > others. > > > > > > Mark > > > > > > > > > > > > rsf wrote: > > > > > >> I would guess that the failure rate on those vehicles mentioned is not > > >> different then the failure rate of the factory 14" alloy rims. I just > > >> cannot > > >> find comments in the board achieves to prove any different. > > >> > > >> Plus neither the gowesty/van-café rims have load rating either so > > >> it's pure > > >> guessing that they are major differences between the rims. (of course > > >> the > > >> Rhein are vw recommednd is SA) You are just drawing conclusions that > > >> something is made considerably less durable only because it's used on a > > >> lighter vehicle. Fair assumption that designs are created at the lowest > > >> possible cost to fill the void but I'm pretty sure rim manufactures > > >> create > > >> to a higher standard (then door handle manufactures) so they can cross > > >> platform their product........................ > > >> > > >> > > > > > > > > > -- > Jake > 1984 Vanagon GL > 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie" > www.crescentbeachguitar.com >


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