Date: Thu, 19 May 2011 07:17:27 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: A Little Help with Rims
In-Reply-To: <885F450D-7188-40A4-BF1A-030303143534@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
On Wed, May 18, 2011 at 11:00 PM, Nik Maravich <nikmaravich@gmail.com>wrote:
> HI Everyone
>
> Well, My 87 GL is almost out of the Paint Shop and I am having no luck
> finding a nice set of 15" Rims for her. I was going to settle for the
> Rheins, tho not my favorite wheel, but when I was finally ready everyone was
> sold out. Just my luck. My favorite whee is the CLK320 wheel and the
> Mercedes Style wheel. That being the case, my only options is either
> getting the ET23 Eurolook rims sold by Van Cafe or GoWesty or the same rim
> with a higher offset from The Tire Rack. I have read a lot about the ET23
> Rims and I am still confused. I know they sell a lot of these rims but
> after reading various forums, some love them and some hate them. The Chief
> complaint I have read is that because of the offset the rims stick out and
> throw up rocks dirt etc on the side of the van. If I buy the rims from The
> Tire Rack, I can get the hardware to get them to the Ideal offset but that
> can get pretty expensive. The Rims are $109.00 each plus the hardware,
> spacers, Longer Wheel Studs etc will run around $300.00. When you add in
> the shipping and the cost to have them mounted that almost doubles the
> price. So my questions are: Does anyone have a nice set of alloys with or
> without tires for sale. Also, Has anyone bought the ET23 Van Cafe or
> GoWesty rims and if so do u like them? Thanx in Advance.
>
> It sounds like you are looking for the exact right wheels, without a
huge concern about paying for real good ones. Might I suggest you look at
getting some from one of the performance wheel vendors that many of the
fancy sporty and race crowd use?
I have used wheels from both the vendors below..I had Knessis configuring
wheels for my Porsche 928-based racecar with really weird offsets and 12.5"
x 18" slick racing tires.
They will make up your wheels to any specs you give them. These are 3
piece forged wheels. If you damage a rim, you can send them back and get
just that portion replaced. If you decide to change wheel size, you simply
get different parts and re-use the centers. Knessis was my main supplier,
mainly because I had multiple sets (and I put their logo on my racecar) and
interchanged the parts as my suspension evolved on that car. HRE are even
nicer...I had one set of those, too. There are other suppliers..one I don't
recall at the moment that is the least expensive somewhere near Seattle that
makes wheels almost as light and strong that many of the 944 Turbo Porsche
crowd used.
Forged wheels are good...they don't fail catastrophically, they bend if
you abuse them.
Many of the various racing catalogs have wheel studs and spacers
available, too. I included Paragon Products, but I think there's a less
expensive source for studs and spacers, which I don't recall any more.
Paragon is also a good source for other goodies including Swepco lubes.
http://www.hrewheels.com/
http://www.kinesismotorsports.com/forged3.php?wheelID=8
http://www.paragon-products.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=wheel+studs&Search.x=9&Search.y=8
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