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Date:         Thu, 20 Mar 2014 05:11:57 -0700
Reply-To:     Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Wheels, a different perspective?
Comments: To: Ben <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <5B9336E5-AA66-4521-9790-548F5B9B3979@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

There are some good wheel fit threads on thesamba.com, including a sticky thread in the FAQ section called What Wheels Fit and several others with a couple specific to the CLK wheel.  I chose the CLK because it is forged and seems to fit with the least modification; lug holes must be drilled out and smaller ball-seat lugs used, but can fit without spacers (ET37) or centerbore mod.  GoWesty alloys or larger Mefro steelies would have been a direct fit but would have cost more, especially with freight, than the locally sourced Craigslist (CLCLKs?) Merc wheels I bought, and these are very good looking wheels. Stephen On Wednesday, March 19, 2014 9:38 PM, Ben <syncro@GMAIL.COM> wrote: Mark, See my replies interspersed with your questions: > ... it has seemed to me that it was desirable to have lighter wheels to improve handling. I may be completely off-base here, but I'll say that up front. Correct. Think about the little guy pushing a big guy. The smaller he is, the less mass he has to shove the big guy around. The lighter your wheels & tires (the little guys), the less effect they are going to have on the big guy (your van) when they hit bumps on the road. They called unsprung weight vs. the vehicle which is sprung weight (carried by your springs). > Here's what I'm wondering about: Can you, or should you, get alloy wheels that are lighter than the OEM steel ones? Would they be stronger or weaker? That all depends. By "alloy wheels" I take it to mean aluminum alloy wheels because technically even steel is an alloy of sorts. Anyway, aluminum alloy wheels can be forged. That's when they force the air out of the metal during manufacturing to make them stronger. So light weight does not necessary equate to weakness. > How do you spec out the correct combination of weight/strength of wheels for a Westy? How heavy is your Westy? My Syncro only weighs 3610 lbs. Some Westies can tip the scales at 6000++ lbs when wet and fully loaded. Your wheels need to be spec to carry a weight that exceeds your vehicle weight. Hit a pothole and that weight is magnified. > There's been lots of discussion about stud spacing and offset, > and the hole in the middle being the right/wrong size, which I'm still not > totally clear on. Bolt pattern is 5X112mm Centerbore at least 66.1mm Offset ideally should be ET30 > I've tried reading the tire and wheel article on vanagon.com, which I can't seem to get to just now (error_500), Announcement was made here that vanagon.com will be temporarily out while Coyote is switching services. Coyote is Ron Lussier, benefactor of Vanagon.com > but it's still kind of a mystery as to how you find the right wheel for your needs. You need to define your needs and resources. The perfect combo will not necessarily agree with your wallet's ability. Sometimes the missions we set aside for our vehicles are often at cross purposes. Highway driving vs. off-road ability for example. You need to find the balance of all these factors and only you can make the final determination. > Thanks for all the light you all have shed on this discussion. I thought I > had the perfect combination of tires (Michelin) and shocks (KYB), but the > tires are worn out and I can't get replacements and I think the shocks are finally going. Evidence is things rattle more! :) The bounce test never > seems to reveal anything to me. In my experience the KYB's lack any sort of durability. The top bushings go first and typically create a heck of a racket.:-) BenT


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